中国贵州兴义马岭峡看钙化瀑 Looking at calcified waterfalls in Maling Gorge, Guizhou, China

WS 101: 中国贵州兴义马岭峡看钙化瀑 Looking at calcified waterfalls in Maling Gorge, Guizhou, China

马岭河峡谷位于贵州省西南兴义市的东北，谷长七十五公里，宽五十到一百米，深百多到两百多米。开放的只是谷的一部分。我们2011年曾跟小团到从一游, 从小青山出入口处走下峡谷，核心游览区为天星画廊，长约两公里，全程约五公里，用了三个多小时。

看景沿着两岸栈道走，上下有台阶。还有一条海狮索桥连接两岸(第四张照片)。谷内群瀑飞流， 我们去时是旱季，水不多，不过瀑布还是相当有气势，小瀑布比比皆是，走在栈道上时常被水淋到。这里是喀斯特(karst)熔岩地貌, 很多溶洞。最奇特的景观是钙化瀑布群，喀斯特熔岩地貌的河水含大量的碳酸钙(calcium carbonate)，喷在岩壁上的碳酸钙长年累积而成一片片，如固体的瀑布，所以称为钙化瀑(第六张照片)。这里的苔藓植物也特别多，原始生态可谓保护完整。雨季时，皮划艇(kayaking)是这里大受欢迎的活动。 

第七张照片是我和一位团友何老的合照，这是我第一次遇到他，几年来我们结伴同游了好几个国家。在我眼里，何老是个传奇人物。 他比我年长七岁，年轻时没受过大专教育，六十岁才去读法律学，六十五岁拿到执业证书，当起律师来。他是学无止境，六十九岁再考获马来亚大学的法律硕士学位。

最后一张照片是一个山玻的特写照，爆光特少成黑色，像个老人的侧影像。是原版，没有修图，是这次旅游拍到最有趣的照片。

Maling Gorge is located in the southwest region of Guizhou Province in China. The gorge is 75 km long, 50-100 m wide and 120-280 m deep. Only part of the gorge is open to the public. In 2011, we spent several hours here at the section called Tianxing Gallery, about 2 km long. 

Shown are some views the scenery on both sides of the stream, like a cable bridge in the 4th photo. There were a few big waterfalls. We went during the dry season, but the waterfalls were still quite impressive. During the rainy season, kayaking on the main stream is a popular activity here . 

This is a karst landform with many caves. The most peculiar landscape is something called calcified waterfalls. The river water of the karst landform contains a lot of calcium carbonate. The calcium carbonate minerals when splashed onto the rock face would accumulate over the years to form into sheets and appeared like solid miniature waterfalls. Hence they are called calcified waterfalls, 6th photo. There are also a variety of mosses here, and the original ecology system could be said to be well preserved. 

The 7th photo shows me and one Mr Ho. That was the first time I met him and we have travelled together to several countries in later years. Mr Ho is a legend. He had no tertiary education when he was young. He went to law school at the age of 60, got a practising certificate at 65 and became a lawyer. He did his Master of Law at the age of 69!  

The last photo is a close-up of the side of a protruding slope. The photo was intentionally under-exposed. The slope profile greatly resembles the silhouette of an old man, the most interesting photo taken on this tour.