After paying our obeisance to the Yellow Dragon in the Belly of the Earth, it was time to move forward.
Sam, our guide, was famished and he talked us into visiting a very touristy restaurant, and we had a tough time choosing stuff from the menu, which was full of exotic meats - snake, partridge, wolf, bear, wild boar, salamander and what not....For a change I was not in an "experimentive" mood this afternoon, as my lovely breakfast was still getting digested.
I let Neeti do the ordering....
Neeti asked for a bowl of fried noodles with vegetables and look this is what got (sic!) - a tasteless noodle soup with a few spinach leaves thrown in....
That left me infuriated with Sam's translation........
The omelette was quite yummy....
Shredded chicken with onion shoots and Sichuan peppers was fiery and nice!
During the meal, Sam sensed our irritation and started talking of Bollywood, yes of all things Bollywood!
Sam went off on Hrithik Roshan and the way he "lovingly" spoke made me wonder he was a gay!
He showed us a clip of Hrithik from the movie Kites that he had on his cellphone!
And then it had to come to Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and 3 Idiots - Sam claimed to have seen the movies umpteen times!
Indeed Bollywood is a potent weapon in India's soft power that does thrive in alien lands, especially in Zhangjiajie, where we were the first Indians for many locals!
Our next stop was Baofeng Lake. Nestled in the midst of mountains, this lake is surreal, green waters and has an indescribable calm
Is that why Baofeng is called the abode of immortals....?
The area was pristine - lush green and misty!
We had to climb up a steep slope, along the mountainside and then descend to the lake side...
We took a ride in one of such boats
The boat guide - the chirpy young girl in blue gave a sing-song description of the lake and its surroundings that enraptured our fellow passengers...
Sam's unenthusiastic description meant a lot was lost in translation!
The pretty Miao girl in the boat behind us sang to all the men in our boat, leaving the old man blushing away to glory!
Misty, mystical and magical!
I would love to live and die for this amazing scene each day of my life!
There she is again! Enthusiastic and energetic!
That's my newest Chinese friend.... He kept looking at me....
Placid!
After the boat ride, we descended some thirty - forty metres from the pavilion on top....
Back to the base, from where we were to head to the Zixia Taoist Temple and then to the airport to head to Shanghai!
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