The Giant Buddha

The giant Buddha is where we traveled to today, it is in Leshan.  Another two hour bus ride.  The bus and train stations are mad houses.  There is no orderly way to get on the bus or train.  They open the gates  and everyone charges toward the gate.  People are pushing and shoving, it's a stampede.  They do not take your ticket until you get on the bus or train. They do assign seats because you can purchase either a seat or standing room only ticket.  They are both quite nice to ride although, extremely crowded.

The giant Buddha is carved into a mountain and it is visible by either a steep cliff road or by the river ferry boat.  We opted for the steep cliff road,  While getting to the cliff road, first you walk up the mountain and view the gardens(not much to see it's still winter) and temples but,it's peaceful and away from the continuous honking.  They honk all the time whether you are in the roadway or not.  They even honk in Leshaun and it is a very small town in comparison only one million people.  The cliff road is very steep in spots but, has steps throughout.  Going down is always much easier than coming back up.  We were hoping that when we had reached the bottom that we would not have to climb back up,  Lo and behold we climbed back up and then down again into a very quaint little fishing village.  Here i could have stayed and enjoyed the river but, there were some ladies hawking their merchandise and chased us away.  They do not understand the word "NO" or " BOO" which is Chinese for No.  If you think the stuff the Chinese sell to the states is junk/  The stuff they sell to their own people is worse.

I have yet to find a fabric store but, have found quite a few yarn stores and counted cross stitch is BIG here.  When asking about a fabric shop they either send me to a tailor or a women's clothing store. I have found a few things on the Internet but, when i try to translate, it just doesnt work.  I have even found clerks to write it in their own language but, when i show the taxi driver, he never seems to understand.

I have yet to buy anything to take home it is either bloody expensive or so cheap it would fall apart while packing.

We have enjoyed some peaceful days, where we just walk around and find whatever.  Maybe a nice place for lunch, time for a beer, grocery shopping, people watching.  How could i forget this, I had to register with the police department in every little town i go to.  This is always a comedic situation because neither I or the police speak the same lingo.  Their forms are always in Chinese Characters, truly a sitcom should be written on this alone but, the government must know where we are at all times.