Emei Shan

Emei-Shan is a mountain in Sichuan province whose slopes and crags are host to a dozen monasteries and a well trodden path for pilgrims who come from far away to climb to every monastery before going home. Today, most of the pilgrims are Chinese tour groups who arrive by bus and reach the top by a combination of bus and cable car, though apparently when you reach the top, you have already passed the most impressive part and are left with a concrete hotel complex, a car park and giant TV antenna. We headed advice and stayed on the lower levels instead.

We had come to do a bit of trekking in the dense forestry which was full of big insects like the giant stag beetle and stick insects. Any thought of the need for climbing gear was soon dispelled as the entire route which is about three or four days if you do the whole lot at a pace that makes it worthwhile, is paved with steps and a footpath. This didn't really detract from the enjoyment though and we enjoyed the dense forestry as we made our way through it. We had two days of walking to enjoy, staying for a night in a monastery. The paths had plenty of Chinese people on them too, doing a spot of walking to get the more authentic experience, though some were more successful than others as there were plenty who paid for two men to carry them up and down the stairs in a rickshaw like they were emperors. There were plenty of people perched at different points too, with little woks filled with hot fat and a gas burner underneath and an array of different foods on sticks waiting to be deep fried at your request for not a lot of money. The deep fried potato quarters were our favourite, especially after they get rolled in a spicy Sichuan chilli powder. Sichuan food, is all very spicy but it somehow manages to achieve this without obliterating the original flavour of the food. The spiciness is much more tolerable too as a result and I had the rare chance to enjoy lots of spicy food, without turning red like a beetroot and watering at the eyes.

Our meal for the night was prepared by the monastery we stayed at and although very straight forward, was very good, and importantly vegetarian. Dinner done, we had the chance to enjoy the particularly picturesque, though not entirely original landscape of waterfalls, bridges and pagodas which sit just in front of the monastery and during the park opening hours attracts hordes of rickshaws and megaphones. We had prepared ourselves for pretty grim conditions at the monastery as we would be sleeping in the rooms usually occupied by either Pilgrims or visiting monks but to our surprise the room was fairly nice, if a little damp. It even had a TV to make sure than any travelling monk can keep up to date with their favourite series, though perhaps to re-inject some sense of austerity, the remote control had mysteriously vanished. A storm passed by far off which we really hoped was going to come over head to give a great 'monastery in the mountains night' but it stayed where it was and we had a peaceful sleep instead. The oddest thing about the monastery was that after the tourists had all gone, it seemed that so did the monks and that there weren't actually any in residence, except one who banged the drum at ten o'clock as seemed to be the ritual but was never seen at any other time, not even at dinner when it was only the kitchen and house keeping staff who came for food.

The following day we had breakfast on the path, deep fried and skewered, and then took a wrong turn walking straight uphill for about an hour before realising our error. We then made our way down the correct way passed the man obscurely selling gold fish and terrapins and passed the vicious monkeys who found the Chinese groups an equal match at taunting and pestering, though just in case the monkeys got the upper hand, there was a monk hanging around with a big stick.