Continuation from part 4.

We arrived Datong at 8:30 p.m. on the nuts.  Got out the station and started looking for a cab. There were a bunch of cab drivers and it’s all up to us to pick who we want. Bro was talking to one or two and there was another trying to ask me where we are going/staying. I haughtily told him, “Den it siah!” Cheh wah, speaking Putonghua, some more! But, he was a pest! Finally bro managed to get one who speaks a little English, very nice chap.

He was our driver and guide for the entire trip at Datong. He is very keen on learning English. A phrase he says a lot is “Becareful”. Too cute when he said it.

Anyways, we squeezed into the cab with all our luggage.  The trunk was not shut, too many luggage.  Really geng!  We told him to take us to a not too expensive hotel.  Both bro and I went in to check out the rooms first if it suits our liking.  We ok’ed it, unloaded and asked him to be our guide for the next day.  Agreed to meet him at the lobby at 7:30 the next morning.

The next morning was a full day for us.  Cab driver (CD) took us to Datong’s famous noodle shop for our breakfast of champion.  The noodles were not too bad, salty but edible.  From there we head on to the Kuan Yin Temple, look see for a while and then straight on to Yungang Grottoes.  It started to rain while we were waiting for the ticket booth to open.  So we had to buy raincoats, those cheap plastic cover.  It was cut throat prices for two, RMB10, and when it really poured the vendor jacked up the price to RMB10 each, instead of RMB5.

Entrance to the grottoes. Mom’s ticket was free because she is senior citizen. Again, another place where there are a lot of people wherever you turn to, but not as bad as when we were in Beijing.

This place is a marvel. There are carved statues on the rocks. Absolutely amazing handicraft. There were a lot of defaced statues, ,ust be during the Red Guards period, I guess, they were sort of destroyed them.

Some statues located higher up were still intact.

Here’s me with my RMB5 raincoat.  Rip off, but it did the job for mom and I!

This place is just awesome, hard to describe it coz I’m not good in describing things. Here is one picture I first saw, huge carving of a Buddha and carvings on the ceiling above it. You just wonder how the carvers got up there to carved.

And there are a few caves where cameras are totally not allowed. There were some “security” folks standing around and sometimes we do see them walking around the caves to catch those trying to take pictures. Well, I have to say, I did not heed the warning sign (pot is calling the kettle black!) but how can I not curi-curi take pictures (without the flash) when I see these carvings.

Many of these caves’ lightings are very dim where the “No Photography” sign is up. Thus, when you see the slideshow, these pictures are quite dark even after I doctered them up.

Some of the caves, the carvings have color on them, like the one below.  Well, actually a lot of them do have colors but not as significant as this one, all the way up to the ceiling.

Then we walked out to the other side of the grottoes and the caves on this side are more open, more day light.
The carvings are so delicate, so meticulously done.

In this picture, the group of monks, I have to say the camera they are taking pictures is a big ass DSLR. I was telling mom I should just be a nun and I get to carry a nice camera like them.

I saw this again, a boy with this type of pants. The first time I saw it was at the Summer Palace, and now here. It’s just funny, does the little kid really do his business as is when he is wearing this type of pants?

After the Yungang Grottoes, we headed to the Hanging Temples. It was about an hour’s drive from Yungang Grottoes. The occupants in the cab went to sleep except me. I was enjoying the scenery, mountainous and finally when we got to the Hanging Temple mountain, the sun came out.  We got our tickets (mom had to buy a ticket here coz they don’t believe she is above 65) entered, and we saw this:

The Hanging Temples still in one piece shaded against the sun.

Too damn impressive for words. Can you figure out how the monks built this temple high up against the mountain where a river used to run in front of it?

The temperature changes as we went up the stairs and once we got to the temple, the breeze was cooling, I didn’t feel warm. The wooden staircase inside the temple I still think is the original. The stone stairs are well walked on, the surface was smooth.  The first thing I did when I got up the first level…guess what I did?  Haha, I knocked on those skinny wooden beams supporting that particular structure and even shook it.  They were super duper solid wood. I saw others were doing the same thing too.  So, I guess it’s just not me wondering how solid and stable the beams are. The balconies are very narrow and the railings are not waist high, they are way below the waist, like up to my thigh. So you can imagine for a tall person, how it feels to walk the corridors. It’s quite scary.

We saw the room where the monks slept in. I think that’s where they slept:

There are rooms for praying where statues of Buddhas and other deities. These statues are the originals so most of them are protected by glass except for a few without any sort of glass protection.

This place is not for the weak heart. Bro’s gf is scared of heights, she said she feels her legs are shaking as she went up. Thus, she turned around, went downstairs and waited for us on the first level.

Here is a picture of how narrow the stone stairs are and far up we were.

Me, the higher the better! In some areas after the crowd behind me dispersed, the quietness was unbelievable. I could not hear the bottom construction going on, the people’s voices. Just breeze. What a place to build a temple! Just amazing that’s all I can say.

Some of the deities are placed in individual temples (?) like this one.

On this picture, you can see how narrow the corridor is.

After taking a ton of pictures here, by the way, I don’t have any pictures of me at this place coz I was busy taking pictures. My bro took some pictures of me with his camera but….nothing from him yet.

So after one last look at the Hanging Temples, we went for our lunch. I’m sure it’s the Shaanxi Province type of food. One special dish, picture below, was the hardest to swallow. The floury noodle (I think) was slimy, and soaked in a bowl of soup with a layer of oil. Damn hard to eat, but it was a good experience tho. CD just slurped it right into his mouth. He said it’s the best, very good dish.

AFter lunch, CD took us shopping for fruits and then stopped us at the many home grottoes in Datong. He stopped us at this man’s home. This man lives alone.

His home is so cooling and airy. I pity him during winter tho. There is no running water, but I think there is electricity. Water, well, he said he collect rain water. The slideshow will see the inside of his “free” home.

Getting closer to Datong city, CD stopped us at a very old temple. I have no idea what the name is. I took a picture of the stone and whatever was written on the board above door. Whoever knows Chinese, please translate. Thank you. This temple has not much to see, a lot of broken down stuff but damn old, like 3000 years old or something.

Next destination is “Jiu Loong Ti” Nine Dragon Wall (think I said it right in Chinese). This dragon wall is located right next to our hotel.

CD told us each dragon is different. It is if he didn’t tell me, you can see it on the slideshow as I took a pic of each individual dragon. He also said Datong and Pingyao dragon claws are different from the ones in Beijing. I have no idea about that coz I didn’t pay any attention to the dragon claws I saw in Beijing.

This group of girls are from Guangzhou. We first met them at the very first entry of the Hanging Temples. The girl in pink said out loud, something to the effect, “Kum kwai koh, wooi mhm wooi tit sei yan gar?” I had to laughed at her comment and that was how I found out they were from Guangzhou. We then met them at the Dragon Wall. Very nice bunch of girls. We asked them if they have been Pingyao and that was actually where they came from. We asked their opinion on how they like the city. They said if one likes antiques, old stuff, then it is a nice place.

The next city after Datong is Pingyao which we went by train.

Below is the slideshow of Yungang Grottoes and the Hanging Temple.

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