Advertisement
Published: July 17th 2012
Well, I arrived in Chengdu around 9pm last night via bus from The Big Buddha. Man, it has been RAAAAAINNNING!!! Nonstop rain; day and night! I am trying to go north as fast as possible to escape it. Apprently Sichuan Province is always like this in Summer. Thats fine, but this is just too much rain! I have been keeping pretty dry except for my feet. I am wearing flip flops today but been walking around the city mostly barefoot. $2 flipflops are not so comfortable...
Anway, no more complaining. My hotel last night was good, clean, and comfortable. Had some trouble last night as all hostels were booked up. Very annoying! One hostel said, "you can sleep in the bar its not bad!" Me, "No thanks." I got my things dried out and hung up all over my room. There have been a few lessons learned this trip: make a reservation for EVERYTHING, and, if you want to walk 60km in a day, do it alone.
So more on that. Emei Shan was good. When I got back to my hotel room after updating last time there was a Chinese boy in there (THATS why it was so
cheap; I had to share). It was alright though. He was down to go to bed early and wake up early. Nice guy. So we woke up at 445am and started off! Saw some cool temples and did a LOT of walking! We made it 40km which is pretty damn good! Also it was raining the entire time. Hiking with umbrellas and wet shoes was not so fun. That night it rained all night. Woke up, still raining. We made a weak attempt at the summit and said, "the hell with it" and turned around and caught a bus back to the bottom. We departed ways and I packed up and headed off for....
Leshan Grand Buddha! Man, this guy is HUGE!!! The biggest buddha in the world definitely lived up to expectations. Also, it was pouring rain. I got absolutely soaked, but it was worth it. I think I had my mouth open in awe the entire time. I got some good pictures of me with the buddha. There were hardly any people which is lucky because another traveller showed me pictures of when HE went and it was a zoo! So, no lines, no crouds for me
and actually the peace and the rain made it all the more enchanting. I had a good time with Mr. Buddha.
On the bus ride to Chengdu after the buddha I met a nice Chinese guy and his girlfriend. He was studying English and will be attending the University of Deleware in the fall. We have arrangements to meet for dinner tonight at a restaurant that is "the most delicious in Chengdu!" I think he will treat, too. Pretty cool deal. I thought his English was not that good (certainly not good enough for a university). Then he informed me that he had been studying for one month. Converstational after one month is REALLY impressive. Happy that we are about on the same level: my Chinese and his English.
So now, today, it is STILL raining and I went to the US Consulate to add visa pages. You have to make an appointment. I was about THIS close to scrapping the Stans idea when I found an internet cafe and made an appointment for 9am tomorrow. Next stop is the airline ticket office to buy, well, airline tickets. 3 hours to Urumqi or 3 days? It is twice
the price, but man totally worth it. Well I promised the internet cafe girl that I would only use the computer for 15 minutes and that was up like 10 minutes ago. So, I hope you have been getting my GPS updates. Tomorrow evening I should be in Urumqi! The edge of the desert and the farthest place from the ocean in the world! Please pray for no more rain on this trip! I am sick of it! Okay, see you next time!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.104s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 47; dbt: 0.0529s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Leigh
non-member comment
Good luck!
I hope the rain stops -- I totally understand a vacation with daily rain. Do you have a rain suit or just an umbrella? Also, walking barefoot in Chinese streets sounds like a TERRIBLE idea. You should post a picture of the Buddha. I want to see his giant toes. Keep up the blog -- you are doing a good job. Love you. L