Blogs from Leshan, Sichuan, China, Asia - page 5

Tiger Leaping Gorgen patikoinnin jälkeen saavuttiin illalla takaisin Lijangiin ja nautittiin lämpimistä suihkuista. Käytiin illemmalla vielä syömässä Naxi-ravintolassa ja käveltiin turisteina turistien seassa vanhassa kaupungissa. Seuraavana aamuna herättiin jalat hieman hötöinä edellisten päivien kävelystä, mutta lähdettiin vielä kävelemään kohti yhtä Lijangin nähtävyyttä, Black Dragon Poolia (puisto). Sinne ei ollut onneksi kuin parin kilometrin matka, joten se ei tuntunut missään. Sisäänpääsymaksu oli hulppeat 6 euroa per naama, joten ei mitään halpaa lystiä ottaen huomioon, että oltiin menossa vain puistoon. Käppäiltiin siellä jotain tunnin verran ja nautittiin kauniista näkymistä ja siitä, että ei tarvinnut tehdä mitään. Istuskeltiin varjossa ja lepuuteltiin jalkoja edellisten päivien kävelemisestä. Puiston jälkeen valuttiin takaisin vanhaan kaupunkiin, eikä illan syömisiä l... read more

It was off to see the big Budda at Leshan. I was still feeling a little rough, and am developing a nice black eye. Looking forward to seeing the Big Buddha, which is a massive Buddha carved into the side of a mountain at the conversion point of 3 rivers. It's several hundred years old and mean't to be spectacular. However, it is now May week, which is a 1 week period where the whole of China gets a week off, and travel to the sights. And boy do they come in droves. We walked up to the Buddha, to then walk down to get a good picture. However, there was the biggest queue I have seen (much larger than the one in Hong Kong). It was madness, so we only saw its head, which was ... read more

Another sleeper train, (ok maybe we moan a little but it saves on accomodation and it's nice to wake up in a new place) and we arrive at the foot of the Buddhist mountain Emei Shan. Before our ascent of the mountain we make a quick pilgramage to Leshan and the largest Buddha in the world, and boy this Buddha's big, carved out of the cliff face he stands at over 70mtrs tall overlooking Leshan with the laziest pair of eyes. In discussion with the owner of the guesthouse we tell him we don't want to take the traditional 3 days to do Emei Shan and instead want to be at the top for sunset, planning ourselves a gruelling 10 hour trek in the process. The next day we are up at 6am to begin the ... read more

The reason I went to Leshan is a giant Buddha carved out of the rock next to the river by some hard-working monks. Leshan is very nice itself because it is situated on the peninsula of a river mouth. Instead of joining all the tourists on the standard boat cruise to the huge feet I took a ferry to an island opposite the Buddha. Here, many locals spent there evening while having a picnic and enjoying the view.... read more

Today is our second day in Leshan, and we are sitting in a nice internet cafe where no one can speak English and it is all teenage boys playing videogames and talking smack. At least we can still use the internet, Microsoft rules the world. Before that we spent 3 days hiking on Emeishan, an 1800 year-old Buddhist pilgrimage. At the highest point, it was over 3000 meters. The hike was challanging mentally and physically, and there were really nice cliffs, waterfalls, temples, and pagodas. There were also aggressive Tibetan Maccaus that would challange people for any food they had and we had to stare them down. Plus, we saw a female bearded frog. We enjoyed staying overnight in the monastaries and eating really good vegetarian food. The pilgrims were really friendly and kept trying to ... read more