M-whY

At 6:30 in the morning, I received an unsolicited wakeup call from reception for sunrise viewing, if I was interested. A look out the window concluded there'd be no sunrise to be seen, and I went back to sleep. Seriously, was the call necessary? A couple hours later, I got up on my own. Stuffing the few things I brought up the mountain in my daypack, I checked out and began my descent.

Only fifteen minutes in, I was wishing I had taken the bus. I was only a couple days removed from the Tiger Leaping Gorge; I wasn't fully recovered yet. But I pressed on, knowing it would make for a more interesting day if I did. At one of the many souvenir shops along the path, I bought a walking stick to help me. I've heard they can take up to 20% of the load off your feet. And they'd also serve a secondary purpose.

Monkeys are an inevitable part of any Mt Emei experience. They've got a reputation for being a pain, harassing hikers, demanding food, and stealing it if you're not careful.

"[If you see any monkeys, tap your stick on the ground as a warning. But whatever you do, don't actually hit one, or the entire pack will come to its assistance,]" advised the vendor. Fight off a family of monkeys might make for an interesting tale, but I wouldn't have the heart to strike preemptively anyways.

I encountered a number of people on their way up. Tourists like myself, monks, buddhist pilgrims, some on their third of a four day climb. Demographics included everyone from families with young children and 80 year old elderly. Pretty much everyone asked the same two questions. "[How much farther to the top?]" and "[Are there monkeys up ahead?]" More often than not, the second questions was put forth somewhat fearfully. One guy I stopped to have a chat with told me how the monkeys stole his map and food the day before.

"[But you have a walking stick. Why didn't you fend them off?]"

"[They ambushed me from the trees!]"

I don't know why, but this all sounded fun to me. Monkey have always fascinated me, maybe because I was born in the year of the monkey myself. A half hour after passing Elephant Bathing Pool, I got my first glimpse of them.

Sitting on the steps, they barely paid any attention to me, even though I carried a backpack full of snacks. I got right next to them, they continued to mind their own business. They weren't as bad as the stories made them out to be...

The second pack of Tibetan Macaques were more interesting. More curious, as monkeys should be. The pack included babies, but their parents got really defensive when I tried to get closer. Chasing each other, leapin from tree to tree, they were still nowhere as naughty as I expected.

Three women rushed past me. "[Taking pictures?!]" they exclaimed. "[You're pretty brave!]" When I caught up to them again a few minutes later, I learned they that had been 'attacked' not too long ago. Why none of this happened to me, I don't know. Maybe I look too menacing?

Lunch was fresh bamboo shoots picked from the mountainside at a makeshift restaurant. Here, I realized I was going the wrong way. Somewhere, I had missed a fork in the path, and was now on a shorter, less scenic route. A look at the steep steps I had just come down dashed any thought of backtracking. It was no longer if I'd finish by the end of the day, but when.

On and on I went, reaching Long Life Monastery by mid afternoon. The busiest on Mt Emei, it has been fully restored, unlike most others which are quite run down. From here on out, it was CGTC (Chinese Group Tour Chaos). Tourists, everywhere I looked. It made sense; The nicest parts of the mountain - the lakes, streams, and Quanyin Pavilion- are found in this area. Finding a quiet moment with it all was difficult but not impossible. It just required a little effort and a lot of patience.

I took a detour to another stretch known to be frequented by monkeys, except the feature of this circus were Chinese tourists posing with disinterested subjects. Finally, I came to the car park. To town was another 15km, a distance I actually consiered walking. My legs issued a veto though, and so I hired a motorbike instead. In all, including breaks, it was a nine hour stroll. I'm getting too old for this shit.

Thanks to everyone for their support and comments! Knowing people are reading keeps me motivated to continue the updates!