On Friday, the other cross country coach and I scoped out the area for the team retreat. It took 3 hours by car. The hotel was very basic. One thing I notice is that all of the beds here are hard. That bed was even harder than the bed at my apartment. This would be considered a rural area and we attracted many stares while we were there. Many restaurants and stores close down at 7 or 8 so sometimes difficult to find food when you are traveling. I ordered a pizza and it had durian on it. It wasn’t too bad but I had an upset stomach from the drive so really did not eat that night.
The only great thing about the room was the steam shower. It was wonderful.
The next morning we went on a 10k run/walk and then a 5k run/walk. We needed to find the best route to take approx. 21 students on. Also during the retreat are team building activities including running bracelets fo cord that ties them as a team.
During the run/walk I snapped a variety of pictures of the countryside. The mountains are amazing. So many of the people farm and they work really hard daily. I spotted a water buffalo in the field on the longest run.
In the middle of the fields I saw a temple. That is a rice paddy in front of it.
The high step to get into the threshold is to keep the bad spirits out. They glide low while good spirits glide higher. When you cross over the threshold you are not to step on that threshold step. Doing so would mean you are standing on the shoulders of the spirits.
More water buffalo…
There will be fields and wilderness and then out of nowehere a grouping of houses. It actually reminds me a little of Western PA. Windy roads, hills, a variety of types of roads…
I think this might be a restaurant…
Breakfast after the run was great! Eggs in wide rice noodles, fried dough, there were pork dumplings I did not eat but I did have a great warm tofu drink. Street food is the best.
Unfortunately I cannot go to the retreat. I will be in Hong Kong for a science workshop. That will be exciting too. This was a fast trip to scope out the area and am glad to experience a rural area outside of Guangzhou!
Glad ur having a good tome
So much to see I don’t know where to begin. All of my travels have been in search of something I need and lead to shopping