We woke up this morning to the sound of lashing rain against the window. We looked out the window to the site of the spectacular gorge as the clouds began to clear across the peaks.
On the second leg of the trek we descended the whole way down to the rapids plunging through the narrow gorge. Once we got to the rapids we couldn’t hear each other talking with the sound of the water crashing off the walls of the gorge. Looking back up, we were dreading the climb back. 
On the way back up we came to a fork in the path. A lonely sign stood there with two arrows. One arrow leads to the safe but longer path while the other points to the ‘dangerous ladder’. We decoded on the latter. When we saw the ladder we nearly turned back straight away. They should have written perilous ladder, not dangerous ladder. It was an old rusty ladder that seemed to go up and up forever. We couldn’t see the top. We were a bit pressed for time so we decided to chance it. Halfway up the never-ending ladder my legs started to shake. I made the mistake of looking down at the angry waters below as the ancient ladder creaked and swayed. To be honest the rest of the climb was a blur. All I remember was sitting up and looking around. I was at the top and we were all sprawled out on the ground catching our breath as we realised what a stupid thing we had done. By some luck all of us had survived. 
When we reached the road above we decided to get into a van and get a lift back to Jane’s guesthouse. Halfway down the road we were brought to a dead stop as the road was covered with boulders from a landslide that had happened overnight with the rain. We had to climb over the top and hike quickly back to the guesthouse miles away. There we waited for an eternity for a bus. Eventually it came and brought us back to Lijang.
In Lijang another bus awaited us. A type of bus I had never been on before. A sleeper bus. It sounded exotic and what not but it was an awful thing altogether. The bunks were tiny both in width and length and the smell was out of this world. Our bus contained mostly kids who proceeded to vomit incessantly the whole way. Only 12 hours to go on this bus. Amid the vomiting and opium smoking teenagers I managed to fall asleep.
On the second leg of the trek we descended the whole way down to the rapids plunging through the narrow gorge. Once we got to the rapids we couldn’t hear each other talking with the sound of the water crashing off the walls of the gorge. Looking back up, we were dreading the climb back. On the way back up we came to a fork in the path. A lonely sign stood there with two arrows. One arrow leads to the safe but longer path while the other points to the ‘dangerous ladder’. We decoded on the latter. When we saw the ladder we nearly turned back straight away. They should have written perilous ladder, not dangerous ladder. It was an old rusty ladder that seemed to go up and up forever. We couldn’t see the top. We were a bit pressed for time so we decided to chance it. Halfway up the never-ending ladder my legs started to shake. I made the mistake of looking down at the angry waters below as the ancient ladder creaked and swayed. To be honest the rest of the climb was a blur. All I remember was sitting up and looking around. I was at the top and we were all sprawled out on the ground catching our breath as we realised what a stupid thing we had done. By some luck all of us had survived. When we reached the road above we decided to get into a van and get a lift back to Jane’s guesthouse. Halfway down the road we were brought to a dead stop as the road was covered with boulders from a landslide that had happened overnight with the rain. We had to climb over the top and hike quickly back to the guesthouse miles away. There we waited for an eternity for a bus. Eventually it came and brought us back to Lijang.In Lijang another bus awaited us. A type of bus I had never been on before. A sleeper bus. It sounded exotic and what not but it was an awful thing altogether. The bunks were tiny both in width and length and the smell was out of this world. Our bus contained mostly kids who proceeded to vomit incessantly the whole way. Only 12 hours to go on this bus. Amid the vomiting and opium smoking teenagers I managed to fall asleep.
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