"Emei Shan and the stairs" by Christianzagar

Emei Shan.....Elevated at 3099m most people report the view from the top as dissapointing. Visibility can be pretty bad.... But this was all no problem from someone like me who always get's lost and gives up trying to reach the top. We took the wrong starter trail which delayed us for a long while and the rain and cool wind didn't make things that enjoyable. It was beautiful and the scenery was amazing once you were past the main areas full of tourists, and past the evil monkeys that threaten you. Walking along the trails through misty fog passing just barely visible temples was something out of a fairy tale. It was mystical and as the Lonely planet describes it a "Medieval TimeWarp"

The walk is not at all the difficult... but you will curse stairs when you finish. all 99 billion of them. and don't try and count them you will give up after a day and a half. Emei Shan is one of the Middle Kingdoms four famous buddhist mountains. Today there are approximately 20 active temples on the mountain. The monks get mixed reviews. Many talk of their enlightening day spent hiking with the monks... Personally I had different experiences and I kinda felt bad forthe monks. They must have a difficult time being monks when they have to spend the majority of their time cleaning up after tourists. It's also unfortunate that that the monks are more business minded than meditation minded. The paths are all stairs and the summit is supposed to be amazing for sunrise... but I read way too many comments to suggest that you won't actually get to see a sunrise.

Beware of the crazy monkeys They can be vicious and have attacked people in the past. They like to take your food and your bags so be careful. I had on a nice bright red coat and was told by a few people that i shouldn't wear that colour cause it attracts the monkeys. I didn't have any problems thought I got the odd hiss from them. It's probably worth investing in a walking "monkey" stick as you can scare the monkeys away with it.

Cheap snacks and caffeine are not readily available on the mountain.. so come prepared with lots of water and snacks. There is one place somewhere about half way up the mountain where we found coffee. Check out the Hard-Wok cafe for some Nescafe! It's best to avoid this entire mountain on weekends and holidays or you might be miserable hiking up with 50 000 other people.

enjoy