Natural High

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.