Xi-Chang to Chengdu via Le-Shang (Giant Buddha). June 2016

Dag 31. Xi-Chang til Chengdu via LeShan ( Kæmpe Buddha), 571 km

Vi havde en dårlig nat. Strømmen gik på hotellet, så vores A/C virkede ikke og vi kunne ikke få vores morgen kaffe ( som vi selv laver på værelset). Nå, pyt det gik alligevel. En sjov/interessant ting her. Man får simpelthen ikke kaffe eller te til morgenmaden, og vand kan man næsten heller ikke få. U-ha jeg savner min kaffe.

I dag var en lang køredag 550 km, men på fantastiske veje. Sikke et vejnet man har her, flotte motorveje. Vi kørte igennem en 10 km lang tunnel – fantastisk. Igen i dag var udsigten fantastisk, smukke, smukke bjerge.

                                                       The views - Udsigten

Der dyrkes majs og ferskner i det område, vi har været igennem indtil nu, og rigtig meget af begge dele.

Fremme i Leshan så vi en Kæmpe Buddha, udskåret i sten. Han er 1300 år gammel og sidder, så han kigger på 3 floder som møder hinanden. Munken Haitong, besluttede i år 713, at han ville bygge en Buddha på stedet, for at beskytte bådene, og dæmpe strømmen, som er i de 3 floder. Efter at Buddha’en var bygget, blev floderne roligere. Skeptikere mente, at det skyldtes, at så mange sten var blevet smidt i vandet under konstruktionen, at flodens løb var blevet ændret.

                                             One of the rivers - En af floderne

Fremme i Chengdu fandt vi vores hotel og gik ud for at finde en Mc’Donalds restaurant – nej hvor smagte den burger godt.

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15th June, distance 571 km, driving time 8 hours

Today’s drive was another fantastic experience on the Chinese highways.

“Man”, are these guys good at building highways. The highways we drove through were constructed through 2 mountain passes, which made our drive spectacular.

                                            Amazing highways - Fantastiske motorveje

 Out of the many tunnels we drove through, one of them was 10 km long with 4 lanes, super exiting experience. When you drive through some of these tunnels, the weather has already changed on the other side of the mountain. This whole construction of roads in China is financed by a toll system. I do wish, we had this in India.

We diverted a few hundred km, to see the Giant Buddha.

This is the worlds largest ancient Buddha and it is a Unesco World heritage site. This giant Buddha, is carved from a cliff face overlooking 3 mighty rivers, and was build in AD 713. His claim was, that Buddha would protect the boats and calm the lethal currents at the foot of the giant Buddha. After building the Giant Buddha, the river waters calmed, and critics point out, that the piles of unused surplus rocks reshaped the rivers and changed the currents.

                                           The Giant Buddha - Kæmpe Buddhaen

This Buddha is 215 feet tall and has a shoulder span of 85 feet. We hired a boat, and sailed in these strong currents to view the Buddha from the water side, “fascinating.”

We then drove to Chengdu from here, which is the 4^th largest city in China, with a population of 14 mill people. Man, did we have a problem with traffic to find the hotel, which we finally did, and what a relief.

After a tiring day, I was determent to have a burger. So with Louis and Janet in tow, we marched along the roads surrounding our hotel, with a piece of paper saying Mc’Donalds and burger. After a pleasant walk with many different directions, a police officer directed us to an underground eatery, where we finally found McDonalds. What treat to eat a burger, I could not resist to order another Big Mac.