1000 Buddhas and Mount Emei Versus Kung Fu

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April 9 - Day of 1000 BUddhas.



I firstly need to back track to last night. Judi, Noelene and I decided to go to the Chinese theatre and watch a kung fu show in the home of kung fu. The theatre was impressive but the audience left a lot to be desired. They were so loud and most watched the show through their iPads. We didn't understand a word of it but we laughed and had an absolute ball. I think it was the history of Kung Fu in the area. There were lots of dances, very strong men and amazing tricks. There wasn't much actual kung fu (Ashton would be disappointed) but the show was spectacular.



Today was freezing! I was beginning to wonder if my packing of coats and jumpers was overkill. Turns out I needed them. At 8am after a breakfast of rice porridge, pickled cabbage, boiled eggs and hot pork buns (watch out stomach) we headed to the local shuttle bus to take us 50km up to the sacred Emei Shan Mountain. Judi joined us after he perfect hole in one - don't ask! Miss 'I love your hooters, Noelene', Sharon aka Carole and I were lucky enough to sit at the front of the bus. It wound up the mountain for about 25 km at break neck speed until we stopped at a toilet break. It took about an hour to get to this first level. The toilets can not be unseen once you see them and Sharon, aka magnet, was hounded by the shop keepers to buy anything and everything! From there, we continued up the mountain to buy our tickets for entry. Back on the bus and up we went again. The landscape changing as we got higher. There was snow on the trees and the on the ground and it was really cold. On arrival at the top car park, we then had to walk about 500m to the cable car. To get to the cable car we needed to go through the 'Ecological Monkey Zone'. About 25 wild monkeys that pretty much jumped on anyone that they thought might have food. The sat on their heads, their backs and opened back packs to get food. I was taking a photo of the 'cloud sea' and one tried to jump on me. It was super freaky and I was out of there!



Up we trekked to the cable car - another ticket and a rest to take us to near the summit. We were at an altitude of over 3000 metres so it was tough going. I got a DIY coffee and a dove chocolate bar (there were several Chinese snack options). There was a lot of mist over the summit of the mountain. It was almost surreal! I would have loved to have seen the temples in the sunshine as then I could see the view. However the mysteriousness of the whole place under the cloud was amazing.



The Jinding (Golden Summit) temple was beautiful. It held 1000 buddhas to represent monks who have died over the last 1000 years. The only monks they represent were the ones who had found the pearl. We need to google more about what that means but think that it must have something to do with 'pearls of wisdom'. In front of this temple was another temple that housed the 48m tall Samantabhadra. The temple was surrounded by stone elephants with splashes of ice on them. There was a giant buddha outdoor statue that faced in all directions to see all followers.



We had a real bonding moment there. All in tears, maybe the high altitude! It really was an emotional moment.



The trek down the mountain didn't seem as difficult and the monkeys were all gone, to my relief!



When we got back to Emei Shan town, we had a cuppa and then headed to the temple in the town. I can't recall it's name but it consisted of carvings in the stone of the history of buddha coming to the mountain. There were waterfalls and stone gardens too. We didn't go into the actual temple because it was getting late. We did buy some oranges from an 85 year old man who walked several kilometres each day to sell oranges. I had to buy some and I was glad I did. They were delicious.



We ate at the local street cafe, not all that appetising, before heading to Dujiangyan to our hotel. It was late when we arrived and we had a very officious young lady who didn't really seem to know what she was doing! Oh well!





Goodnight

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Photos

Dinner
We ordered 3 bowls of soup thinking they would be individual bowls. Turned out they were to share! The bowls were big enough to swim in!

Snack - China Style
A baked sweet potato on the side of the mountain. yes it was that cold.