Rather than moving directly down to the south corner of China we decided to make a detour last weekend, and spend a few days at holy Buddhist sites. So a two hour bus ride and a ferry crossing to us to Leshan Island. The island itself is in the shape of a sleeping Buddha, and in the cliffs there is carved a giant sitting Buddha. This has got to be one of the most imposing religious monuments, watching out serenely over the raging waters of three joining rivers. The island is littered with temples, and little pathways through the trees. Lunch was from an interesting restaurant where we were offered the live large fish and terrapins making a bid for freedom in the big washing up bowl beside us! Thankful they also had a vegetarian option which sounded much more appealing.  | | Giant Buddha |
On Sunday we moved on to Mount Emai Shan - a lush green mountain shrouded in mist. After a bus, a cable car and many steps we made it to Wenshu monestry to arrange our night's sleep. The afternoon's walk across to a stunning waterfall of two rivers flowing through gorges and converging, was dramatically affected by all the Chinese tour groups. These little platoons, led by banner waving guides with megaphones, are part of a huge tourist army. They are everywhere. Most Chinese don't really understand play, and more importantly never do anything different from the crowd that would make them stand out. They move on mass.  | | Colletta paddling |
We found a path down to the falls and spent the afternoon paddling, which completely bemused and intrigued our watching crowds up above! We were up early to enjoy more of the quiet of the monestry the next morning, but by 7:30 the tourist invasion had begun in force so we beat a hasty retreat. The mountain was stunningly beautiful, and wonderfully translated signs told us to "treasure every leave, preserve the ecological balance". How this stands against the hypocracy of damning the waterfalls 40 meters further down stream and creating a large, muddy, stagnant lake and an empty river bed I'm not sure. Our journey to Leijiang near the Tibetan boarder, was eventful. The 13 hour night sleeper was six hours late, but at least comfortable. The 12 hour bus journey was not. I have never experienced so much pollution as we travelled through the blackened town of Panzhihua on a rickety bus which pumped more blue fumes into the bus than outside. I was coughing and wheezing with my asthma for the first time in years. We bounced along round constant hair-pin bends, the bus clinging to the cliff as we clung to our seats.  | | Leijian |
We arrived tired and black with dirt at 1:30am to find there were no rooms anywhere. At desperation point we eventually found one and collapsed. The world seemed a much more beautiful place on Wednesday morning, which was my 21st birthday! Leijian is the most beautiful little town we've been to. The old wooden houses lining each of the narrow streets, a picturesque little stream running along side, with wonderful little shops. The temperature is lovely, and the park beautiful surrounded my soaring mountains. With enough streets to escape down, the tour groups are avoidable. What a place to have a birthday! This afternoon we move further north to trek along Tiger Leaping gorge - the deepest canyon in the world. Colletta x Could you be a student diarist?
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