Confessions of a girl with too many options.

National Day Holiday is akin to America’s celebration of the 4th of July. The citizens of China celebrate the founding of the People’s Republic of China on October 1, 1949. Many people travel to visit family in other provinces and relax together. For foreign residents and students it is a popular time to travel. Many of my teacher friends went into the mountains of China to see another part of the province and get back to nature. Some went to the Filipines, some to Thailand, and one or two went up North to Japan. Jenna and I wanted to get out of the city and see a little more of China. We had already decided that we needed to bungy jump at the first opportunity, and our friend Al informed us of a great hike and camping spot in Hong Kong. Sounded perfect to us. Two mini vacations had to be better than one!

Macao was really relaxed, we barely planned anything before we met up at the port to jump onto a ferry. Our lack of planning displayed itself in the fact that we ended up roaming the streets until 5 in the morning after ‘The Jump’ and catching a quick nap in the ferry terminal before getting an early boat back to Shenzen the following day. I personally think that getting stranded, and making something fun out of it, is one of the best things that can happen during a trip. Provided you have money, and a way to eventually get home. Instead of worrying about how to get back we just pushed on to Macao Tower, bought our tickets for the jump, got suited up, and waited until our turn to fling ourselves from the top of a building before we decided on our next step.

You already saw the previous post’s photos but it was fantastic! I was so confident, thinking I was more courageous than I expected myself to be and getting all proud of my personal growth. Right up until I stepped onto the platform and looked down; then everything shattered around me and I have only the photos to supplement my memory for the fall of 233 meters.

We took our time watching each other’s videos and looking at the pictures, had a nice leisurely dinner AND dessert, and then got around to figuring out what to do with the 6+ hours of freedom and sleeplessness ahead of us. In the end we drank a lot, gambled a little, ate at least 3 times, and made friends with bartenders and brothel managers until dawn reminded us that we should make sure we get tickets onto a boat home.

The next morning we met up with the rest of our group and traveled through the boarder crossing into Hong Kong. Every Chinese person in Shenzhen must have been traveling into HK at the same time because it took 2.5 hours to get across! We had a little fun though, making sure we protected our space and stayed together as a group. We definitely held our ground against the smoosh of the Chinese line formation.

Then more buses, finding a hostel, eating delicious food, and hopping on the Star Ferry and riding over to the main Island. It was so great to wander around in the atmosphere Hong Kong has, I can see why someone would choose to live there. Very inviting and impressive. We hopped into another line to ride to the top of Victoria’s Peak and take in the view from above the city. Stayed up there wandering around for a couple hours. Just watching the twilight darken and the lights becoming more vibrant was mesmerizing.

We slowly made our way back down to city level, encountering an enemy the no one expected (there will be a short narration written by Stephen and Daniel soon to come of that adventure, and I hope to share it with you), and started to wander the streets. All the neon lights flashing advertisements for things that I am pretty sure were all fake goods, or shady experiences, made us wander about aimlessly hoping to find a hidden gem somewhere among the hype. A little shopping, a little drinking, a few conversations with the natives and we were just happy as the sun to be in a chaotic, dirty city with no reason to stay up or go to bed. I really enjoyed Hong Kong and am planning to go back on my weekends fairly often.

The next morning we woke up early, grabbed a bite and made our way to the metro stop where Al and I had planned our reunion(he had stayed in Shenzhen to get some rest after the Macao adventure, as a reasonable person would do). I held down our waiting spot while the rest of the troops gathered food supplies for the beach. It was a little uncertain whether this meet-up would be successful because of Al’s tendency to be late, the boarder crossing during a holiday, and the fact that we didn’t specify an exit to meet. But even with those forces combined against us, the group was ready to board a bus to the wilderness no later than 11:00am.

It took a couple buses to get us to the start of our hike, and then we set off down the path with good cheer. Everyone was marching along at a smart pace and chatting happily to each other (in stark contrast to the hike back out the next morning, during which we marched like ants in a single-file line with our headphones on and our music up).

The mountains were beautiful. It is so much a jungle here and I never expected that for some reason. Felt wonderful to be surrounded by that overwhelming amount of green and to see the dirt and bugs in their natural habitat. I was especially content when we reached the edges of the bay and I could smell the salt-water and hear the sound of water against the shoreline.

We trudged up the mountain, and it had been a long time since my muscles had worked that hard. At the top of each incline there was that wonderful feeling of being exhausted and proud of your body; wanting to push it farther and collapse all at the same time. I think we all agreed that is one of the best feelings in the whole world. It makes the reward at the end of the journey that much more intense and enjoyable.

Finally, we made it to the sea, hiked another little hill over to a more secluded beach (Big Wave Bay), set up our tents and all ran and jumped into the ocean. I felt amazing to be in water again. Didn’t realize how much I missed it and it felt so perfect to just be tumbled around by the waves. Of course I climbed back over the hill to find a surfboard because it was physically painful for me to watch those clean wave breaks just beyond the tidewater and not be able to be involved in coming into shore with them. Honestly it wasn’t much better once I had the board; no leash, no wax, and no fins…so basically just a piece of fiberglass I had to chase after and slip off of. But still, it can only make me better right? I was exhausted and happy. I felt like sunshine laying on the beach breathless next to my non-surfable surfboard.

The boys managed to build a fire after a lot of wood-hunting and gently lighting the tinder they managed to find. It was a perfect little thing, giving us something to gather around in the night while we talked and drank and ate. One by one the group returned to their tents until finally only Stephen and I were left sitting on the beach in front of a burned  out campfire listening to the waves.

The next day we woke up early, went back into the ocean. Attempted surfing again with the same results. Walked along the beach, and packed up our things to make our way back home to Shenzhen. As I mentioned earlier, we were all hungry and physically exhausted on our hike back out and ended up marching through the mountains in a single-file line silently focusing on our music to motivate us to continue moving. We did stop and take a small detour to a viewpoint at the top of one of the peaks to appreciate the view of where we had been and how beautiful the area was.

We made it onto all the buses and metros and through customs, back into China. I was getting pretty delirious from my lack of sleep towards the end but it made everything funny rather than irritating so I guess I can’t complain. Needless to say I fell deeply asleep once I reached my house and didn’t wake up again until the next afternoon.

I couldn’t have asked for a better break, it was exciting and relaxing. My two favorite feelings all rolled into one little holiday.