What a Long Strange Trip It's Been, pt 4
2005-08-18,

Slippery Slope

So down headed we from the mountain lair, for the hour grew late and the weather disquiet. Wending along aged cobbles amidst strange (to our foreign eyes), misty flora, we set on quietly nearer, toward my unanticipated fate.

[I should write like that more often. No, that takes too long - I sum up.]

Anyway, down we went. After such a relaxing respite above, perhaps it was that our footsteps on humidity-slickened stone stairs were a bit too casual, because - whoops - and, feet going forward out from under me, down I go, my wrist taking most of the impact. I didn't hear a crunch or snap that would signal an obvious break anywhere in my hand or arm, but at the time I was more worried about the blood welling up in the newly-made gashes on my right hand from the steps that weren't exactly tooled, flat planes of stone. Immediately, visions of foreign hospitals and disrupting out adoption process went through my head - along with the "ow ow ow".

We made it down the rest of the hill and back into the monastery compound and tried to figure out a way to wash my hand, worrying about the water getting into my system. I used a little bottled water instead, and then used a wet nap (boy the alcohol in that thing really felt good). Then we went hunting for ice. H asked at a food counter - a challenge in itself, considering the language barrier, getting across that I needed ice for my hand - and once the girl registered what is was we were asking for, she actually ran off across the courtyard, seeming apologetic that they didn't have any right there and then. A couple of minutes later she returned with a plastic bag full of ice wedges. Eternally grateful, were we. We sat for a while in the sparsely populated courtyard, watching the ice melt at a disturbingly rapid pace over my wrist.

Satisfied that my hand wasn't going to fall off anytime soon, we moved on toward the Giant Buddha. It wasn't as tiring as I thought it would be, walking up the 250 (yes, we counted) steps of the main stairway leading to the statue. The thing was impressive, to be sure, but it honestly wasn't as inspiring as our journey up the opposite hill, fall or no. The view from the base of the statue, however - of both the grounds and of the South China Sea - was pretty awesome. We spent a good while taking in the sights and the sea breeze. Turns out that there was also an inside of the Buddha, which was a small museum of sorts, including having a couple of crystal fragments of the Shakyamuni Buddha. Apparently he was so down with Buddhism that he burst into the flame of enlightenment that was so hot that it crystallized him. His remains were then split up and sent to various parts of the world. Current street value: unknown.

Inside the museum were also many works of art (including a very cool piece that I'm still trying to hunt down online), as well as many religious and historical documents and info on the creation of the statue. There's also a huge bell in his chest. Or his belly; I'm not sure of the placement relative to the innards. Mmm.. Buddha innards.

More to come. And keep checking older entries, I plan on adding some pictures here and there.

-- End Transmission --