From Danba we took a long bus ride to the Sichuan's capital of Chengdu where I parted ways with England (he had to make a visa run to Mongolia) and set off the next day to explore the famous Emei Shan and Leshan Giant Buddha. Luck was not really on my side for the mountain (again - I don't know what it is but mostly the weather has been crappy for my climbing expeditions to the famous mountains in China) and I climbed in misty/drizzly conditions, stayed in very basic accommodation on-mountain, saw a non-sunrise and climbed down the next day. I did manage to get a few decent shots between the clouds and at some of the nicer temples on the mountain. A bit disappointing frankly - but at least I can say I've been there, right?
My brief couple of hours at the Leshan Giant Buddha were interesting if very touristy. Actually I think the dodgy weather was keeping people away, thank god and the place wasn't too crowded at all (the infrastructure for dealing with big crowds - queuing pens essentially - made me very glad it wasn't busy). The Buddha certainly is big (71m tall), and an impressive sight. The large collection of copied carvings from all over China not so impressive. I'm glad I went but I can only take so much of these intensely touristy places at one time. From there I bussed back to Chengdu and headed out the next day to Songpan for some horse trekking.
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