The giant Buddha (tues 4/5)

We had something to do today! A driver was supposed to pick us up at 830 am and take us to Leshan to see the giant Buddha. Just about 830 am we were at breakfast Paula was still eating very quickly and I ran up to my room to get some water. While I was in there the phone rang. The phone never rings. So I answered it. The front desk said our driver was downstairs waiting and they couldn’t get a hold of Ms. Botman. I tried to explain that we were going to be there in just a minute. Several times I tried to tell her this. She may have spoke English, but I don’t think she understood it. Finally I just said I’m on the way and hung up. So we were just a few minutes late. I don’t know if this was the reason, but our driver was none to pleased. Maybe he just didn’t want to drive 3 lao-may 2 hours to Leshan, sit around all day waiting for us and then drive back. Whatever. It’s your job, dude. Suck it up.

Naps were had on the way there, and upon our arrival we met up with one of the students from our class, the director of the Leshan 120 center and a woman who spoke English. It was clear she would be our tour guide. Her English was good, but not great. We walked along a river a bit, and she explained that this was the confluence of 3 great rivers, none of which I can remember the names. If you are curious, google Leshan and it will tell you. I don’t feel like it right now. Anyways, these rivers can sometimes flood, and about 1,000 years ago there was a bad flood, so they decided to carve a giant Buddha out of the rock at the point where the rivers meet in order to protect the city.

Apparently it worked. It took 18 years to complete this project. It is pretty spectacular. We had tea on the river, where the tour guide informed us we were at the confluence of 3 great rivers. The men were forced to have green tea, the women jasmine tea. Jasmine tea is effeminate so we weren’t allowed to have it. That was ok because the green tea was yummy. Then a nice stroll along the river to go get lunch. This was a good walk. For the first time we were under a canopy of trees, and the air smelt clean and fresh compared to what we had been breathing. Everything was green and lush and it seemed that great care was taken to be sure of this here. While on this walk we were told that the river we were walking along was one of 3 great rivers that met in Leshan. Good to know!

Lunch was quite interesting. We were informed that Leshan is world famous for its tofu. This excited General Dave and Paula, as they are tofu fans. I was not so excited. But, I thought I could try it. I mean I have already tried hot pot, snake, crickets, chicken blood, duck, pigeon, intestine, tripe, chicken heart, liver, kidney, various glands, chicken feet, duck feet, pig feet, eel and pig snout. I suppose tofu would join the list. What is the worst that could happen, my tits (I said tits Paula!) get bigger but not in the muscly pectoral way? There was tofu everything. Bear paw tofu, peacock arranged tofu, chili oil tofu, Sichuan tofu, tofu tofu tofu. There was also a yellow bean milk that if you add some sugar to was quite delicious. I was alone in that sentiment. The others disagreed, but they loved the tofu. Some of it was actually pretty good. I kept feeling my chest for abnormal growth though. During lunch, our tour guide told us that where we were was the confluence of 3 great rivers. Cool! I can definitely see why this place was famous for tofu. In fact, both General Dave and I were able to mash beans in an ancient bean grinder. It wasn’t hard, but still was fun. For a minute at least.

Crown jewel on top of mountain on left!

And now the crown jewel of our trip to Leshan, the giant Buddha. What is even more interesting is that there are three mountains that represent the sleeping Buddha, and the giant Buddha is carved onto the body. There is a head, body and legs. From afar you can see this representation. What do you think the crown jewel is? I’ll give you a hint: it’s on the body section. Yes, it is in fact, a giant phallic symbol to symbolize Buddha’s dong. Even the ancient men had an obsession with male genitalia and the size of it. Oh, and we were told to look out from Buddha and see how we were at the confluence of 3 great rivers. The giant Buddha was not at all what I was expecting. It was definitely huge but had been repainted and fixed up over the years. Of course, a great monument such as this must be kept looking its best, but I guess I was hoping it would be in an original state. They even change the Buddha’s eyes from open to closed at times. There were new buildings all around here, and none of them were open. 6 months we were told. Souvenir shops or stands are severely lacking here. There are a few, but no matter where you go it is the same stuff over and over.

So, a 2 hour drive back with naps, and then dinner. It was our last night at the hotel and we splurged by going to the western restaurant! General Dave and Paula had the buffet, which was thai themed. It was gross. So, I made a wise choice in getting another burger! Then we packed up and awaited the next days’ flight to Beijing!

By the way, you may have noticed how I mentioned us being at the confluence of 3 great rivers many many times. This was exactly what we experienced with our tour guide. She also made us take way more pictures than we wanted. And if you didn’t catch that, we had been at the confluence of 3 great rivers all day long!