I’m staying next to Mount Emei, but first I wanted to visit nearby Leshan, home of the world’s largest Buddha statue. I kind of wish I had my student ID still, because students get half price admission on most things in China. For example, the entry fee today was $17 for me or $8.50 for students. I spent the day walking around the Giant Buddha, Wuyou Temple, and Oriental Buddha Park. A Chinese woman started talking to me in Chinese while I was sightseeing, and I couldn’t understand her. Good thing I had my phrase book, so we could communicate some things. But was good practice for me trying to understand Chinese since she spoke no English. She was trying to get my phone number and email because I’m the only foreigner she has ever talked to, I suppose.
It was a nightmare getting back to my hotel. On the way here, I only had to take a single bus. For the return trip I had to take five buses! I didn’t have clear instructions (my book didn’t have any Chinese characters for the station I wanted) and I just wanted to make it to a bus station, so I took a bus, then got off, changed to another bus, assuming it would end at a station. At the end of the line, there was no station, so I had to stay on the bus the other direction (I hate when they charge you again when you stay on the bus). After a few minutes they told me to get off the bus. No bus station that I could see, just the middle of no where in the city. I decide to eat some dinner at a place where probably no foreigners have ever ate before. The people there couldn’t stop staring and smiling while I ate the strange food I randomly ordered! I walked the rest of the way to the bus station and found out no direct bus to where I wanted to go, so I had to go to the next closest place. So many other people were going to the same place there was a huge line to get on the next bus.
I arrived at the Emei bus station. According to my guide book I had to take two more buses to get to where I want to go. So I passed up all the taxi drivers, took the bus, then changed to the final bus and finally made it back. It took about 3 times longer for the return trip.