Emie Shan
Posted by Rebecca Lynch on Thursday, August 2, 2012
I went from the misty mountain surroundings of Dali to the clouded sacred Buddhist peaks of Emie Shan.
The first day I had a few things to sort out like washing and things so by the time I had everything done it was to late to go climbing mountians so I headed for Leshan to see the Giant Buddha. I started by catching a boat tour which took us round the front of the statue showing the rock carvings on the water front as well as the statue. I was expecting the boat to stop on the Buddha side of the river so we could get of and go exploring the Buddha Park, but it took us back to the opposite side of teh river. I decided I hadnt gone this far to stop at that so I jumped in a tuk tuk and headed back over the bridge to the Buddha Park. I eventually got a close up of the Buddha and did my exploring of the park, it was definitely worth that extra trip round as there was so much more to see than just the Giant Buddha. And the Giant Buddha really was giant! It's toenail was bigger than me, not hard to be biger than me since I'm so small, but that still shows the crazy scale of the statue.
Next day it was of to Emei Shan. I knew there was going to be a lot of stairs to climb, Chinese mountains use steps instead of just the natural paths, but wow was there a lot of stairs to climb, which isn't easy especially when it's really humid outside. Another difference between British mountains and the Chinese mountains is that there are many temples, pagodas and shrines dotted along the mountains, so you have a chance to rest from the walk up and see some beautiful places. At the first temple I met a couple of monks, I set of up to the next point just before them, and later saw them again whilst I was resting part of the way up, I then re-passed them while they took a break, next time we passed each other they stopped me and asked if they could take their picture with me, so from there on, me and the two monks walked the mountain together, stopping at each temple for them to take their prayers and me to take my pictures, we stopped at the viewpoints and pagodas to take a break from steps, and finally made our way to the monkey zone, where I then headed down as they continued on to find a place on the mountain for the night. It was lovely walking with the monks on the mountain.
The first day I had a few things to sort out like washing and things so by the time I had everything done it was to late to go climbing mountians so I headed for Leshan to see the Giant Buddha. I started by catching a boat tour which took us round the front of the statue showing the rock carvings on the water front as well as the statue. I was expecting the boat to stop on the Buddha side of the river so we could get of and go exploring the Buddha Park, but it took us back to the opposite side of teh river. I decided I hadnt gone this far to stop at that so I jumped in a tuk tuk and headed back over the bridge to the Buddha Park. I eventually got a close up of the Buddha and did my exploring of the park, it was definitely worth that extra trip round as there was so much more to see than just the Giant Buddha. And the Giant Buddha really was giant! It's toenail was bigger than me, not hard to be biger than me since I'm so small, but that still shows the crazy scale of the statue.
Next day it was of to Emei Shan. I knew there was going to be a lot of stairs to climb, Chinese mountains use steps instead of just the natural paths, but wow was there a lot of stairs to climb, which isn't easy especially when it's really humid outside. Another difference between British mountains and the Chinese mountains is that there are many temples, pagodas and shrines dotted along the mountains, so you have a chance to rest from the walk up and see some beautiful places. At the first temple I met a couple of monks, I set of up to the next point just before them, and later saw them again whilst I was resting part of the way up, I then re-passed them while they took a break, next time we passed each other they stopped me and asked if they could take their picture with me, so from there on, me and the two monks walked the mountain together, stopping at each temple for them to take their prayers and me to take my pictures, we stopped at the viewpoints and pagodas to take a break from steps, and finally made our way to the monkey zone, where I then headed down as they continued on to find a place on the mountain for the night. It was lovely walking with the monks on the mountain.