Monkeys, Monkeys Everywhere

Next we traveled to Mt. Emei to experience a very different side of China, spending three days living at two different monasteries and hiking up Mt. Emei. Having the opportunity to stay at monasteries was a very unique experience and a humbling one. We had no idea what to expect living at a monastery to be like. We were presently surprised. We had very nice accommodations and were able to have our laundry done for us, which was huge plus. The monastery is open to visitors so there were always people wandering around, saying prayers and lighting incense. It was just a very peaceful place of harmony. An additional plus was that we got to enter the 'no visitors' areas which made us feel like we were kind of a big deal since the tourists were always so curious as to why we had the privileged of being a non-tourist. We enjoyed the monks vegetarian meals which we got to eat while staying at the monastery. The monks weren't allowed to eat with us, but they were very kind and courteous to us during our whole stay. We even got up (were woken up anyway) at 5am to watch their morning prayers, which was a very special experience.

Side note: one thing we noticed in China was that you could hear and see people were spitting (aka, hawking up loogies) everywhere you went. I could always here the throat clearing sound before the shot gun spit flew. The monks were no exception, several of them leaving during the prayers to hawk and spit into a designated jar located outside the door. Even in Hong Kong there are signs that say 'No Hawking'. I know it is gross but I had to bring it up, as it was often a topic of discussion (that and the bathroom situation in China).

I digress, after our first night at the monastery we took a bus, a tram, and then hiked up to the top of the Mt. Emei. We were so bummed that it was raining so the magnificent 'view from the clouds' was just fog and rain clouds. It was so foggy it was hard to make out much of anything. There was a beautiful and huge golden statue in the middle top, but it was hard to see with the dense fog. We took the bus down the mountain were there was a chain reaction puke incident which thankfully we did not contribute to, but let's just say no barf bags were available and I will stop there. After they literally hosed down the bus, we were back on the road and soon we hiking up to the other monastery where we were to spend the night at.

Our hike was beautiful as we walked through the forest filled with wild monkeys, waterfalls, streams, and just mother nature at its finest. The Chinese government created the trail a few years ago and the trail was filled with lush green trees well taken care of plants and wildlife. Monkeys were everywhere and we were provided monkey sticks to protect ourselves if they tried to grab us, or anything that we had exposed outside of our backpacks. It was about a 3 hour hike with our fiscally fit group, we even performed like rockstars up the 2,000 steps that led to the monastery. Yes, my legs were sore the next day.

The next day started with yummy banana and honey pancakes (we saw the hive the honey came from, delicious). We went down the hill and luckily it was a nicer day and the sun was shining. We, well mostly Charlie, spent quite a bit of time taking more photos of the beautiful surroundings. Then Charlie got the bright idea to buy food from a stand and feed the monkeys. His feeding attempt went flawlessly and without incident. Of course decided I need to get in on the feeding monkey action (keep in mind there as signs everywhere that say 'do not feed the monkeys', but it was from a legitimate stand, right?!) I am not going to go into details, but there was eating the food in my hand, then reaching for the bag of food in my other had, then there was an 'incident'. Iodine was on my hand in seconds, I guess this has happened before, and we completed the hike. After going to three clinics we finally found one that actually had a doctor present. There was a shot and some pills ingested and I was on my way.

The day ended with a $4, hour long massage and a night spent playing mahjong, playing cards, and eating cookies - hey we were at a monastery. I was just grateful that the injury wasn't worse and even better I got to be the laughing stock of everyone that heard the story. Yes I now think it is funny too. Bottom line, I am OK, it has been over a month and Mary tells me she hasn't seen any foaming at the mouth, erratic behavior, etc. I do however I have a new found fear of wild monkeys...