DannyClimber.com

The past two and a half days all blend together with sleep, not sleep, hiking, being lost hiking, being woken up for dinner, running out of bottled water, YouTube marathoning, real marathon training, failing, skyping, good news, and sitting.  I’m going to try a new format and just write on a time line.

Tuesday 2000: I cooked Host Lady (I don’t really know her name) the amazing dinner that she didn’t really care for.  She asked if I had time to go to “The Fragrant Hills,”  The nearest mountain to beijing city with some neat pavillions on top.  Many of my friends over the summer said it was a great view.  I said that I needed to finish downloading and watching season 4 of both Lost and Entourage, but that I would pencil her in.  Not really, I said how bout tomorrow.

Wednesday 0530: I go to sleep after watching Lost and Entourage, alternating as the downloads completed.

0815: Host Lady wakes me up for breakfast.  This was a less fun part of the story …

1030: Arrive to the area after an hour 45 of standing in a bus.   She would never takes a taxi, of this I am sure.  Getting the real life experiences here: smells, touching strangers, Beijing driving, and host lady telling the people next to us all of the wierd foreign things I do.

1100: Realize we aren’t actually going to the Fragrant Hills, but a plant park (direct translation).  We have met one of HL’s friends, also middle-aged, and equally unsure of where the park is.  We set off on a well maintained trail up a different mountain.  Not sure where we’re going, but these women don’t come off to me as the outdoor/active types.  HL is terrified of millipedes, which i find as a pretty easy form of entertainment.

1145:  There are tons of cool looking yellow spiders, but unfortunately they come with very large webs that cross the trail quite near to even with my face.  I realize that this little trek is actually a mission to find the park.  At this point we begin choosing trails based on which ones look shadier.  The women have upheld the Chinese female tradition of the sun umbrella.  I have to duck lower because of the spider webs.  I’m surprised.

1330: I’m beginning to express concern over repeatedly choosing “the path never traveled.”  I learn the Chinese word for exploration of the unknown and feel a little motivated.  My back is sore from dodging spiders and I’m starting to feel the 3 hours of sleep.

1400: Head down.  Run into a road.  It’s not the right road.  Go back up.  I’m more frustrated.

1500: Stumble upon a deserted Ski lodge/ cable lift infrastructure.  Pretty cool, but I have a feeling that winter will be colder than I have been thinking.  We are blocked by a fence, but they are sure our destination is just on the other side.  Find a break.

1515: We hop a fence at the rear of the park after crossing a dryed up man made waterfall and walking through bees swarm on said waterfall.  Amazingly no one was stung.  This was a fun part.  We sit on a bench for a little while.  Really feeling the 3 hours sleep.

1600: Discover the plant park is actually called The Beijing Botanical Garden, a place worth going … some other time.  Take pictures with roses and stuff.  The park admission is less than 1 usd.  Did we go all the way around spider mountain to save 5 rmb?  We’ll likely never know.

1720: Arrive to bus transfer stop after having fallen asleep standing up hanging to the bar on the bus.  Really unfun part.  HL starts the wait for another f-ing bus.  Girls asks me if I want to teach English, gives me a card.  I stick my hand out in spite of protests and catch a cab for us back home.  It costs 2.25 usd.

1745: Fall asleep.

1815: She wakes me up for bbq duck dinner.

1825: Go to sleep.

2400: Wake up, youtube marathon.

Thursday 0800: Go to sleep.

1200: Wake up to phone call, good news about the biopsy from my neck.  Youtube marathon mixed with facebook and Lost.  I don’t have any bottled water and really don’t want to boil it, so i’m thirsty, but don’t want to move from the couch.

1800: HL asks if I want to go for a walk with her and the dog to get some medicine for the mosquito bites.  I don’t want medicine, but say i need to buy dinner and water (haven’t eaten/dranken (?) since the duck).

1930: Depart for my most abitious run since Knoxville Marathon, two laps around the Olympic park, about 16 miles.

2200:  I make it almost 14 before failing.  Try to walk for 10 minutes to re-energize.  It fails.  Take a taxi home, lame.

Thursday 0312: Skyped, wrote, couldn’t sleep, tenatious D.  finish.

a little long