CHINA - Mt Emei

From Chengdu we headed east towards one of the 5 sacred Chinese Buddhist Mountains Mt Emei. On the way we stopped in Le Shan to see one fo the biggest buddhas in the world, it was built at the confluence of three rivers where many fishermen had previously perished, it was constructed to safeguard the people using the water and since then it has done the job, with a little help of some river management.

At the monestary we would stay one night and then take a 3 hour trek, avoiding very naughty monkeys to the top of another area of the mountain where we would stay in another monestary.

The bathroom facilities can only be described as basic, but the toilets had a fantastic view over the dense treed canoply. After we had recovered from the climb and spent the evening the having a meal at what must be one of the most off the beaten track cafes, halfway up a flight of 1200 steps, The Hard Wok Cafe..

We headed back down the following day and spent another night in the first monestary.

We also visited the top of the mountain, over 3000 meters up, the views are supposed to be extraordinary however the cloud had other ideas and we only saw a lot of cloud.
The spectacular Buddhist buildings at the top, and another encouner with very tame monkeys made the trip worth while. In the distance above the cloud we also saw one of China's highest mountains at around 7800 meters.

The next day we would head to Chongqing for an unexpected overnight stop before boarding a boat down the Yangzi.