Mt Emei, Stealing Monkeys and a Giant Buddha

What was initially an afterthought mentioned to us from a friend of Kate's, the friend we were staying with in Chengdu, became a reality. He suggested that instead of heading to Yanshuo and Guilin that we check out more of the Sichuan Province, due to proximity and also cost. After some talk and some investigation we found it would be cheaper for us to take a bus to Mt. Emei and then hike for 2 days to the summit and then visit the Giant Buddha in Leshan and then head back to Chengdu to await our flight to Thailand.
We awoke around 7 30 am in an attempt to catch a early bus to Emei. It was pouring down rain and we had to try to grab a taxi without getting out things too wet. After several feeble attempts we grabbed a hotel worker who swiftly hailed a taxi for us and we were on our way to the Chengdu bus station. About 15 or 20 minutes later we arrived, walked inside and purchased a one way bus fare to Emei. It would be abour a three hour ride, so we settled in to the back row assuming we could hold 5 seats for the three of us. As the bus began to fill we soon realized that the efficiency of the Chinese system would be our downfall. The entire bus filled from front to back and we were stuck with little leg room and noisy cell phone rings for the entire ride there. Luckily we had ipods and books to try and drone out the sound. The bus left the city behind and began on the trek to Emei, going through little mountain villages along the way. Kate had recommended us to check in and have lunch at the Teddy Bear hotel, a westernized hotel/cafe. There was some confusion on the bus, as to what or where we were supposed to go. Seeing as none of us spoke Chinese and a woman was telling us to pay more we had no idea what to do.
We paid her the additional 5 RMB and assumed she would lead us to our destination in safety. Very trusting Western travelers we have become!!
After another short ride we finally came to our destination in Emei Shan. We got off the bus and were immediatly greeted by a representative of the Teddy Bear hotel. They showed us to a table and we sat down and had lunch. David and I had a "Big Bear" burger, which assured us the sustenence we would need for fuel on our hike. From examining the map we decided we could begin hiking up the mountain and make it to the halfway point before dark, where we would stay in a monastary. After lunch we purchased another ticket up the mountain, so that we could shave about 15 km off of our hike, since we were on a short time schedule. THe bus took us to our destination and let us off. Seeing a ticket booth near the entrance, we headed for it. THe sign said that if you were a student you could pay a lesser entrance fee, and so I decided to try my Northwestern ID card. It worked, and I paid a little bit less than David. John showed a Canadian ID card, which also worked.
We entered the park, backpacks in tow and began our 2 day excursion up the mountain. A stream ran along the right side, it was crystal clear, and a river lay on the left. We followed the paved pave into the woods, hoping we were prepared for what lie ahead. The scenery was beautiful and the hike fairly easy. The weather a bit humid and damp, and the sky a misty grey. Certainly not ideal hiking conditions, but at this point we really had no say in the matter. We initially thought that the park was a bit amateur and disneyland esque, because there were vendors surrounding us and a paved path to follow, we certainly had no idea what lie ahead of us in the next two days.
On the map there was a zone called the Joking Monkey ZOne, and we had been warned ahead of time that the TIbetan Macaques Monkeys ran free and would bare their teeth at you, so we purchased what we called Monkey Sticks, which were actually large Bamboo walking sticks. I looked ahead and suddenly crossing the bridge I saw a foreign object. "Monkey", I shouted, and David and John quickly looked ahead and noticed it crossing the bridge. I saw a vendor selling monkey food and so I purchased a bag with the intention of kindly doling it out to the multiple monkeys. The monkey in front of me had other intentions and quickly ran towards me and intimidated me into giving him the entire bag. Content with his actions he ran off and opened the bag and hogged the entire thing for himself. I felt defeated and David and John certainly would not let me hear the end of it. So in an attempt to redeem myself I purchased another bag of Monkey food, and promptly handed it to David. He turned around and the monkeys already saw blood, or a sucker, I am not sure. They were on the prowl, they knew we had food and just as swiftly as they had taken it from me they snatched it from David. The greedy little monkeys were swift and smart. They ran across the bridge towards the other park visitors giving us an escape route, but first we had to cross the monkey bridge. The little monsters were running under the bridge and hanging on the sides. There were also baby monkeys and one particular mother had her baby monkey dangling underneath her. You would assume a mother would be innocent and caring but no she was sneaky as well and as soon as I turned my back she grabbed my water bottle from bag and pulled it out of it's place. She then turned and ran off with it. I again felt like the helpless victim, this time it was my water bottle, which she was attempting to bite into. These monkeys were ruthless. After making our way through the monkey zone we continued on our way and the path began to get more steep and arduous. Stair after stair, we continued to climb, and soon the path began to show noticeable age. Along the way we noticed strong Chinese workers lugging slabs on concrete on their backpacks. Day after day they would walk the length of the path dropping the slabs at certain points of the path and then returning back up the mountain for another round. They must have employed an entire village and from the looks of these guys calf muscles this was a daily task for them. We were winded, and certainly hungry so we stopped for a bite to eat. Along the route they had several noodle shops, and we had been warned that the last leg of our first day would be the toughest. Someone was not lying to us, as we continued our climb the path got steeper, the stairs more narrow and the inclines longer. Finally, we arrived at the Xianfeng Monastary, a dank damp spot in the mountains with very rustic lodging. We paid our small fee for a three bed bedroom and were shown up some old wooden stairs along the back of the temple. The woman showed us to our room which was a small dorm sized room complete with three beds, and one desk and a set of hooks from which we could hang wet clothes. We certainly had some damp clothes as it had been raining all day long and our clothes were a mixture of sweat and rain. We walked around a bit and then settled in for the night as we were exhausted.
The next day we awoke fairly early and began to make our way up the mountain. Again it was a misty foggy day so the scenery was a bit tough to see. You could tell it would be beautiful on a clear day, but it was actually more gothic feeling as we could barely see in front of us. We saw more of the workers and some rougher sections of the path that were in repair. On our way we met a couple of backpackers named ROb and Michael, who were recent law school grads from London who were on their way to Beijing to study Chinese for 6 months. They were extremely friendly and also good company to have. It was nice to see that other people were having as much difficutly as we were making it to the peak. After several hours of hiking we finally made our way to the summit, what they call the Golden Peak. At the top of the mountain, which was very touristy lay a large golden colored temple. We snapped a few photos and then headed back down to catch the last bus to Baguo, the village where the Teddy Bear hotel was. We decided a shower and a good meal were in order. The bus ride down took around 45 minutes, and we checked into the hotel and then ordered dinner. We were exhasuted so after a quick check of the emails we settled in for the night.
The next day we were up and ready and purchased a bus ticket to Leshan to see the Giant BUddha carved into the side of the rock cliff. An hour ride later we were there and purchasing tickets. I again used the student ID but this time was able to get a rate for all three of us. Our legs ached from the worlds largest stairmaster the 2 days prior but we walked slowly and steadily back to the GIant BUddha. After spending about 2 hours there we were ready to go so we made our way out and headed back for Chengdu. I am now in Thailand as yesterday was a travel day for us. We had a flight to Guangchou and then a flight to Bangkok last night. Today we wandered around and saw a few sights, and are awaiting Jareds arrival tonight from Beijing. We will be here for three nights and then heading out to Ko Samet, an island off the coast of Thailand. I will update with pictures as soon as I am able to.