Post by JVH (f/k/a Bob Dubilina) on Apr 28, 2007 1:01:55 GMT -5
The Ghost of You:
The Best Songs of 2006
CD III: Rumble on Emei Shan – The Best of What's Left
The Best Songs of 2006
CD III: Rumble on Emei Shan – The Best of What's Left
Essentially, Emei Shan is the holy capital for Chinese Buddhism. It was the site of the first Buddhist temple in China, and every year hundreds of thousands (maybe millions?) of tourists – the bulk of them Chinese on holiday – arrive from all corners of the globe to make their pilgrimage to the summit. Although minibuses and cable cars have made the trek to the top relatively simple these days, the masochist in you will most likely be delighted with idea of taking the stairs. Yes, that's right, the mountain is covered in stairs – tens of thousands of them – and once you pay the entrance fee, you are more than welcome to hike up and/or down every single one of them.
M. and I were eight days into China and willing to call it quits when we arrived at Emei Shan. The culture shock of visiting this dirty, overcrowded country rife with pushy people who did little more than spit everywhere and gawk at us non-stop had finally become insufferable. What we needed now was silence, clean air and a few good experiences to balance out all the long train rides, lousy food and the overwhelming amounts of pollution in the big cities we had just visited. We arrived at Emei Shan with no clue what to expect, but it was certain that this was China's last chance to leave a good impression. If this little side trip turned out to be a bust, we were all too ready to be on the first plane out of the country.
As our luck would have it, we would later consider our time on Emei Shan to be one of the highlights of our entire three-month vacation abroad. (Touche, China.)
Because National Day and the week-long vacation that follows it had just passed, the hordes of tourists had petered out to small tour groups and a handful of foreigners on their own. M. and I caught a minibus to the last stop on the mountain and hiked the remaining four kilometers to the summit. Without any idea of what awaited us at the top, we were left speechless by the sight of the impressive multi-headed golden Buddha wrapped in a thick white fog. Behind that stood a large golden temple where we paid our respects by lighting incense and prayer candles. Afterwards, we wandered through the fog and enjoyed the peace and quiet that had been denied to us for so long. We decided on our stroll that we should see what the rest of Emei Shan had to offer: We would come down the mountain on foot.
Alas, the excursion turned out to be the most punishing hike we've ever been on: Thirty-five grueling kilometers down countless flights of stone steps over a day and a half, to be exact. We spent our first and only night on Emei Shan in a monastery, freezing our asses off under four layers of damp blankets. The next day I suffered from a nasty bout of food poisoning for the remainder of the descent. By the time we reached the base of the mountain, where a battle royale was taking place between large groups of stupid tourists and a pack of unruly monkeys intent on stealing their food, I was severely dehydrated and ready to collapse. I spent the next two days recuperating at the stellar Teddy Bear Hotel where the kind owner sadly shook his head at my futile pleas for a Western-style toilet. (To Hell with you, squat pot!)
Despite the horrible aftermath of my (intestinal) Rumble on Emei Shan, those two days on that holy mountain was without a doubt one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had abroad. The gorgeous panoramic views, the monasteries that doubled as resting stops and the amiable vendors scattered along the trail all made for an unforgettable event. It was a brutal hike, but it was worth every nagging ache and sore muscle that followed.
As for the food poisoning . . . well, it's been my experience that all that fasting, vomiting and chronic diarrhea is basically a six-week diet compressed into 48 hours. Once it's all over and your skin is no longer that deathly-white pallor, you look FANTASTIC!
Justin Holt
"Bob Dubilina"
BFN Networks
Bob@BFNinYourEars.com
May 7, 2007