Waterfalls and Washing

I do not share the above picture because of it’s quality or beauty. In fact, I don’t even really like the photo. The lighting was horrible, the time of day not ideal, and I was incredibly rushed in taking the picture. My reason for sharing it is simply the amusing anecdote that accompanies the photo.

Throughout our wanderings at Changbaishan, we were constantly being shepherded by a young tour guide. For the first half of the day, the guide was quite patient with his flock as people lingered in places longer than requested. However, the tardiness of certain group members clearly started to bother him as the day went on.  Understandably–we had places to see and a six hour bus ride back to town awaiting us. The guide chided the group strongly as we got ready to ascend the peak, warning that those not back by the stated time would be left behind. Indeed, at that assigned time, a bus with those group members present (including the obedient Americans) began to pull away. A few tardy members were left running across the parking lot after us. Graciously, we stopped to let them on.

However, that experience was plenty warning to all in the group that tardiness would no longer be tolerated. So when the bus deposited us at our next stop, the famous waterfall of Changbaishan, we listened briefly to instructions (all in Chinese), and after hearing the time 3:00 PM we set off at a brisk pace. We had about 25 minutes, and the waterfall looked to be a good hike away. Even with our quick pace, it soon became clear that the 3:00 deadline was going to be nearly impossible to meet. More than 10 minutes had melted away and stairs and uphill paths still stood between us and the waterfall. Kami and Anthony decided to stop. Seth and I, ever motivated by the dream of getting that perfect shot, continued on. I headed for the stairs and took the first few flights two by two. And then scolded myself for skipping my work-out of late more frequently than I’d like to admit. Still motivated by both the time crunch and the desire for a photo, I struggled on despite the fact that breathing was becoming more and more difficult. Seth, who could easily take on the role of the Energizer Bunny, had bounded ahead of me. I finally got to the top of the bluff, and then down the bluff, and with about a minute to spare snapped the above shot. I was a bit disgruntled, because I knew instantly that it wasn’t going to be any sort of spectacular shot. Seth and I turned around, met up with the resting Anthony and Kami, and we all high-tailed it back to the parking lot, confused as to how anyone could manage to see the falls in such a short time.

Just as we arrived, the guide was leading a portion of our group away from the lot. We dutifully followed him, with not a clue as to where we were going. We had walked about 200 yards down the road when the guide turned around, noticed us for the first time and looked at us with confusion clearly written on his face. He paused, and then asked in Chinese, “You want to be washed?” Sure enough, the 3:00 PM meeting time was for those who wanted to pay an exorbitant amount of money to sit in a bathhouse for 30 minutes. And sure enough, as our guide assumed (hence the confused look), the foreigners did not want to partake of said activity.

All that to say, the stair sprinting was entirely unnecessary. But while I didn’t get a shot I liked, I did get my cardio in for the day.