Tall tales on a mountain

It's amazing what 500 yuan ($75) can buy when you're a foreigner dealing with a borderline-crazy Chinese driver. This became clear on a recent three-day camping trip to a mountain in Pingdingshan, Henan province.

Getting from Zhengzhou to Pingdingshan was a simple bus ride, but the last leg required additional help, which was where the driver came in.

He was a short, middle aged and pleasant man. It's possible he'd spent his entire life previous being calm and sensible, not at all given to recklessness, but that wasn't our experience.

The minute we began negotiating our journey with him, it didn't matter what we asked, this guy was in for the long haul.

We split into two groups and vans. I was in the group with the aforementioned driver and his wife joined us, a nagging, angry woman who didn't appear to share her husband's affection for foreigners. From the first she doubted that we knew where we were going and was particularly put out when our poor driver went up the wrong side of the mountain.

The driver of the other van likewise wanted to quit this journey into the unknown, but our driver was not deterred, he even purchased instant noodles and a toothbrush, hoping to stay and camp with us - which we opted against. Instead, he agreed to return two days later to fetch us, and with that he reluctantly departed.

When we reached our destination, it was a world away from the big cities.

The fresh air was a joy and the mountain where we stayed was near the 108-meter tall bronze Buddha statue in Lushan county, which is said to be the tallest of its kind in the world. The mountain was popular with day-trippers, who arrived in the morning and hiked until dusk before heading home.

The spot where we stayed was visible from the trail and our group of three Americans, a Russian, five Brazilians, and my Filipino girlfriend, became quite a tourist attraction in itself.

Each morning we woke to hear footsteps around our tents and voices discussing our presence. Occasionally people rummaged through our bags for empty bottles, which they could redeem for money. All day long we were merrily greeted with "hellos" requiring a response, which was tough to muster after a few hours.

After being treated like a cross between a celebrity and a caveman at a zoo ("Look how they live!") we were eventually happy to leave.

When our driver picked us up that afternoon, his devotion to us was still evident. But, unfortunately, he was obviously tired and the ride down the mountain was steep and winding, with perilously few road barriers. He actually nodded off at the wheel, nearly hitting an oncoming vehicle. In addition, one brake was as tired as its owner, and periodically squealed and smoked until he got out and poured water on it.

The drive back to Pingdingshan was intense, as we watched the road and driver, who had taken to smacking himself in the face to stay awake. Even his wife was quiet.

When we finally arrived, safe, the driver managed to once again scare and amaze us - he wanted to drive us back to Zhengzhou, right then and there. We thanked him, paid an extra 100 yuan, and may have set a land-speed record in getting as far away as possible from him as we could!