Pandas, staring, spitting, steps and monks

There are moments in my life, happy moments that i think i will never forget; swimming with my friends off 7 Mile Beach in the Cayman Islands, eating the best sea food stir fry in Bangkok, and holding a Panda in Chengdu. Holding that Panda was the most amazing moment of the trip before, something that i will never forget for as long as i live. It was so worth the 1000 yuan, completely worth the 10000 miles i have travelled. If nothing else happens on this trip it's been worth it. The Panda, his name is Jing Jing, he is 8 months old and really heavy, a bit smelly but so warm and cuddly. I felt honoured to be able to do this. There are only about 1600 pandas left in the world. About a 1000 in the wild around the Sichuan province and about 200 in reserves here and in the mountains.
After the panda reserve I hit the wall, I just couldn't do anything else, our guide who's English name was Chicory for some bizarre reason, announced that we were going to a monastery for lunch, i nearly died. Now it's not that i don't like my fellow travellers, in general they are a pretty nice, inoffensive bunch of people, but i just couldn't function. I got our guide to pull over and got a taxi back to the hotel where i slept for 7 hours, so if you actually want any information about Chengdu, you'll have to ask the folks that china.com.
That evening I rose from my slumber and went with the group for traditional Shechuen hotpot. which our guide had said was going to be hot and spicy, like the Shechuan ladies btw. The Shechuan men being subservient. I would not recommend traditional shechuen hotpot. It boiled down to deep fried meat tasting slop in pot, and it literally boils down to that. And it's too spicy and because you have to share I can only imagine the amount of Hep B in that pot and hope that the spices were able to kill it off. My dinner was spoiled when one of my travelling companions coughed and spluttered a mouthful of food onto my plate.
Being in China i am beginning to understand that the first black person in Dublin must have felt like. As you are walking down the street all the locals stare, and point. Some say hello, but most just point and then run away giggling. I was going to stare back up to now i just smile and say a chirpy Ni how, and i get a smile and a ni how back. At this point i was going to upload a photo of a charming Chinese man, but the connection is too slow. The other thing about here that takes a lot of getting used to is the spitting. The spitting itself I could maybe get used to. I do secretly wish i had gotten my BCG vaccination. But it's the hacccccccccckkkkkkkkkeee noise that precedes it that just is revolting. Now the government has banned it in Beijing, but not in the countryside where i have to say it is something of a pass time, it crosses all age groups, and more frighteningly genders.
Yesterday I climbed Mount Emei, which is one of the four sacred Buddhist mountains in China, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, even though our guide, Nathan, let it slip that the Buddha is only 2 years old. Now the mountain is 3000m high, and I tell you I was one happy camper to have enough fog so that I didn't have to 'admire' the view. I don't think that I was ever so frightened in my entire life. The climb was okay, but it was the steps and steps and steps without handrails, but gosh was I happy to have some very gentlemanly gentlemen in our party who helped me up and looked after me. Thank you Mike and Peter. I didn't take any photos, if you want to see the view then you are going to have to climb up there yourself.
I am staying in a monastery at the foot of Mount Emei. It's so lovely. The monks start chanting each morning at 4.30 and strangely instead of waking up screaming I wake up in a good mood. I would now have downloaded a couple of photos of this beautiful setting but the connection is too slow.
Tomorrow we have to get a bus for 10 hrs and then we are on a boat on the Yanksee river for 3 days. Hmmmmmm nerves in the the tour party are beginning to fray just a tad.