Pilgrimage in business shoes
Well, here we are in Sichuan province, thoroughly enjoying the food and the scenery (when we can see it through the pollution).
We caught a train from Beijing to Chengdu with Jim from Alaska who we met originally in Ulan Bator, and the trip was absolutely hysterical. As with the Russian trains, we had preconceived ideas about what to expect on a Chinese hard sleeper - vinyl mattresses with no sheets and carriages full of smoke, but again, it was nothing like we'd been led to believe. The sheets were clean, the carriage was non smoking and the carriage attendants were fanatical about sweeping. And another thing, which let us know we were in China, not Russia - there was decent food. Every couple of hours a woman would wheel a trolley of freshly cooked food past us - 15 yuan for enough to feed two people. And it was noisy - Chinese people know how to have fun. At one point there was a group of young guys next to us screaming and giggling at the top of their lungs, another group was shouting over a game of cards, a couple of teens wrestled, a guy was shouting his sales pitch for a little plastic toy as he walked up and down the carriage, people were walking back and forth with instant noodles in their underwear, and over the top of it all, a Chinese Whitney Houston equivalent bellowed out of the speakers.
We arrived in Chengdu, then the next day we headed for the buddist mountain, Emei Shan. This is a world heritage site which is fairly unusual for having both cultural and environmental significance, hence the need for signs saying things like 'Protect the double heritage, cherish Emei Mountain', and also 'Nationally recognised clean mountain' and 'Nationally recognised civilised scenic tour area'.
We started in thick forests of bamboo, pine and such greenery late on our first day, and made it to a small hotel where we asked for 3 layers of bed covers and slept in all our clothes, there being no heating there. On the second day we continued past numerous monasteries and the landscape changed as we climbed. At certain points we would pass an area accessible by bus, and busy with Chinese tourists taking photos of waterfalls, and monkeys and sometimes taking photos of us, which was a bit disconcerting.
Late in the day it started to snow, and the previously numerous snack bars and monasteries were now few and far between. Whether it was the altitude or just tiredness, it was getting harder and harder to continue up the steps. But eventually we reached the monastery, bargained with a monk for a heated room WITH electric blankets - luxury. Reluctantly they also cooked some food for us, although the soup tasted a bit like floral soap powder.
Next day the snow had stopped, but the stairs were icy, and the Chinese tourists we passed had now put crampons on their business shoes. Either that or they'd decided to ski down the steps, laughing their heads off. near the top, the trees were made of ice, it seemed, and all was frosty and white. A juge golden buddah sat among the radio transmitters and building sites.
We caught a train from Beijing to Chengdu with Jim from Alaska who we met originally in Ulan Bator, and the trip was absolutely hysterical. As with the Russian trains, we had preconceived ideas about what to expect on a Chinese hard sleeper - vinyl mattresses with no sheets and carriages full of smoke, but again, it was nothing like we'd been led to believe. The sheets were clean, the carriage was non smoking and the carriage attendants were fanatical about sweeping. And another thing, which let us know we were in China, not Russia - there was decent food. Every couple of hours a woman would wheel a trolley of freshly cooked food past us - 15 yuan for enough to feed two people. And it was noisy - Chinese people know how to have fun. At one point there was a group of young guys next to us screaming and giggling at the top of their lungs, another group was shouting over a game of cards, a couple of teens wrestled, a guy was shouting his sales pitch for a little plastic toy as he walked up and down the carriage, people were walking back and forth with instant noodles in their underwear, and over the top of it all, a Chinese Whitney Houston equivalent bellowed out of the speakers.
We arrived in Chengdu, then the next day we headed for the buddist mountain, Emei Shan. This is a world heritage site which is fairly unusual for having both cultural and environmental significance, hence the need for signs saying things like 'Protect the double heritage, cherish Emei Mountain', and also 'Nationally recognised clean mountain' and 'Nationally recognised civilised scenic tour area'.
We started in thick forests of bamboo, pine and such greenery late on our first day, and made it to a small hotel where we asked for 3 layers of bed covers and slept in all our clothes, there being no heating there. On the second day we continued past numerous monasteries and the landscape changed as we climbed. At certain points we would pass an area accessible by bus, and busy with Chinese tourists taking photos of waterfalls, and monkeys and sometimes taking photos of us, which was a bit disconcerting.
Late in the day it started to snow, and the previously numerous snack bars and monasteries were now few and far between. Whether it was the altitude or just tiredness, it was getting harder and harder to continue up the steps. But eventually we reached the monastery, bargained with a monk for a heated room WITH electric blankets - luxury. Reluctantly they also cooked some food for us, although the soup tasted a bit like floral soap powder.
Next day the snow had stopped, but the stairs were icy, and the Chinese tourists we passed had now put crampons on their business shoes. Either that or they'd decided to ski down the steps, laughing their heads off. near the top, the trees were made of ice, it seemed, and all was frosty and white. A juge golden buddah sat among the radio transmitters and building sites.
posted by Wednesdays at 6:00 PM
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