Where Did the Monkeys Go?

(June 4th) My last real day in China began like the last few. Getting out of the hotel early to grab a few shots near the entrance to Zhang Jia Jie National Park before heading back to grab breakfast (breakfast wasn't served until later in the morning). When I first saw the troupe of monkeys the first time rights as I entered the park, I assumed they would be all over the park. Wrong assumption there... Since that first run-in I hadn't seen a monkey and my eyes and ears were definitely focused on searching for them. Still the dawn put some nice colors on the rocks.

After breakfast, it was back into the park. This time to ascend to the heights as quickly as possible. It began rather gradual with a path that led through some dense trees. There were some impressive bamboo forests as well, but I found this pine thicket to be more photogenic.

There were many scenic vistas to take in when we reached some of the higher elevations. Of course not having processed anything, I was very much in an HDR frame of mind. This pillar was one of my favorites. It looked almost as if some magical creature might make its abode atop where there were some rocks and trees. Ok, maybe my imagination was going a bit, but those things happen when you see so many beautiful mountains.

We made it to the top and took in the view that to me symbolizes what Zhang Jia Jie looks like. This field of layer after layer of rocks jutting up vertically out of the valleys shrouded in mist - this is what I think of about the park. I don't know if there is anything like this anywhere else on Earth, but if there is, I haven't seen it.

I could have basked in the view for days, but bus tickets, plane reservations, taxi drivers, these things will not wait for you. So down the mountain it was. Along the way down we saw a person who was building one of the paths. He was carrying up the mountain a large stone slab - probably around 200 lbs in weight, strapped to his back. For carrying 6 of these he earns the equivalent of $10 a day. If there was any pride in finishing the climb up the mountain, it was gone now. I was still on the lookout for the monkeys and finally I heard a troupe. The band was high in the trees a distance from the trail and never came close. We were on our last couple of kilometers when a male just walked on the path right in front. He seemed oblivious to me, which let me get some nice shots off complete with fill flash and everything. Strange to look so hard and then finally find a monkey just feet away.

As we walked the last 100 meters out of the park, to add insult to injury a band of monkeys was frollicking near the gates. There were males and females young and old. They may have been looking for food, but they did not harass the people like I have heard some monkeys will. This just walked around a bit, played with each other, and climbed back into the hillside. As they left, I began my journey back to town, back to Changsha, on to Shanghai, and finally back to the U.S. China was definitely a different world both culturally and naturally, and it was time to return to a world more familiar.