Emeishan and Leshan

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Today I flew to Chengdu from Xi'an and took the airport shuttle to my hostel. Once I got in the shuttle I couldn't believe my eyes, the hall on the bus were full of luggage and we had to climb through bags to find a seat meanwhile the storage under the bus where I put my bag was empty! Sometimes Chinese logic makes no sense to me!

Before I got off at my station I was sort of freaking out because the bus driver never opened the bag compartment for anybody and just drove away. I had put my bag bellow and didn't want him to just leave. Quickly I opened google translate and translated "suitcase" to chinese, showed it to him, and make signals to tell him it was under. I'm glad he understood and got my bag!

Once I got to the hostel I checked in and got directions on how to get to Emeishan, aka the Golden Summit, a golden temple on the top of a sacred mountain.

Before my trip I saw many pictures of the golden summit and I just had to go! The hike uphill is 30km of pure stairs and you have to break it down into a couple of days sleeping in monasteries along the way.

This is China and of course there is an easier way than a strenuous 2-3 day hike uphill so I decided to do it the Chinese way... bus it up the mountain and take the cable car to the summit... I know, lazy me! (But come on! Who ever said that walking up stairs for days is hiking?!?)

I had talked extensively to the staff in Chengdu about my plan and they said that it was doable, they even said I was spending too much time in Emeishan(really?!) At 7am I was already out of the hostel and waiting for the bus to take me to the bus station to go on the long distance bus to Emeishan.

After walking the wrong way and trying to communicate with signals with a stranger to help me, I finally reached the bus station, paid 41yuan ($6) and was on my way to Emeishan. The bus took almost 3 hours (I wouldn't know since I fell asleep before we left the bus station and woke up 5mins before I reached my final destination.)

Once at the bottom station in Emeishan I didn't really know what to do so I decided to go to the famous Teddy Bear Hotel and asked for some guidance. The guy there helped me figure out my route and told me how to walk down the mountain the next day.

Went back to the bus station and got my 90yuan bus ticket to take me up the mountain... a 2 hr ride up a windy street!

I don't know if Chinese people have small bladder problems but the busses here seems to stop way too often and take way too long... who can't hold it for 2 hours!?!? Our ride ended up being more than 3 hours! Super annoying.

In one of the stops a Chinese guy came into the bus and started screaming (which by now I think it's simply the way they speak), of course I ignored him because 1. I don't respond to screaming, and 2. I don't understand Chinese. A nice girl in the bus came over and said "he is telling you to go to the bathroom, since there isn't another one for one hour 1/2!" I couldn't believe it would still take us that long, I thought "whaaaat?!? We've been in the bus forever by now!" I decided not to go to the bathroom since I was afraid they would forget me and I am training myself not to go to the bathroom just in order to avoid some bathroom PTSD (yes! They are that gross!)

Finally made it to Leidonpong station a little after 3pm (that's 8 hours of busses and the 20 mins I went to the hotel to ask for help!)

I got off the bus and was harassed by guys asking if I needed a place to sleep... I did... but no way I would trust those guys! So I kept walking! In the back of my mind I was a little scared about not knowing where to spend the night but at the end it usually all works out so I talked myself out of being scared.

Many monkeys at the station... scary looking monkeys!

From the bus station I walked 20 minutes uphill to get to the cable car station. Despite the masses walking up and down there was no one at the cable car, maybe it was the poor weather that scared everybody away or maybe people didn't want to pay the 65yuan ($10) entrance. Maybe instead they wanted to walk an hour 1/2 up hill... to each their own.

The cable car took only 2 mins and had only 6 people in it. Once I got to the top I was surprised to walk 200m out of the station and see a bright big gold Buddha statue... I couldn't believe it! The whole way here was foggy but I get to see a clear Buddha (I think I did a happy dance!)

I immediately knew I wanted to spend the night up there although the price is "excessive."

I walked into one of the 2 hotels at the summit and the girl asked for 1,000yuan ($150) for a twin room... wait, whaaat?!? That's ridiculous! My app said 340 yuan so I said no thank you and kept walking.

I booked the other hotel on the app for $50 and hurried up to see the Buddha and the golden summit!

I was so relieved to see the big Buddha so clearly! I quickly got my camera and took a picture.

Then I went up the stairs to take a closer picture... Noooo... in 45 seconds the Buddha was covered in fog and I wasn't able to see it anymore... it was so disappointing!

I went down the stairs again and watched people pray and burn incense and do their rituals... It was so nice!

The whole night had thick thick fog, so thick that the Buddha disappeared! I kept hoping for a miracle and stayed there even after everybody had left; the miracle did not happen! The fog never left but I was left alone in such a holly place so I sat there and admired the beauty of the fog and watched how the fog at times got lighter and I could see a glimpse of the Golden Summit!

This is me admiring the holiness (and fogginess of the golden summit!)

I went back to the hotel and checked in only to find out that the hotel was so disgusting! I regretted spending the night there so much! The room was dirty dirty dirty and did not have a bathroom (which I knew), only a communal squat toilet that was nasty and the smell from the bathroom travelled all over the floor and into the rooms!!! God, help me!!!

The next morning since I was still hopeful for good weather and a sunrise I woke up early, plucked my nose, went to pee and brushed my teeth and got out of the nasty hotel as soon as I could! It was rainy and still foggy :( sunrise did not happen but I still walked around for a bit.

My plan was to walk down the mountain, visit more temples and monasteries, and spend another night in Mount Emei but by the time I started walking down I didn't want to do that anymore. The weather was horrible and I was annoyed by the hotel situation and I knew my other sleeping options were monasteries with communal rooms (and apparently with rats from reviews on trip advisor!) so I walked down the very foggy path and got on the bus back down the mountain.

Walking down was tricky since it was rainy and slippery! I had to be very careful not to fall!

On the way down once again I saw monkeys, this time tons of people taking pictures and giving them food despite of the signs of "do not feed the monkeys!" These monkeys are aggressive and will attack for food! I saw one lady throw a plastic bag full of package food to them! I wondered what was wrong with her!!!!!! It made me so mad! How is a monkey going to eat the food if it's packaged? They could die if they eat the platic bag or plastic wrapping, plus there are signs not to feed them! Some people are unbelievable!!!

After a couple of hours I finally reached the bottom of the mountain and I decided to take a bus to Leshan and see the giant Buddha!

Using public transportation is always an experience, trying to figure out routes and where to get on and off is super tricky so I'm always grateful to have a smart phone with maps that give me exact directions! I have no idea how I backpacked Europe with no technology 10 years ago!

This Giant Buddha is no joke! It is really GIANT!!!

I had to walk up up up up up up stairs to get to it

And then I had to go down down down down to see it from below!

The place where the Buddha was is full of temples and different walks but I did not feel like walking much so I explored a little and decided to go back to Chengdu.

About Post Author

Andrea

Hi! It's me... Andrea! In 2016 I decided to drop everything and take a year to enrich my life and travel around the world. It turns out the world is just too big for 12 months! Still on the road and sharing my experience as a solo female traveler around the globe!