Day 21 We packed for Emei and also picked up a traveller. Thomas decided to come with us to Emei as we were climbing Mount Emei (Emei Shan) which he also wanted to do, but as he was travelling by himself thought it would be an idea to go with somebody. So we caught the bus which took two hours to Emei central bus station, from there we caught a local bus to a village called Bagou. This is essentially the base camp for Emei Shan and is made for tourists with tourist prices. After checking into Teddy Bear hostel- a name we both quite liked, the three of us went for lunch. Everywhere was quite steep so settled for a restaurant with a couple of chinese already eating there. Bland was an understatement, me and Eve ordered two different variations of noodles, both of which came out the same and Thomas ended up with a plate of what looked like garlic spinach. We then headed back to pack for our adventure and plan our route up the mountain the next day.

Day 22 Emei Shan awaited us so we spared no time in getting there, we woke at 6 to catch the first bus at 7. After we arrived at the bus station and purchased our tickets we managed to get to the platform for 6:50. Quite happy with ourselves we sat down until we noticed we were the only people there. Thomas asked where the bus was and discovered it already left, we all walked over and she said the bus left at 7- it was still 5 to. Baffled, we sat down and waited for the next one. It was overcast but dry so we hoped it would clear up as we wanted to see the sunrise the next day. It wasn't really what we expected, there were shops all up the mountain, and for those who didn't want to walk up there was cable cars, buses and and most surprisingly you could even be carried up in a chair by two men. The entire climb was up paved steps which really took away the whole point of climbing a mountain, we just didnt feel like we were in a place of natural beauty. Yet the views were gorgeous and some of the temples on the way were amazing, particularly the Elephant Bathing Pool, where apparently a famous Buddhist named Puxian flew his Elephant to for a wash. The climb itself from the bottom to Jieyin Palace (90 mins from the summit) took around 7 hours and was torturous to say the least. I held Eve's hand over the last couple of hours as it was becoming a bit of a struggle but we managed to make it to the monastery in one piece. On the way up we were worried we wouldn't be able to get a bed in the place we wanted as you can't book in advance and as the chinese tend to like the easy way of life, they may have got the bus to the top and booked it out. Once we arrived we nervously waited at the accommodation office for 30 mins before a man strolled across and took us to our room which was certainly Buddhist basic. There was plenty of company up in the attic though with bird sized moths and Eve even seen a rat in the kitchen. Speaking of which the food they knocked up for us was lovely and filled us up with plenty of energy for the next gruelling day. We spoke to two German girls who also walked up that day and wanted to see the sunrise but we were planning to take the cable car up. After a very cold wash- the temperature had fallen to about -5, we jumped into our damp beds and set our alarms.

Day 22 Half 4 came quick and feeling stiff we tumbled out of our beds and got dressed. It was freezing cold and raining so we put all our layers on and set off at 5am. It was still pitch black and we had an hour and a half to walk to the Golden Summit as sunrise was around 7, so with our torches - Eve couldn't wait to take her piggy torch for a walk, we stumbled into the dark. Two chinese girls tagged along with us and after 30 mins they thanked us and stopped for a breather. Again it was hard going up the endless amount of steps and we knew with the weather as bad as it was there would be no sunrise for us. We plodded on anyway and every shop we came to, we wanted to rest under the shelter- the rain was relentless. We were so dissapointed when we made it to the top and could barely see our hands in front of our faces the cloud was so thick. The golden statue was there but not really visible so we found a temple and tried to dry off. We were now cold and wet but refused to give in so once it was light me and Eve looked around the summit and now we could see more of the statue which looked beautiful After a few snaps we found Thomas and headed back down. Our legs were killing from the day before and we had around 8-9 hours of walking down steps to go. It was unbelievable how different the weather was as we worked our way down. Every step hurt but some of the views were stunning, and it was typical chinese postcard views aswell with temples shrowded in mist. The layers started to come off one by one as we agonisingly made our way to the bus station. We were so relieved to see Wannian temple-which is the first we came to on the way up, but still knew there was another 40 mins left. The bus was waiting for us and was a nice sight but after everything we actually did enjoy ourselves and was worth the pain. Its a shame the three of us weren't Buddhists though as it would have been a worthy pilgrimage! Back at the hostel we had well deserved shower and realised a clothes wash was essential as everything we took with us was wet and smelt of damp and foist. In our room there was a man from New Zealand and one from China called Jerry. He asked us if we would like to eat with him and surprisingly we ate in the hostel but he ordered. Everything was amazing. We had some green veg in a garlic sauce, pork with chinese mushrooms, fried belly pork with spring onions and finally eggplant in sweet and sour sauce. Now Eve hates English sweet and sour but this she loved. It was like nothing else, absolutely gorgeous. So with bowls of rice we munched away and talked for ages. The bill came and he refused to let us pay anything and seemed happy to show us some good chinese cuisine. He spoke brilliant English and we couldn't believe he had heard of Sunderland. Unusually it wasn't for the football but his work, he worked for a UK company that liaised with Sunderland University to try and bring in Chinese students. He also visited Sunderland last year and stayed in the Marriot hotel on the seafront. Small world!

Day 23 We had a nice lazy morning and just before we were about to leave for Leshan, Michael from our room came in and we started talking. It also turns out his partner was born in London and then lived in Redcar for a while so he had also heard of mighty Sunderland. He asked about our travels and said he could give us some good info on NZ. Almost two hours later and he had planned our entire trip. Magnificent, as we hadn't really researched it yet and knew there was a lot to see so we were so grateful for his time. He told us of little beaches, the best natural parks, good hot springs and an amazing river trip by canoe which we are already looking forward to. All the places that the tourists don't know about which is great. If that wasn't enough he offered to let us stay the night at his home after the river trip. We thanked him a million and rushed to catch the bus to Leshan, home of china's biggest Buddha. It was quite difficult getting there but managed it ok and paid the crazy entrance fee. Our legs were in even more pain than yesterday and we were faced with even more steps, after struggling to the top we witnessed just how huge it was. Massive doesn't even come close with big toes measuring 8.5m long. You start at the head and walk down the side of the cliff to the feet and then round the cliff to the Mahaoya tombs. We simply seen this as too much walking and step climbing in our state and wished we paid for the boat to sail up to it for a few casual photos. But we don't do things by half so did the lot. We even crossed the river on this lovely old bridge to see Wuyou temple at the top of yet another hill- marvellous Seeing the time we had to dash in order to catch the bus back to Bagou village which wasn't easy. The exit dumps you at the back of what looked like a disused factory and we followed a chinese couple who also didn't seem to know the way. We found the bus stop though and had to run to the ticket office and just say caught the last bus. After the lovely meal last night we ate in the hostel again and then Jerry found us so ordered another amazing sweet and sour dish and we sat and chatted for a bit before me and Jerry watched some footy and Eve skyped Maria.

Day 24 We said goodbye to Jerry as he headed for the mountain and we packed up and checked out. For breakfast we tried walking out the village and down the road to avoid the touristy prices but all they sold was tofu which we didn't fancy so found a supermarket and stocked up for the night train. Walking back we found some street food, a woman was frying a mix of chips and veg with all sorts of spices and sauces for 50p and it didn't let us down. We ate it at the hostel with rice and green tea as we waited to leave for the night train.