Monkey’s bite and I got a STEAK DINNER! (Real Food!)

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Today was the earliest day of all the day…ever. I had to wake up at 6:30am! We went on a hike up Ermei Mountain, holy land. And there was no better way to start this early morning than with a nice gondola ride up part of the way! After getting off, I instantly found myself in the middle of the wilderness…it was pretty sweet. We spent most of the morning hiking through the mountain till we found a Wannian Temple in Fall. Missy, Sean and I as well as a few others went inside and explored on our own since we were frustrated with our tour guide for rushing through the sites. There were a lot of people here to day that it was almost difficult to navigate through the temple.

Afterwards we finally got breakfast/lunch of which I was in dire need after the hike. Then the best part of the day came…the monkeys! We walked to the area the monkeys were known to ‘hang out’ and we excepted to see about 5 monkeys. OMG, there were so many monkeys and I got so close to them! They would walk up to us and just sit there! Two monkeys got smart and one jumped on Jason’s back while the other pick-pocketed Jason to get the stuff out of his pocket, took it and ran off! It was so funny and we all died laughing. Another monkey started grabbing our friends leg and tried to climb up him!

Sadly, not everyone had a great experience with the monkeys. Chloe had a water bottle and one the moneys tried to grab it from her and she pulled it away and the money jumped on her, bit her head and then sat on the fence. Everyone started telling her to just give the monkey the bottle and she did. The monkey sat there and chewed at the plastic bottle and we all walked off. Luckily, the monkey didn’t break the skin and she was ok but it was a little scary. I had a good time though; I kept my distance yet still go the pictures I wanted.

While walking back down the mountain we came across this huge lake that I had to stop and take some pictures of. It was so nice and relaxing…I guess these last few days have been.

We got back to the hotel and we had an hour and a half to grab dinner before a night class. After failing to hail a cab on a busy street during rush hour, (what a surprise) Missy, Claire, Fei and I went into the first restaurant we saw.

I won’t lie, I really do like the Chinese food here but I really miss the diversity of foods; Mexican, Italian, Japanese, ect. Tonight Missy, Claire, Fei and I struck gold; went to a STEAK HOUSE!!! There is no better way to say it but dinner was phenomenal! I had steak and salad and it was a full blown American meal and we all had the time of our lives. I missed steak soo much!

Full belly and all, I went to the lecture to listen to a professor from Sichuan University talk to us about the Urban-Rural Development in China. Basically, he talked about the homestays in China where the people from the city go to stay at the farmer’s houses for a vacation and just relax…live a traditional lifestyle. It seemed pretty cool; kind of reminded me of a bed and breakfast in Amish Country.

I’m pretty exhausted and I need to pack for 2 night excursion somewhere. I heard they have ponds so I can’t wait to go swimming!

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Photos

Gondola Ride
I felt like it should have been snowing and I needed my snowboard...trippy.

Ally, Missy, Me and Jess at the Temple
It was so pretty I needed to take a picture...outside of course.

Lovely
I didn't want the hike to end because of this view. Are those houses for sale?

Claire excited about Steak dinner!
One word: STEAK!