13 OCTOBER 2006

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Onward bound

We handed our meal tickets to the girl on the door and had a quick breakfast. Luggage was piled in the lobby before our taxis arrived at 7.30am to take us to the airport. Unfortunately, we left the cardboard box full of cave food that Zhanghai had bought the day before in front of the hotel. There was probably a bomb scare there later that day. The previous night, we had seen an old crippled woman selling the occassional newspaper and who was sat against the lounge windows whilst we had been enjoying our beers in comfort, so perhaps she benefited from our food box?

At the airport, we checked in our luggage and once again were able to tranfer our heavy items to our hand luggage, which wasn't weighed. Our bottle of whiskey that had been obtained duty free had to be specially repackaged and security checked on our previous internal flight, but on this occassion they seemed to just label the main bag that it was in with a special label. Liquids it would appear cannot be carried as hand luggage on internal Chinese flights. As we boarded our plane to Enshi, we spotted a large passenger bi-plane nearby which was being prepared for take-off. The flight lasted about 50 mins and although we had been warned of pickpockets and thiefs that use the flight to raid hand luggage, we thankfully saw nothing to of the sort.


Boarding our plane at Wuhan we spot a bi-plane service



Off the plane at Enshi Airport

To greet us at the airport was the Director of Land & Mineral Resources for Lichuan and a cameraman from the local TV who had organised a bus for us to take us on the 2hr journey to Lichuan and the Shi Dai Hotel. We were no sooner in our rooms before we were off again, this time to the Teng Long Dong showcave for lunch. The delicious dishes were largely hot in strength and adorned with masses of sun-dried chillies, pickled ginger and garlic - a seemingly popular combination in this region. From the restaurant on one side of the river, a concrete walkway contours around the cave walls about 20m above the fast flowing waters that enter the hillside at this point. The substantial river drops perhaps 7m down a raging cascade before passing into the cave mouth.


Furious cascade into Teng Long Dong river cave

These waters seems to calm down further into the cave as they become deeper. A short bridge crosses over to the opposite wall and the path heads back out onto the far bank. Around the corner is a large rectangular fossil cave entrance that is about 50m across and 60m high. A probable overgrown entrance mound has been levelled and grassed into a large lawn. Evidence of earthworks is given away by the 'tide' mark around the entrance walls.


Precarious walkway above the river entrance to Teng Long Dong


Teng Long Dong fossil entrance

A small office stands outside on the one side and picnic tables line one side of the cave as you walk in. A couple of pools are passed, edged with stone and lined with cobbles. These may once hace been natural and fed by water dripping from the roof. A rank of electric vehicles with several rows of seats then took us along a concrete track lined with illuminated posts. We travelled at speeds of up to 30mph past a stage set and onward to a terminus where we alighted. Here, we sat down on benches to be treated to a spectacular laser show with incredible effects beamed amidst the artificial mist pumped out into the large passage.


Laser show deep within the cave system

The illuminated path continued on into the cave beyond the 2.2km we has already travelled. The electric open-topped carts sped us back through the coloured lighting to the stage set we had passed earlier. At 3.30pm every day, a well rehearsed performance is given that details local dance and custom. We were further amazed by the spectacular performance involving many dancers in a multitude of customs. The story was narrated and displayed on electronic signboards beside the stage. Loud music, projections and special effects added to the wonderous spectacle. A 'moat' in front of the stage spouted combinations of water jets and gas flames at one point in the performance.


Spectacular stage performance within the cave

Back at the hotel, we found time for a welcome shower, followed by a group meeting. After dinner a little time was afforded to computing and unpacking and we wandered out into the streets for some BBQ fodder and beer before crashing out.