There are more changes to the itinerary. Not that I really knew what the itinerary was anyway. We were going to go to Tiger Leaping Gorge but have been told by people in Chengdu that it is closed. We are going to try to go anyway in case the rumour is false, but are expecting to have to re-plan our schedule.
Firstly, about 14km from Chengdu, we stop to see the Giant Buddha at Leshan. At 150 Yuan, it is quite expensive to walk around it, so most of the party decide to do it with adrenaline. At 70 Yuan a person, we fill up two speedy boats that take to view it from the river. Although we can’t get as close as we would like, it gives us a good perspective of its size, with its toe nails being higher off the ground than the pedestrian visitors heads. It’s only a 15 minute boat ride, but is quite fun and the drivers of the two boats have a little race on the way back to the mooring.
At night, we bush camp in a town with a bridge lined with ever varying neon lights. Everything in the town is closed by the time we arrive. However, in the main square of the town the town’s women have turned out for mass square dancing session.
When I say we bush camped in the town, we have actually stopped in a police compound, and there is nowhere to pitch tents, except for those that have free standing ones. Most people pay to stay at the local hotel which Kevin has guided them to. Meanwhile, Kevin, Jen and impenetrable Irishman Hughie find a room to squat in, although they don’t tell anyone else about it, so I sleep uncomfortably inside the truck. This is one time I think that we really should have had a hotel covered by the UK to Oz tour company, but this stage of the trip doesn’t seem to be particularly well planned in general.
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