I woke up the morning of October 3 feeling pretty puny with a nasty flu bug that included nausea and fever. It was a day we were moving on to Shenyang with a stop at Benxi Caves along the way. All I wanted to do was pull the covers up over my head, snuggle in, and sleep, but no go. Jack was picking us up at 9:00 and it was on the road again.
After a two hour journey we arrived in Benxi, about 200 kilometers south of Anshan. It was cold, drizzly, and once again very crowed. I put on my best "I'm fine" face, bundled up in the warmest clothes I had (which were not warm enough), and set out to see the Benxi Caves. It was a true indicator that I wasn't feeling well when my camera did not even come out until the end of our journey. It's not a good sign when I don't take at least 50 pictures an hour!
We purchased our tickets, queued up again, and took a very chilly tram ride to the entrance of the cave. There were so many people, one couldn't even tell there was a cave when the tram dropped us off.
And the queue to get inside the cave...it kept going and going and going!! We had to walk all the way to the top of this hill until we found the end of the line. We enquired as to how long the wait was and were given the answer, "Èr xiǎoshí." Translation: Two hours! I was game for calling it a day and cutting our losses (It was actually a pretty big loss...not a cheep entrance fee), but Claire and Nancy were ready to see the caves. So onward we went...at a very slow pace! There were guards stationed about every 20 meters or so, to keep the crowds "in line." (Pardon the pun!) I was very happy about this fact, because there were at least 1,000 times more people in this queue than there were in the tram queue at Qianshun. Thanks to the stern looks and directions from the guards, everyone behaved themselves and there was no pushing and shoving or even a little nudge. Whew!
Once we made it to the front, we were directed into the caves with the masses of people. This is where it got a little tight and claustrophobic and out came the camera. There were still guards all along the way though. The two Americans and one Canadian were definitely a novelty in the crowd and we did get a bit of special treatment from the guards. They let us through when all others were being stopped. We greatly appreciated this!
Ok, so please tell me....where are all these people going to hide?
Do we look a little tired and frazzled?!
Once we made it through the caves on foot, we were led to the boats that would take us deep into the caves. Before we hopped in (and believe me you had to do it quick...they didn't wait around!), we were given jackets to don. They were a bit scary and stinky, but I must say it was the only time I was warm all day long. I just couldn't bring myself to put up the hood though, so I got pretty wet. Better wet than the alternatives my brain was imagining!
Nancy's face sums up our day!
A bit dark here, but we're now on the boat.
Parts of the cave were quite beautiful. The stalagmites and and stalactites were plentiful...but let me tell you it was "It's a Small World" gone very wrong.
I swear the drivers of these boat were TRYING to take the passengers out! And it must have been extra points for the Americans and Canadian! They'd gun the engine around a corner and the next thing you knew...here comes a stalactite...with no warning in a very dark cave!!!!! AHHHHH!!!! If you weren't looking and didn't duck just in time...splash! In the drink you went with a very bad headache!! You may think I'm exaggerating here, so check out this picture. From the state of the stalactite, a few heads had been bashed and a few bodies were knocked overboard.
There was boat, after boat, after boat of people being shepherded far into this cave. I found myself wondering about the ecological impact of all these people and exhaust from all the boats and wishing I was not playing a part in the decay of these beautiful caves. They even allowed smoking inside the cave. I felt myself getting sadder and sadder, the deeper and deeper we went into the cave. Geologically speaking, I don't think this cave will be around much longer if some changes aren't made.
All in all, I must say I wish I had pulled those covers over my head and stayed in bed. Not one of my favorite days so far, but some days are just that way! I was so happy to climb back in the car with Jack and head to the New World Hotel in Shenyang. The moment we checked in, I laid my weary, cold body down to rest, and slept straight through until morning. Ah, the healing powers of sleep.
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