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7 August: Jizu Shan

We slept a little late, but not late enough, up at 09h30, we finished up while I tried to explain to the lady that the men the previous evening had played extremely loudly making it difficult for us to sleep. It was easier than I thought it would be, but I was unsure whether she meant I should chase them away or she would tell them, oh well I'm sure well find out. We went down for green tea while Leanne showed her in the kitchen what we wanted, choosing out the vegetables and putting them in a bowl. We had opted for the smaller option, 5 yuan each, but it was still a good portion.

Afterwards we walked down looking for the sightseeing route to the lower level temples. We had done the route to the highest point yesterday and decided to walk to the lowest point and up again today. The road took us through thick bamboo forests to an opening were there was a quaint old fashioned Chinese lookout point. The small hut looked out over a waterfall in the distance, higher than we expected it to be, in Thailand this would have been a national highlight!

There was also a small pathway of steps leading down into the valley, far below. We walked down taking photos all the way down, it ended at the foot of the waterfall, looking up at the waterfall we were surprised at how high it was. Some kids had wandered to the edge of the waterfall, not a place I would have wanted to be, since it was at least 150 meters high! A strange thing at the bottom of the waterfall was that it was very windy and cold and as soon as you walk a few steps up again, the wind and the cold disappears...We walked back up stopping just before we reached the top to regain our breath and composure before emerging amongst the other tourists :-) A husband, wife and one of their mothers was sitting on the side when we reached the foot path, they greeted us, after which the grandmother offered me a half eaten corncob, not wanting to offend her I took it and continuing with the road took a bite, passing it on to Leanne, not bad. We then came to the turn of f for the summit of the waterfall, we walked there and looked at the view before walking back.

We passed the horse station, before turning off the road heading to the temples. We had taken a circle road before, but were now on the correct road down. There were once again only steps without a level section anywhere. On the way down we came to the main monastery, Zhu Sheng Temple, although the sign had a different name for it. We entered and looked at the beautifully decorated buildings and looking inside the temple, filled with different statues. We spoke to one of the monks outside to find out whether we could stay in the monastery, it was difficult to communicate, but in the end we confirmed we could stay, but Leanne and I would have to stay separately. That was not a problem but finding out how much it would cost, and if there would be other people with us - no use in each of us sleeping alone in a room...In the end we greeted and walked on. It would have been nice to stay there, even if we were split up, but if we stayed alone with no monks or others, there would be no point.

Our next stop was a hollow tree over 1 700 years old, dating back to the Qing dynasty. The reason for its importance is that a monk meditated inside the tree for 40 years, before being enlightened, a python having empathy for the monks devotion was also converted to the Buddhist faith... no comment. Further down we found another lookout hut or resting spot overlooking a waterfall, well it may be a waterfall when there is a storm, but today it was a spot where two streams met and became one. We walked on down the steps, at this stage we had become overwhelmed by tens of "miggies" it had become so bad that both of us had put our caps on to try and stop them flying into our eyes. A cloud of them followed us as we descended to Shiliang Bridge, we continued all the way down to a section where men were constructing part of the pathway. Unsure of whether to turn back or walk on with a different road, we showed them the map pointing to a temple further down, they indicated us to climb down from the building site and continue with the road under construction.

We walked on and after a kilometer or so, it connected again with the walkway of steps. Another 30 minutes of walking down the steps we came to the main road. We had now walked down steps for at least 2 hours, before reaching the last temple, the 9 lotus flower temple. The main temple was being refurbished or restored, so we were only able to visit the entrance temple and the courtyard with its pond and trees in bloom. We had reached the bottom of the mountain, all that was between us and the town in the valley was the administration building where we had bought our entrance tickets the day before. We decided not to walk up the steps again, it would be to straining and rather take another road to see different sites, the only option was the tar road leading up to the town.

At least there were no steps, but that didn't take away from its steep ascent! The road started at the administration building and climbed up the mountainside, much steeper than driving up to signal hill. We were rewarded with uninhibited views of the valley, town and mountains in the distance. The town had been built in a circular form around a circle in the center, complete with a flagpole, we could only presume it to be a parade ground or gathering place. The houses were old Chinese style with dark brown roofs, contrasted in the ever green fields of produce. The fields looked like different shades of green materials sown into one cloth. Fields of corn, grape, rice and other produce fitted snuggly into one another without a single piece of land appearing to have gone to waist.

We walked on up the mountain with the occasional car or truck passing us as we ascended towards the clouds. Although this was a tar road leading up, we really enjoyed it, being completely alone with no one near us, no sounds to attract our attention and a temperature that could not have been better even if we could have adjusted it ourselves. About a fifth of the way up we spotted the Jinging Temple, so far in the distance that we could barely see it and it would occasionally disappear behind a curtain of mist and cloud. The 13 tier temple looked like a sore white thumb as it protruded from the highest peak. We tried to get some pictures, but it was just to far to get a focused picture. The height in comparison to where we were at that moment was astounding and we were awe struck to think we had climbed that the day before with only 4 odd hours sleep.

We came to an area where we heard a roar from a passing river, we had exhausted our supply of water and went in for a closer look to see whether the river looked like a suitable source to replenish our supply. It was very strong flowing and large enough to make both of us feel comfortable with the prospect. I clambered down the side and filled our two 600ml bottles. We walked on, we had hardly walked 100m before deciding to return, finish both the bottles and refill them. We continued up the mountain, refreshed and with two ice cold bottles to keep us going up and up and up!

We came to a temple and felt sure that the climb had come to an end - it did not. Our small map had not a single distance indicated on it! We passed it as it was also under repair and walked to the next one. As said before, they all looked the same. One peculiar thing we had spotted at each temple was that every Buddha had a Nazi swastika in the center of his chest. At least we knew they weren't sympathizers since they dated back a thousand or two years. The road had started to level out and with it our energy returned in full swing.

We turned off to the last temple on the road, Zhu Seng Temple, we had visited previously, but only from one side and not the whole temple, it had also been called another name. The entrance was a beautiful white rock/marble bridge leading to the courtyard. Inside the courtyard was a mural displaying the mountain, all the temples, villages and the different roads leading from the base up to the summit. We had walked every single one twice, except that we had walked down the steps to the bottom and up the tar road only once, still no small feat. In the center of the courtyard was a huge pond, filled with coi fish and water turtles bathing in the sunlight. We rested in the shade of the pagoda bridge built over the pond while watching some Buddhists praying and offering incense.

We walked up through the temple reaching the main temple where a service was in procession. Bells were ringing and monks were chanting in unison to the bells. Every now and again a drum would sound and down below were yet more believers offering incense. Bowing down and then turning 90 degrees and doing the same, only when they had done it in all four directions would they stop and place the incense in their holders. We walked back to our lodging, freshened up and headed down for dinner and green tea.

The evening was relaxed, no noises from outside or nosy people trying to force our door open to see who was inside. We caught up on some diary work before retiring to some games of cards, Leanne white washed me beating me 5-0, before I made a come back, end score Leanne 6-5. We packed and went to bed, tomorrow we are off to Dali!