Today we went to the Western Mountain. We got a little lost on the way there but were able to ask for directions to find out what bus would get us there. They had changed the bus routs just before we arrived in Kunming so sometimes the directions we get just aren't that good. However, today our problem was that we had to walk to a different station and get on a bus from there.
The bus dropped us at the bottom of the mountain. Instead of taking a ride up, Matthew and I decided to walk the 6km. On the way up we stopped and looked at a couple of Buddhist temples. As they were still being used they didn't want you to take pictures. I worked really hard to get a picture of the warrior gods on the outside of the building I ended up taking pictures of through the incense smoke so they aren't as bright as they really were but they are still pretty impressive.
Inside one of the buildings there were all of the gods and they were made out of bronze or something that made them look gold. Some of them were slightly scary looking but others were really pretty. As it had been really hot outside it was nice to be inside with the metal gods as it was cold inside. I'm sure all the metal gods had something to do with it staying cold inside.
Matthew and I wandered around for quite some time and then head up the mountain again. I was getting pretty tired by the time we got to the next temple. This temple wasn't as big but it was nice as well. It had really nice views of lake Dian. They had really pretty pretty gardens. Matthew and realized that we weren't going to be able to get to the Dragon gate if we didn't start going faster. Our guide book told us that if we didn't go to the Western Mountain and see the Dragon gate we hadn't seen Kunming. So we didn't spend as much time at this temple as we might have. While it was smaller it seemed older.
We finally got to the top and walked up the road to the Dragon gate. The road leading up had lots of stalls set up. They had this one little thing that had a plastic bird in it and when it opened it played the same 6 or so notes over and over again. It was really annoying and not very pretty. I was pretty annoyed with it by the time we got to the top.
The actual Dragon Gate was the entrance to the long tunnels that let up the side of the cliff. A bunch of monks carved the tunnels in the the cliff face and built shrines. For someone like Matthew it was really not that fun. However the views of Dian Chi where beautiful as well as the views of the city. What was a little disappointing was that we didn't get to see as much of the city because it was slightly cloudy. The hike up the mountain was pretty long and the hike up after the dragon gate was even stepper. It was really pretty and there was even a tunnel through the rock at one point. I really don't think I would have had the nerve to be one of the monks that was cutting the rock.
In one of the areas there was the story of the making of the dragon gate. It was really very pretty. I will try and post the pictures of the story. On a different post. There were even more Buddhist temples and even a Buddha carved into the rock face about 20 feet up the cliff from where the path was. I have to say that the were right about needing to go to the Western mountain. It was really beautiful. It was a long and hot hike though.
When we got to the top we were going to take a cable car down but they had just closed so we walked down. We were meeting JuJu and Bravo for dinner so we had to take a taxi down into the city center. That took and while but the one good thing was we were able to stop at the Hump Hostel and wash our faces before we went.
We met them in the city center and went to a hot plate restaurant. They did the ordering so we ate a lot more meat than I would have liked. It wasn't bad, but I'm just not a big meat eater and as a result I didn't get as much food to eat as I would have liked.
When we went back to the apartment we were really worn out so we got ready for bed.
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