The weather here this weekend hit its zenith: cloudless skies, mild temperatures and just a zephyr to wipe away a sheen of perspiration if one was strolling away from the trees in full sun for a stretch. It was so delightful in the daylight hours, with just a hint of coolness when the sun retreated for the day. We went and did our grocery shopping in the flush of a blooming Saturday early afternoon, before strolling down to the SOGO to visit our favourite Thai restaurant for our usual combined lunch and dinner.
This combined meal has two benefits. The first and most obvious is that we only need to cater for one meal versus two, but the other benefit is that we are so ravenously hungry by the time we eat it that anything tastes wonderful! The latter is an added bonus sometimes, but not necessary at this Thai restaurant: the fresh food steaming from the wok is just sublime and we marvel at it each and every time. The eggplant is so vibrantly crimson it looks artificial and the shrimp pancakes are melt in your mouth. We usually combine these with beef and cashews and a traditional green curry chicken: a feast for Thai kings!
I conquered the thousand(s) of steps on Tienmu Gudao on Sunday while Cass struggled with the website for the German train giant, Deutsche Bahn! Cass was keen to explore a few train pass options for our upcoming trip after an informative chat with our friend Ange, who'd done some German train traveling a couple of years ago. We'd already managed to book, but not pay for, some return tickets from Frankfurt to Munich, so we wondered if we could include these bookings under the umbrella of a rail pass. I left Cass to sort out the intricacies while I challenged myself after a long lay-off.
The monkeys were foraging softly, and despite the tell-tale crack of branches from a swinging simian somewhere far away in the forest, they spared me any further heartache. I climbed methodically and cautiously, conscious that my shoes were untested on the surface of the steps and also my heart hadn't been sped up like this for a little while! I'd blown out two pairs of well used shoes at camp and was using a back-up pair. They performed quite admirably yet my heart slightly less so: I was huffing and puffing with a beating heart at various checkpoints all the way to the top!
The stroll around the ridge-line at the top of the steps is always rewarding, but especially so today. The air was fresh, the sun dappling through the canopy, and the warm-down along the path was actually quite exhilarating as the trail winds its way around the mountain with occasional and fleeting views of the valley life far, far below. My shoes held up well and the cooling draught of water at the bottom made it a short excursion to savour.
Cass did indeed sort out the rather confusing DB website and we subsequently purchased a four day (flexi: non consecutive days) pass for some major journeys we might take and no doubt, we'll navigate around the system on a few shorter trips as well over the period. The world continues to be our oyster: we're well aware of this and grateful for everything we have.