Waterfalls in AnShun. Day 1

I am hugely behind on my travel updates, I went to AnShun back in October but have been alarmingly busy but that's for later.



First area

AnShun is about 8 hours away from Kunming by train so a weekend was plenty. It was just me and Karen who planned ever minute of our trip. For once all I had to do was turn up and do as I was told.

It was the usual weekend away routine, Sunday over night train and back again on the Wednesday morning.

We arrived into AnShun early on the Monday morning and jumped into a mini van with a bunch of strangers who were also going to the waterfall scenic area. It was only about an hours drive but it was an hour spent talking to people who just had the stupidest foreigner related questions. "Do all foreigners eat lots of pizza?" "Is there Chinese food in England?" and so on.....



Second area cave

HuangGuoShu waterfall scenic area is actually split into three areas which are about 25Kilometers apart. Our driver had a special licence so he could drive between the areas inside of the park. everyone else jumped on the public buses that run all the time. The first one was a small-ish waterfall and a short walk along a  river.

The second area was similar looking to the Stone Forest and had a fairly large cave also along the river. The cave was full of stalagmite and tites which had all been lit up bright colours so it had a Disney feel to it. Regardless it was impressive and Karen and I spent ages playing with cameras and phones trying to get one to work in the dark.

Second area waterfall

The final area was HuangGuoShu waterfall itself. reports varied but the best we could work out it's the tallest waterfall in China and the widest in Asia. Again we still aren't completely sure on the exact record as even in the park the signs didn't all agree.

There was a purpose built trail that followed one side of the river, went behind the waterfall and then down the other side of the river and finally crossing the river back to the beginning. We climbed hundreds of steps up to the top of the trail (stopping occasionally for a rest and photographs). The whole trail took just under an hour and we were shattered at the end, annoyingly we then had to walk back up to the car park which was a further couple of hundred steps. A very good work out for the legs but which nearly killed Karen.

We stayed in this nasty little hotel by the train station and the phrase "you get what you pay for" definitely applied. We payed £4 each for the night so I am sure the state of the room can be imagined.

HuangGuoShu waterfall