hellohello

tanaan taalla nettikahvilassa pelaa ilmastointi. jeah.

vasyttaa kamalasti. tiina lahti aamulla wuhaniin ja me mentiin bussiasemalle ettii meian bussia shaoliniin. paadyttiin shaoliniin, mut dosa ei ehka ollu se, mil meian oli tarkotus menna. jouduttiin ottaa viel taksi et paastiin temppelille. siella oli tan maan hintoihin verrattuna kohtuullisen kallis sisaanpaasymaksu, n. 10 egee. kaytiin kattelee temppelia, joka oli aika samanlainen ku muutkin kiinalaiset temppelit. ja sit kaytiin pagodametsassa. paivan kohokohta oli kyl kiiveta dharm holelle ja sen kukkulan huipulle. hiki valu ennennakematonta vauhtia ja olin kovin punainen kun paasin huipulle. toi luola on siis se mesta, missa zen- budd halaisuuden perustaja tms. mietiskeli 7 vuotta. me ei jaaty mietiskelee vaan palat tiin alas saman tien ja mentiin kasvisravintolaan syomaan. talla kertaa ei ollu pelkoa et ois saanu kuolleita elukoita lautaselleen. ateriaan sisaltynyt keitto maistui kovin kotoisalta: kirkaslieminen kasviskeitto mis oli mausteena valkopippuria. oikein hyvaa vaihtelua nuudeleille...

jeps. samanlainen show oli etsiessa paluubussia. loydettiin se noin 15 minan ettimisen jalkeen ja paastiin taas ahtaalle takapenkille aijien puristukseen istumaan 2 tunniks. joo. etta sellanen paiva. tas nappikses on jotai vikaa nii tulee noita valilyonteja liikaa...

tunnin paasta ollaan jo bussis matkal xianiin. matka kestaa kai jotai 12 h. kas nain saastamme yhden yon majoituskulut (ja olemme koko huomisen paivan puolikuolleita, luul tavasti).

jees. palaamme taas...

suvi

Shaolin temple, zen buddishm

Once again the day started with an early wake-up. For the breakfast some noodles and vegetables - not really my cup of tea for breakfast. Miss my oatmeal and cup of coffee.

We had bought tickets to get to Shaolin. I am still not quite sure if we were fooled or if it was a standard thing but we were told to hop on to a small bus. We were suspicious but they just took our tickets and ripped the one part off. We didn't buy the return ticket cause we really tought it was a fraud. (When coming back we had to come with the same bus as we didn't find any other option). The trip took 2h and we weren't even taken to the correct place immediately, it was some kind of tour in Chinese. So we shared a taxi with some check (how do you spell?) rebuclicans to get to the Shaolin, only 10 minutes drive.

The temple itself was destroyed totally in 1928 and rebuilt on the 80's. It wasn't really anything so special but it still is the "birth" place for zen buddishm. On the area we could see munks and kung-fu students. The students were practicing on a large sand field their kicks, hits and other moves. It was impressive to see hundreds of boys and young men practicing so hard. We didn't participate on any kind of show though they had those too - for some extra cost of course.

Instead of shows and many temples we decided to take a small hike on a mountain, to a peak where there was the Dharma Hole - a place where this one man meditated for nine years. After those nine years he camed out and streched his body imitating many different animals, becoming the founder of Shao Lin Boxing.

The climbing up took us an hour and we were sweating so much that you cannot believe, even more than at the Great Wall. (And we knew we couldn't take shower and needed to take a night bus to Xian). But it was worth it. The view was not great cause of the fog but the tranquility was lovely. Very different from the feeling we had down at the temple area with all the tourists.

It's a shame I didn't think of it more or plan better. There would have been a 15km hike which would have been nice to do. On the area there was also sleeping possibility - so we could have taken it relaxed and see everything and not hurry at all. We didn't hurry this time either but we didn't see everything the area had to offer.

And the day ended with some new experiences in the bus....

Erika