At 7AM, we slurped cup ramens while listening to Buddhist chants blaring on the large speakers by our rooms and the incessant meowing from inside the souvenir shop downstairs. At 8AM, Jenny, another tour group member, Scott, Emery and I gathered our belongings and mentally prepared ourselves for the hike up one of the Four Sacred Buddhist Mountains of China: Emei Shan. Most of the group opted for the bus ride to the summit which was understandable; Emei Shan has an elevation of 3,099 meters.

We bought bamboo walking sticks and took it slow. After about 15-30 minutes though, we were too exhausted to carry our bags up the steps, even with our sticks, so Jenny bargained with a baggage carry service--two dudes with a palanquin--and got us an okay deal. Every now and then we stopped to stock up on biscuits and refreshments. Scott played Spread-the-cards-all-over-the-table with a little Chinese boy at a snack counter.

At the end of our 10km hike, we reached a hostel at the midpoint of the mountain called Huayingshi. This place had a great view of the surrounding mountains. Rooms were bare bones. No carpet, just paint splatters that looked like faux blood. Electric blankets were provided but we were informed that there would be no electricity until Tuesday. There was an outhouse with squat toilets/pits separated by low cement walls. Kind of nightmarish but they didn't smell.

The dining area had a sad little cupboard with a few lonely heads of lettuce but the food was surprisingly decent. We ordered a bowl of spicy noodles, well-cooked bamboo shoots, mapo tofu, and fried shredded potato.

After lunch was over, we dragged a table out to the courtyard and started to play Chinese poker/Thirteen. We played for a few hours until we got hungry again. The sun was down by then so one of our tour group members, Nona, had to bring out a torch. We had a long discussion about sexual orientations and education over dinner. Had our meals by candlelight.

Beautiful day.

Shared Expenses
bamboo walking sticks 4Y
palanquin baggage carriers 90Y
lunch and dinner at hostel restaurant 100Y
mountain snack counters 50Y

total = 240Y approx. $35US

* Sunday, May 3, 2009