Travel Diary- Xue Gu

One of the must-do items in our Chinese itinerary, or at least for my mother, was to visit Xue Gu-Xue Xiang. I pair them together because in order to truly experience Xue Xiang- the bigger and more famous town- you have to go through Xue Gu, that is if you're keen to do the mountain hike. The 15km up and down trek may seem daunting especially given its inclines and elements (snow and lots of it) but when I post the next lot of photos in this series I think you will agree with me when I say that it was all worth it in the end. Of course you're welcome to skip the mountain hike entirely but if you're travelling all the way to Harbin (far North-West China) and then doing 1-2hr drive just to get here, I'm pretty sure you're just as keen as the next person to get your bang for your buck. 

Tip: if you want to do the joint two town experience I recommend joining a tour because you don't want to be carrying your luggage on the hike. Instead it is much easier to leave the luggage and accommodation organisation to a tour, at the very least they have connections. In saying that I do have to warn you that these towns are very remote, electricity is limited and so is hot water. For a place where you can expect -20 degrees temperatures you have to forgo the comfort of having a hot shower (they don't exist) as well as a large soft bed. 

Where I slept and yeah expect to share this 'bed' with other people. Oh and don't expect a plush bed, nope it is practically a rock.

Think of this as an electric blanket but rather than a blanket it is goes underneath a fabric where you would otherwise expect your mattress cover to be. 

I guess if anything, those 2 days were a big reality check for me and my Western sensibilities.