Day 1:
On the first day, I had to get up at 4:30 am and go straight to the airport. The two flights to Guilin were interesting as I got the chance to chat with the people on the trip and start to get to know people. Arriving at Hong Kong didn’t feel very different from Singapore, as the airport had the same atmosphere, and was just as busy as Changi airport. However, there was a huge contrast between the Guilin airport and Singapore. As the plane started to land, all I could see were mountains and sprawling grassy hills and forests. The minute we walked out of the airport and into the colder, cleaner air, I felt refreshed and really excited. After a really long bus ride to a rural area, where most people farmed and there were few houses and even fewer industrial buildings, we arrived at a campsite in the middle of some fields. By then it was dark, and setting up a tent for the first time in a few years was challenging. It was really important that we all helped each other set up our tents, or mine would not have worked. After a brief introduction to the instructors and the activities we were going to be doing, we got a bit of time to chat and socialize before going to bed early, ready for a full day of climbing the next day. I was really apprehensive and excited for the next day, and I felt more comfortable than I thought I would.
Day 2:
At 7am, we dragged ourselves out of our tents and started to help our instructors prepare breakfast. Despite the fact that usually, waking up at 7 would be a sleep-in for me, I was really tired as I had yet to get used to sleeping on the hard floor of the tent. I started to feel a bit nervous about the climbing during breakfast, but talking to my friends made me feel a lot better, and I began to feel just as excited as I had the night before. We took a van ride and then walked for about 30 minutes to get to the climbing wall, which was easy compared to the 8 hour hikes we had to do in Chiang Mai! When we arrived at the wall, I was amazed. I hadn’t really known what to expect, and had kind of pictured myself climbing on something similar to an indoor wall but just outside. I was blown away by how pretty the rock wall was, especially since the area we were in was filled with bamboo, and it grew in areas around the wall which just added to the beauty. I was super excited to climb and I could already feel the adrenaline pumping around while we put our harnesses and helmets on. I hadn’t even started climbing and I already felt a rush of excitement. It was also really interesting watching our instructors lead climb for the first time. Since the rope wasn’t already tied onto the wall, the instructors had to climb their way up the wall and put the rope on for us. Even though it wasn’t that dangerous, it looked really scary and I was glad I didn’t have to do it. Throughout the day we climbed walls that were levels 5.5, 5.6, 5.7 and 5.8. I found the climbs pretty easy, but they were still more challenging than indoor walls as it required a lot more concentration and analysis to find holds to put my hands and feet on. I learned how important it is to use my legs more than my arms, as they tire much less quickly and can hold my body weight much more easily. For dinner we enjoyed delicious chinese cuisine in a small local restaurant. Before going to bed, we were introduced to ‘leave no trace’ which is an idea about preserving the environments we visit and appreciating by leaving them clean and safe, as if no human had even visited them. We learnt about disposing of waste wisely, caring for wildlife and not harming it, being respectful of other visitors and minimizing campfire mess.
Day 3:
On the second day of climbing, we had the same morning routine, and after a full day of climbing together the day before, I had become pretty close to lots of people on the trip and we chatted and joked happily during the van ride and walk. I felt really good as my goal for the trip was to be outgoing and make lots of friends and I was doing well so far. At the new wall, we tried a few harder climbs including a level 5.9 and 5.10. I completed the 5.9, which was pretty challenging and required me to push myself, because although I was physically strong enough to do it, I had to think hard to find places for my feet to go in. I think throughout the day I was driven by my competitive spirit, as I made sure I completed everything I tried as I wanted to be as good as everyone else. Unfortunately I did not get the opportunity to try the level 5.10. Throughout the day we focused on “leaving no trace” which is an idea we talked about throughout the trip. We made sure that wherever we went in nature, we had to leave as little of a trail as possible. This involved picking up our trash, being as eco-friendly as possible and not destroying plants and wildlife. We had dinner at a local restaurant again and then played some games before bed. I was super worn-out and fell straight asleep. I felt really satisfied and content after a challenging and fulfilling day.
Day 4:
Today was our rest day, and after helping to cook breakfast, we took another van ride, but this time to a local fan-painting place, where a chinese man talked to us about the art of fan-painting and exhibited some of his work. The fans were really spectacular and I was shocked by the detail and intricacy of the designs. From afar, they looked relatively simple, but once you looked really closely and the designs on the fans, you could tell how meticulously crafted they were. The man spoke only chinese, but I was proud of the fact that my chinese was good enough that I would understand what he was saying when he talked about a brief history of fan painting, how it is an important part of chinese culture, how richer people used to use the fans to show they were wealthy and privileged, and how his father taught him to paint when he was very young. It is such a hard thing to do really well that the man even went to university to learn about fan painting. I felt happy I could understand him as I often doubt my chinese ability and worry that I won’t be able to use it in the real world. After the introduction we got the chance to paint our own fans. My didn’t go that well, but I tried really really hard and the man didn’t seem too disgusted by it! I was proud that I didn’t just give up because I often do that when it comes to drawing and painting as i’m not that good at it. We used special ink and brushes, and it was really hard to draw stuff. The key to doing it is to actually use very simple lines and shapes, that from afar look like something. For example if you look closely at a drawing of a bull, it looks like a blob with lots of lines, but if you look at it from a couple of centimetres away it looks really like a bull. After a delicious local lunch we headed off to a wet market to shop for cooking supplies, as we were going to have to cook for ourselves the next few days. I didn’t have any particular feelings about going there because my family gets all our fruit and vegetables and most of our meat from a wet market near our house. At first, it did all seem normal, but when we got to the meat section everything suddenly changed and it was really distressing. In the centre of the area, there were piles and piles of cages, each one crammed full of animals. Chickens, geese, rabbits and pigeons all sat, piled together, in cages, one on top of the other. Geese attempted to flap their wings in the tiny spaces and rabbits were forced to climb over each other to move. In the distance my group and I noticed a stall, and we watched, horrified, as a man chopped the head off of something in the shadows. Looking in front of him we noticed that the stall was selling dog meat. Entire headless dog bodies were strung up on hooks, and various limbs and body parts were hung in the forefront. A woman stood at the counter, her foot resting on a tiny metal cage. Inside it were two dogs, both chained up and silent. I couldn’t really breathe for a second and I had to turn around look at other stuff. The image was imprinted on my brain and every time i thought about something else it came back. My group had been planning to make chicken stir-fry but we could not buy chicken from this place. We left and started looking for vegetables. I noticed that many of us tried to ignore the horrible shaken up feeling we had by becoming louder and more outspoken. I had to think really hard about my choices regarding eating meat and I felt absolutely terrible that I had lived in such ignorance. I knew animals were kept in cages but somehow I didn’t think it was that bad. I hold a strong belief that I cannot accuse people of being terrible and horrible for eating dogs and cats if I eat cows and pigs. Just because in my culture, we see them solely as companions, it doesn’t mean all cultures do. Hindus find cows sacred but I still eat them. I believe we shouldn’t eat them not just because they are dogs, but because no animal should be treated the way they do. I later found out that people like the meat tough, so they stress the dogs out as much as possible before being eaten. It is so unfair that we take advantage of animals like this just because they can’t fight back. When we got home after the distressing experience, my group played games while the other group cooked. They ended up making chicken dumplings, but luckily they had a few vegetarian options. I felt too guilty to eat the chicken and instead chose the vegetarian ones.
Day 5:
For the first time, I slept through the previous night, since I was really tired and had finally gotten used to sleeping in the tents. After a very slippery walk up to the climbing wall, we arrived and started climbing as quick as we could. Throughout the day I managed to try lots of different climbs and really challenged myself. I got a headache in the afternoon, which taught me the hard way to drink more water. I wanted to keep climbing so badly that I ignored it, which I later realised was a bit silly as it hurt even more at night. When we arrived back at the camp, my group started to cook noodles, stir-fry and scrambled eggs. I was anxious to prove myself as a relatively competent chef and was pleased that my scrambled eggs worked (it would have been embarrassing if they went badly) I took them out of the pan a little bit too early deliberately, as often with scrambled eggs they continue to cook when they are hot even after you have taken them out of the pan. My dad taught me to take them out right when they were on the brink of being taken out. Lots of people started telling me off and saying they weren’t done, and it taught me to be patient and explain my technique to them. I hate overcooked eggs and often people who take them out and then leave them served for a while tend to overcook them. In the end I was right, but it was good that people questioned me because instead of being annoyed I was patient and explained what I was doing. After dinner we went on a boat and watched a local man using birds to fish. The birds had something in their throat so that they couldn’t swallow the fish they caught. The man would release the birds, they would catch fish, and then he would push the fish out of their mouth, rewarding them with a smaller fish they could swallow. I felt strange about how we manipulate animals. There was nothing keeping the birds from flying away and escaping, yet they continuously came back to the man’s boat because that was the only way they could eat. The birds weren’t in cages, but they were still just as captured. However, the man still treated the birds relatively gently which was good.
Day 6:
On our last day of climbing, we were all really sad and tired, as the week had been so amazing. We had to pack up to leave the camp since that night we were staying in an inn. We came back to the wall we climbed on day 2, but this time we tried harder walls. I challenged myself to climb as quickly as I could, which was really fun. I finally got the opportunity to try a 5.10 and I was really proud when I succeeded. On the last day, I really felt how I had improved compared to the first day after learning and practicing skills and techniques. I was reminded once again to be grateful for my opportunity to go on this trip when I thought about all of the people we had seen in this area who didn’t have very much money and spent their whole lives farming. I was entertained by the fact that throughout the trip, there were several women who turned up and the walls in clothes entirely unsuited for climbing. There was one woman who wore a dress! Since the walls are so common in China, I think that there is a pretty relaxed attitude about climbing, as people often have the opportunity to do it. The lady only completed easier routes, but I thought she did well considering she was in a dress. For dinner, we went to a really nice restaurant. I was so tired after all the challenging climbing throughout the day that I could barely chat and joke around like I normally did with my peers. After that we shopped at a local night market, and I managed to bargain with the stall owner until I got a 10 yuan discount. It wasn’t much, but I was happy all the same. We stayed at a small and nice inn that night, and completed a reflection where we wrote a letter to our future self. I stayed up late talking that night, which I later regretted. However, it was really fun being able to spend time with my friends.
Day 7:
On our last day, we got up to go caving in a big, watery cave. After having a local and delicious breakfast of noodles, we went to the cave. We made sure to wear old clothes as they got super wet and muddy. It was a really interesting experience and we learnt about the different and highly technical names for cave formations, such as cave bacon and cave popcorn (the early cave discoverers must have been hungry lol) There was a natural mud bath that had the same mud as expensive spas have, except it was free. It had the weirdest and most satisfying feeling. I made the mistake of putting mud on my instructor’s back and he picked me up and dunked me in the mud. My clothes were kinda dirty after that. We also experienced complete darkness in the middle of the cave by turning of our head torches. It was really freaky that no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t even see the shape of my hand.
Shortly after we had lunch, we were off to the airport. All of a sudden I was sitting on a plane on my way to changi. I couldn’t believe it was over so fast and that I was in a mud pit just that morning. I felt really exhausted but really good for completing such a challenging trip.
