Taking a gruelling ten-hour road trip with a two and a four year
old makes one go a tad crazy enough to feel that the trip shouldn’t have been undertaken
in the first place because of the tears, fights, mess, spills and aching
arms. However, arriving at the
destination and seeing the two boys enjoy the gorgeous outdoors of Bashang to
the hilt, the exhausting car ride was worth it all.
We were a caravan of people that fit into eight off-road and one
non-off-road car headed for Bashang where city folks go to escape the summer heat
at the average altitude of 1,300 to 1,600 meters above sea level. What should have been an eight hour trip took
longer than usual because of bathroom and food breaks plus the non-off-road car
got stuck several times in the dirt road and had to be “rescued” by a seasoned
off-road driver.
We set off from Tanggu after lunch and arrived close to midnight
at a hotel of fake Mongolian yurts. The
real yurt is made of layers of fabric with wool insulation but as so many
things in China aspiring only to look like the real thing, the rooms were made
of white-painted concrete, had big glass windows plus a bathroom inside which
you wouldn’t find in a genuine yurt. When
you’re in China, you just enjoy these little quirks as much as your humour can. We’re in Inner Mongolia anyway.
In the morning, we went horseback riding and had turns at the
ATVs and cross motorcycles over the grassland outside the hotel. This is where you let your inner child out
and have pure fun. By afternoon, it was
too hot to do anything except chat and read in the shade while the kids were
the only ones who had leftover energy to stay under the sun and play in the
mound of sand intended for constructing more yurt rooms.
Before dusk, we set out for our camping ground fifteen minutes
away. The land gracefully dipped down
creating a natural bowl partly sheltered from the wind. On one side it was framed by rows of trees
and on another side there were giant sand pits perfect for hours of kids
play. Some people diligently set up the
tents while others dispersed taking photos, the kids collected insects and shovelled
sand. At night, our dinner was delivered
courtesy of the hotel. This is camping
in style complete with food delivery!
Two big containers of boiled lamb were devoured in a few minutes and
then the festivities began.
This outdoor club has been in existence for seven years and
they’ve amassed some serious party equipment they lug with them through their
travels. A white screen hung onto a
metal frame propped up at the back of a 4x4.
With big speakers, spotlight, laptop and LCD projector in place, the
karaoke singing began and voila -- instant al fresco night club in the
mountains! One of the members supplied fireworks. A bonfire was lit and people danced around it
like a modern tribe. The strong
spotlight was focussed on the dancing troupe creating elongated shadows against
the grassy hill. When things quieted
down, they played an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. These people know how to go camping indeed!
Snug asleep in our tent at around three in the morning, the wind
howled and it rained but we had ample protection. In the morning, we woke up to almost
unadulterated nature – the kind you really miss when you live in the city, the
kind you wish you had in your own backyard so the children can have unlimited
play in soil instead of concrete.
Instant noodles were prepped for breakfast then we set off for more
rough-road adventure.
We went back to the hotel to pick up the guide who would show us
where the photogenic, awe-inspiring spots are.
This group is passionate about their 4x4’s, hugging the terrain with speed,
treating the kids to a natural roller coaster ride. At one point, the lead Toyota Land Cruiser 80
got stuck crossing a muddy river and it had to be extracted using a winch
connected a tree while a Mercedes Benz G55 helped pull it out. The operation took more than an hour but the
wait was a ritual part of the fun, another chance to pick more flowers.
By afternoon, I was desperate to take a hot shower so we went to
town and found a place where this could be done for 20RMB. We had another feast of a lauriat dinner
back at the yurt hotel. When we arrived
at our camp it was a little late and it was a quieter night than the previous
one -- time to savour the multitude of stars across the vast sky. The next morning, we took our thin rubber foam
sleeping mats, transformed them into sleds, slid down the sand, pulled each
other and rolled ourselves like sushi down the steep slopes.
Then it was time to head home after a few more forays into the
land of photo opportunities. The only
sad part of the trip was seeing too many plastic bottles and rubbish dotting
and marring the landscape that one wishes there was a “Save Bashang from Trash”
movement. If you go to Bashang, please
do take a lot of garbage bags with you and don’t leave anything behind.
How much did this mini-vacation cost? The gas to and from Bashang cost around 1,000
to 1,400 RMB depending on the car type.
We each paid the hotel 450 RMB which included one night stay in the
room, two sit down lauriat dinners, one lamb dinner delivery, two big
breakfasts and ride-all-you-want on the horses and ATVs. The hotel gave us a
discount because we were a group of over 30 people. Not bad for a four-day
weekend.
Definitely must come back here again in autumn when the riot of
colours must stun us.
