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After the last blog, we got a bus to the bottom of Mt Emei. Some of the group decided to do some walking and view the giant Buddha up close, but Jess and I chose to take the boat and view it from the water. We also inspected the "reclining Buddha" from the boat (Chinese people seem to be fond of thinking that plants and rocks look like animals and people: apparently one of the hills looked like a Buddha but it didn't particularly look like anything to us). Lunch was in a grubby restaurant, but the food was actually very good (still spicy though- lots of Szechuan black peppercorns!)
After another bus journey, we arrived at monastery number one: it is so peaceful here and amazing to be living actually INSIDE a monastery.
The next day, after various buses and a cable car, we reached the summit of Mt Emei. The whole mountain is covered in Buddhist temples, nunneries and monastries, and buses and footpaths go between them. A giant buddha has recently been built at the summit, and it is truly spectacular: all painted gold and very imposing. Lots of Chinese people wanted to have photos taken with us since white people are a bit of a novelty to them! We felt like movie stars!
We then went further down the mountain and began the day's trek: 3 hours up slippery steps was not exactly fun, but at least it was some exercise. There were lots of Buddhist relics to see along the way, and the mountain is home to many macaques (monkeys). We were told to keep everything in our bags, including water and cameras, as the monkeys are vicious and will take anything. Luckily, they have "monkey police" who patrol the mountain and scare the monkeys away from tourists. Our trekking guide Nathan carried a slingshot, which really freaked them out as well- they kept running away from him whenever they saw it!
After the many many steps (over 1000), we reached monastery number 2. This was also a great experience- especially as we had electric blankets to keep us warm at night! This really cute local couple cooked our meals, and we played Majong to keep us amused.
Today, we did more trekking - there were two groups: short and long walk. Jess did the shorter one and then went to a hot springs, went swimming and had her dead skin eaten off by fish! I did the longer walk (amazing amazing scenery and more Buddhist nunneries and relics). This place is truly immense and totally stunning- will be very sad to leave.
Sarah xxx
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