4am, still raining, time to go. We get our stuff ready and get our gear on. Then it's time to go. Head torch on, it's pitch black out here, we leave our luxury abode and off we go. No talking. Steps, steps, steps, in the dark, with no sense of distance travelled or remaining. Rain pelting our clothes, face down, on foot in front of the other. Monotony. After about 40mins of climbing we come across another area with a lot of houses, it's also where the cable car takes you to the top. Perhaps this is where we should have stayed last night, closer to the top. I am soaking, the water is coming through my coat, but I am also too hot from walking, I take my fleece off and put it in my bag, at least if it is dry I can maybe get changed in to it later. We keep on heading up, it is starting to get light, we see place after place to stay, with people coming out fresh for the morning hike. The rain is not letting up as it gets brighter visibility is not significantly improved. Mist everywhere, I can barely see past the end of my nose. My legs are suffering from severe fatigue, getting to that point where I have to stop because they just don't go anymore, not pain, just exhaustion, just like the final hill after a long cycle. We eventually get up to the 'food court' as its called. We know it's not too far to the peak, but with visibility so poor we go in to a hotel lobby to wait and see if the mist clears. Sunrise has been and gone and you wouldn't even have known it.
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We get some noodles and I splash out on a coffee. Delicious. I get out of my wet tshirt and coat and in to my dry fleece. Again there is no heat in this lobby and the doors are open wide with an icy wind howling through. The three of us end up cuddling up on a sofa to conserve warmth, that's how ridiculous it was. We get chatting to various people and find that most have only hiked from where we stayed, and got the bus the rest, even at that many have got the cable car to this point. Joke climbers! I think we stay in this lobby for over an hour, the weather is not getting any better so we just go for it, we've been told the summit is less than 10mins away. Wet clothes back on and, go, go, go. Motivation is low. The weather is crushing spirits. When we get to the top we walk up a staircase lines with impressive white and glod elephant statues, then the centre piece at the top, a huge elephant statue again in white and gold. Must have been at least 60ft. The weather is so bad that I take one photo, I don't want my camera getting soaked, I am able to get a photo from a temple opposite where I can stand out of the rain. It's disappointing that we hiked for the two days and were not able to see a thing. Checking on google shows me what I should have seen, unfortunately my photos bare no resemblance. Time to go.
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As we descend the pace is fast and purposeful. I am quicker than usual, the descent normally being my slow point, perhaps the thought of being warm and dry is spurring me on. We pass many people moving both up and down. When we get back to the cable car station, 40mins from where we stayed, we stop. As we had left so early the Swedes were unable to get their deposit back for the room. So they needed to go back, though we though that the bus left from here. So I was going to wait with the bags for them to go and get the deposit and then come back. After asking a few people, which was no help, we decided that the bus was more likely to leave from where we stayed as most people were heading in that direction. So we all headed back down. Lots more Chinese people, slowing our pace down, then the introduction of monkeys brought everything to a standstill. People screaming, trying to take photos, offering food, one guy even offered a monkey a cigarette! Clearly these people had not done the hike we did or else these monkeys would not have been such an attraction. All the shops we passed on the way up this morning were open, selling the usual tat. So many. We get to the hotel, get the deposit then walk over to the bus station. It's right there, didn't see it in the dead of night. We can get a bus back down to the station near the hostel. The way these busses seem to work is they operate like taxis, so we tell them what station we are going to then that puts us on a bus. Our bus driver is crazy. Taking hairpin bends at speed. Just beeping his horn and hoping everything will be ok. Our concerns are further realised when he takes a corner so fast a Chinese bloke goes flying out of his seat over to the other side of the bus. The bus driver turns round and starts shouting at him, this is while he is driving round the corner. Complete lunacy! Then the bus driver just fancies something to eat, so he stops off at the side of the road and goes and get some rice and a drink. We just sit there and wait for him. It's interesting how things work here! The bus journey is an hour and a half, at one point I dozed off, big mistake, crazy bus driver plunged in to a pot hole and because we were in the back seat we all lifted about 2ft in to the air. Talk about waking with a start!
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Never so glad to get off a bus, we walk back down to the hostel and order some real food. We got a real sense of appreciation when our food arrived and it was edible. After food we went to see about our train ticket back to Chengdu, we had been told it leaves every hour so we call up at 2.40 but the earliest we can get a bus is 5. Back to the hostel for a few beers and some pool. We get back to the bus early because the Swedes want the front seat for the leg room, unlike at home the buses fill from the front back. The usual crazy driving and in a couple of hours we are back in Chengdu. The bus station is closed an I am in need of the toilet. I'm just going to have to soldier on. I have to get a metro to my next hostel, so do the Swedes, so we head off along the river towards the metro. I say my goodbyes as I won't be seeing the Swedes again as they are off to Tibet, I'm on the metro for 2 more stops, then a 15min walk. Of course it's not that easy and I have to ask a couple of people for directions, and swot away countless people on bikes trying to give me a lift. When I get there I check in and get a shower, only one night here before I go back to the place I stayed before the mountain. I'm pretty tired. I'm sure I'll get a good sleep.