The bus conductor asked us whether we will be going to Leshan to tour the place, which of course we were, so they let us off at the side of the highway in Leshan city. They spoke to someone and apparently they have arranged someone to pick us up. It was outside a restaurant with nothing really interesting to see. We even got to use the toilet of a nearby hotel while we were waiting for our transport.
There was a lady at just outside the restaurant who was apparently the contact of the transport. And kept entertaining us with typical questions like where we came from and all that. Soon enough, the transport arrived. It was another one of those motorcycle cabs just like in Dazu. It was a very short ride and we were soon outside the entrance of the Leshan Giant Buddha Park. We paid the driver RMB1 each. It never ceases to amaze me how cheap this place is.
At the entrance there was a lady who approaced us and asked whether we were going to Emeishan. Yes, we were going there. And she said she operates a hotel in Baoguo village, where we were supposed to stay in anyway, and was wondering if we were interested in using their transportation to get to Emeishan. Since we didn’t really know how to get there we told her, we’ll have to think about it while we were exploring Leshan.
After paying the entrance fee, we were led to a baggage storage area where we left our bags, after all I don’t want to be lugging around my backpack all the way to the Giant Buddha. We were told that we need to get back to the entrance by 6pm or we won’t be able to claim out bags. Which is something not good at all. We quickly made our way in the park.
The park itself is set on a side of a mountain and I was really excited to see the UNESCO World Heritage Site listed Leshan Giant Buddha. There wasn’t a shortage of Buddhas since there were innumerable ones along the way. Sitting Buddhas. Reclining Buddhas. Standing Buddhas. They all make their appearance here. Near the entrance make sure you watch out for the Giant Reclining Buddha along the side of the mountain, you’ll have to look very closely or you’ll miss it. The vegetation might get in the way of getting a good view of the huge Buddha though.
We passed by a pathway carved through the mountain with depictions of stories in the Buddhist religion. Although it was impressive enough, I was really intent of seeing the Giant Buddha as soon as possible. A path way along the mountainside soon gave way to a large plaza. This plaza is surrounded by large carvings of Buddha, with a temple on the top of the mountain, which expectedly also houses another Buddha.
The long flight of stairs leading to the Buddha looked intimidating but we saw old ladies climbing up the stairs with not much of an effort. Besides, we really needed to pass through this if we wanted to see the Giant Buddha. The railings along the stairs were lined with padlocks. This is an interesting tradition of the Chinese. Couples would come here to attach a lock to railings as a sign of their devotion to each other. Literally, every square inch of the railings was covered in padlocks. Some of the padlocks seems to have been there quite a while are already rusting away. I wonder if they ever remove them.
After huffing and puffing up the stairs I finally made it to the top. There was a amazing view from the top of the stairs and I congratulated myself for managing to complete the climb. The big Buddha at the top of the stairs wasn’t the Giant Buddha I have been waiting for. I was beginning to think how they managed to keep the Giant Buddha hidden if it was so “giant”.
[xmlgm {http://www.worldwanderings.net/kml/LeshanGiantBuddha.kmz}]