Huangousho falls is one of the reasons we came to Anshun They are supposedly the largest in Asia and our goal today was to go visit them and possibly the massive Longgong caves as well if there was time. We knew that these two places would be very Chinese touristy but figured they would be worth the look anyway.

The day didn’t get off to the best start as we inadvertantly bought 3 bus tickets to the falls instead of 2 (don’t ask). Then when we were almost at the waterfall area ticket office the bus driver stopped next to a group of taxis on the side of the road and shouted for some people to get off, us included. After showing the driver a picture of the falls and getting ‘yes yes’ from him, we got in a taxi with another Chinese couple. We should have just stayed on the bus as the taxi took us to the ticket office and car park where a hundred other taxis were parked AND where the bus stopped next anyway. As far as we can figure, it must be that the bus driver has a deal going with his taxi driver mates to get a one up on the other taxis and grab people before they get to the ticket office. We’re not sure but we think the idea is that you buy an entrance ticket then get back in the taxi who then takes you around the falls and other ‘scenic spots’. At least that’s what we think the set up is as we never got further than the price board at the entrance and never paid the taxi driver anything.

The prices, in our view, were astronomical. £18 per person to get in and another £5 each for the bus that gets you from the entrance to the falls. It was Wutai Shan all over again. We only wanted to see the one waterfall and not that badly. We stood staring at the prices and debating whether we should cough up the £46 or give up when a young girl came up and asked if she could help us out. Turned out her name was Penny and she would show us the falls from outside the park for a fee of £10. We didn’t even bother to try bargain and just took her up on her offer.

We walked out of the ticket office and down the road for what must have been about 20 or 30 minutes until we reached a tiny parking lot :gps:(GPS)::25.99304::105.66449:gps: amongst the shops and buildings lining the road. Maybe 4 cars could fit in the lot and at the back there was a little blue door and a flight of stairs leading down to what turned out to be a fantastic viewing point directly opposite the falls.

The falls are very pretty, cascading down the limestone cliff into a green pool at the bottom. We spent maybe half an hour taking photos, admiring the falls and watching the very long trail of tourists on the official park paths below us. We were envious that they could follow the path all the way around the cliffs and behind the falls themselves, but since we got to see the falls for a fraction of the price they paid, we weren’t that dissapointed.

We decided against going to the caves on the way back to Anshun on the basis that they would probably also be very highly priced and even more crowded. Instead we will try to go to Zijin caves which is somewhat further out of town and will hopefully be a bit more of an adventurous day trip.

[Pictures: Very pretty Huangguoshu falls]

– Posted from my iPhone via Wifi