After an amazing power shower and a breakfast of sponge we were off on the bus again This time to Leshan to see the Grand Buddha. Its situated on the edge of a river built in a groove in the cliff.

We got there and were suprised to see the amount of tourists that were there but i guess as its now the biggest Buddha in the world, its going to be a big tourist attraction. Apparently the biggest was in Afgahnistan but the Taliban destroyed it. Typical!!
We started at the top of the cliff and then had to join the crowds to follow the path cut into the cliff to take us down the the foot of the Buddah. It took ages. We felt like cattle as we were being pushed about so much in such a tiny space. We finally made it down and my god that Buddah was huge!! Its little toe was prob the same size as us. We couldnt even see the top of it clearly from the bottom.
And then we had to stomp all the way back up the cliff again. We are hoping for legs like Beyonce after this trip. nice and toned!!

Then back on the bus to Emei Shan. This is the town situated at the bottom of one of China's holiest mountains, Mount Emei. Only one road leading in and out.
We are staying in a Monastry. How crazy is that! The Bao Guo Temple! We walked in and immediately saw the monks and loads of people praying and burning incense which is a tradition here. We also met our host, Patrick! he was a little man who spoke so quickly no one could really understand him, Especially the French-canadians who can even understand our travel chum James and he is from Huddersfield.

Our rooms are basic!! 3 beds so me, Laura and Abi are sharing. Some of the window panes didnt even have glass in so we taped them up straight away to stop the mosquitos coming in. The toilet is just round the corner, a couple of rooms down, and were just stalls but at least they had doors and there was one western toilet which is good as suprise suprise we have the runs again!!

The shower is like a dirty broom cupboard. So gross! but there are communal showers across the Monastry which have no doors or anything but at least they are tiled and look a lot cleaner so i think we will be using those.

Patrick also told us he would do our laundry, make us breakfast, provide us with towels etc. Our little goto man. All for really cheap. Amazing! we are going to give him all our clothes as we pretty much stink all the time now as hand washing just doesnt do the job. Also Laura has some socks which were white but are now a dodge grubby colour so thats a sure sign we need to wash our stuff.

After a quick walk around the town we decided to eat in a vegetarian restaurant for good reason. There was a cheap little area lined with little cafe type places but outside in cages there were live animals like rabbits, chickens, frogs etc which were what they would be cooking. Was just not a nice thought to be thinking we might be eating one of those cute animals so we decided we just couldnt do it. The vegetarian restaurant was so nice. A fish tank for a roof and our own live music. A lovely chinese woman playing an authentic chinese instrument that was kinda like a harp.

Went back to the Monastry to get ready for bed but by this time we have been bitten loads. damn mosquitoes!! We plugged in some mosquito repelant and completely covered up with long clothes but i felt so freaked out as there were spiders about. Laura was completely freaking out about being bitten so sprayed on so much bug spray and was completely covered by her mosquito net. Was so funny!! Not sure how well we will sleep though as the monks wake up at like 4.30am to chant Right outside our room. That should be an experience.

N&L x x x