The Gourmet Couture: Travel Diary- Xuexiang

Finally!!! I apologise in advance for the photo spam ahead but there was just too many photos to share so this is my 'filtered' version. Having visited what I dub 'The Middle of Nowhere' it was certainly an experience I won't forget for a while. Aesthetically it is amazing but remember behind these glossy edited photos is an untold story which includes uncomfortable and almost monolithic (a bit of an exaggeration here) sleeping quarters (that were worse than at Xuegu) and lack of amenities due to Xuexiang's seclusion from the rest of civilisation. All-in-all, take these photos with a grain of salt.

So cold that my eyelashes started to freeze over

Woke up to leave Xuegu at around 8am to do a 15km hike up one side of the mountain and down the other side to reach the neighbouring village- Xuexiang. The following are photos that I took along my hike.

The reality is that the little hut behind this sign is the ladies' toilet. I did say earlier that this is The Middle of Nowhere.

Very excited to reach the top of the mountain, cue many many photo opportunities

Down the mountain

Reaching Xuexiang at like 3pm after a 1hr break at the top

Icicles which were too amazing not to photograph

I can't stay away from ice-cream especially when I am a firm believer that it is best enjoyed in Winter

Eating ice-blocks when it's like -20 degrees is the best! Honestly it's so cold but there's something about that cold sensation that makes you appreciate the ice block even more. They were price from 3-5RMB or AUD$0.60-1 but despite the funny/cute looking faces on some of the packaging, the best tasting one is the milk-flavoured 5RMB (the price is a good indicator of how good it is)

Special nashi pear grown that only grows in cold temperatures. It was the sweetest and juiciest pear I've tasted and I wish Australia had something like this but ironically it is the extreme weather that results in this perfect specimen of a fruit.

Woke up at like 5am initially hoping to see the sunrise but that plan was abandoned due to the bad weather. Instead I was the first one to enter this separate mini-village that really houses no one but is more of a tourist spot, because it's so photogenic. You'll see why soon.