Today was the big hike in Shi wai mei yuan. Everyone from work in the Shenzhen office went(130 of us!)... next week is the Hong Kong offices turn but I think once is defo enough for me!

Such a long day and I am now completely exhausted! We met very early this morning and had to take 3 coaches for around 2hours to get to our destination... during which time I had to endure back to back karaoke... from 8.30am, I was quite prepared to grab the mic and throw it out of the window!

Once we had been dropped off we took an old rickety boat to the base of the mountain, I was sure it was about to sink any minute or else fall apart in a strong breeze!
We then had to walk for an hour to reach the base camp for lunch... which included a gourmet delight I think has to be classified as the most insane thing I have ever eaten... you may have guessed from the photo... a BEE omelette!! I was like oooh yummy omelette and ate a huge piece to then hear everyone gasp and start telling me I was so brave... 'whhhhhy' I asked very slowly and carefully as I have become accustomed to, esp at the dinner table... someone the turned over the omelette to reveal the base was completely covered in bees, like a cheesecake -the Frankenstein version! It actually tasted ok, but a bit crunchy!

After lunch I embarked on what can only be described as the hardest 4hours of my life... dad do you remember Lydford Gorge? it was like that times 10, at a 90degree angle in 30C heat!! Such hard work but I didnt want to be the wimpy unfit white girl so i grit my teeth and powered on, whilst sweating my body weight away at the same time. It paid off as I was announced the most impressive hiker of the day woohoo! What they do not know is that now I can barely function and will spend the entire day in bed tomorrow recovering!

The best part of the day was the view from the top, incredible! Also, the reactions from the local villagers, honestly you would think that they had never seen a tall white girl before hehe!!
Also a bonus is the fact that I can sit here writing this drinking beer and eating cookies guilt free!

So very tired and will fill the rest of the space with pics from today... also note the one of the bizarre toilet... common in more local parts of town, I just really cannot get used to squatting after a life of western seat luxury! Cannot believe I am going to sign off this email with talk of toilets once again!

Lots of exhausted love from an out of shape Tanya! xx

Ps: For those of you who were concerned... Ghd's now working again, replaced the fuse from my MP3 charger plug, figured I could live without music for a while longer than I could out of control hair!
Pps: Hair now trimmed and chin healed (its been a bit flaky this week after the dumplings incident... mmm!!)