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| Not sure what I am doing here? |
This past weekend was our second to last weekend left in China. We had joined the Chengdu Panda Hash Run once before in December and loved it. We had hoped to make it over a couple more times but as life and schedules would have it we only managed to make it out one last time. It happened to be their annual away run. Luckily they let us out of towners join in. After a crazy Friday afternoon at Maple Leaf (I put on the 2nd annual Chongqing Maple Leaf Riot.... the school gathers and plays silly games against different families, people get dirty, people get wet, and people are generally a little crazy...) we hoped on the 5pm bus to Chengdu. We stayed at our regular chosen spot of Traffic Inn Hostel. P.S. This is one of my favorite hostels in China. We enjoyed some cold beverages and a yummy breakfast at the hostel before we headed out to meet the gang at the regular meeting spot. The bus ride was tame and long (3hours ish) but eventually we made it to Zitong. A scenic park/hotel/getaway chinese style. It was in the hills, surrounded by forest and tons of trails. Upon our arrival, we checked in and joined up for lunch. This is where we began drinking SNOW and didn't really finish until we arrived to the east train station sunday evening... The lunch was very chinese with some cold and hot dishes. After some time for digestion we met for our first run. Lucky us it also started to rain. The run was really fun, I haven't run in such slick, sticky, deep mud in a long time,... I kept choosing the wrong way and having to back track and catch up with the front runners. I was laughing the entire time... The run was about 1.5 hours but dind't feel long at all... hashes are fun for that... searching for trails, finding the wrong trails, running with others, running on different terrain, bushwacking sometimes, climbing, descending.... no time to get bored.. makes me so excited to get back to trails in BC.... yipee! We ran from the hotel to dinner. Dinner was at an organic farm house. We had the place to ourselves and they made some really delicious food. I even ate some of the meat:). We continued the gatherings back at the hotel but all the traveling and hecticness of the last couple of days left me dreary and tired. Eventually it was all I could do to keep my eyes open... time for bed...
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| Look I found flour and am concerned with the upcoming climb |
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| False trail |
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| leading the way |
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| enjoying a wet drink |
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| washing line |
We had a nice lie in, and breakfast at the hotel before our second run. The second run proved to be shorter, less muddy, and a little easier trails. The views were supposedly spectacular but we got lucky with heavy fog and managed to barely see the person next to us. Following the run we enjoyed more beverages through to lunch, on the bus ride and to the train station. Andrew and I managed to swing some hard sleeper tickets for the night train to YC. We made it home in the wee early hours of morning: enough time for a couple more hours of sleep before it was time for work. A solid weekend, with great people, fun runs, and delicious food.
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| tombs |
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| cheers |
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| the chengdu panda hashers |
Live, love, laugh,...DREAM!
lina
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