01-04-2012, 06:41 PM
While talking to the Queen I realized I had miscounted my days left in Dengfeng. I still had one more day of excitement here in town. For unknown reasons, I had ordered my room in Zhengzhou for the right day, it’s just there was a day between when I was supposed to depart Dengfeng and arrive in Zhenzhou.
This necessitated another round of pantomime at the front desk to keep my room for one more day. The only way I know if I have done this right is they give me a ticket to get my meal on the proper day.
Ever since I had been to the nunnery and seen Damo’s cave, the thought of coming all this way and not going to the cave bugged me. I didn’t like the idea of not seeing one of the cornerstones of the legends surrounding Shaolin Temple.
Faced with the extra day, I decided I would make the climb. Yes, I was psyched out by the view of the stairs from the nunnery to leading to the top. But it also looked closer than I had been anticipating.
I told Sal of my plan. He and the girls decided to join me. I later learned that in all the many times Sal had been coming to Shaolin he had never visited the cave. He also indicated he was going to ask the monks to get into the Temple for free. I told him that he should asks the monks if they knew of a trail behind the Wushu school that might take us around the stairs. Without bothering to ask anyone, he told me he thought such a trail probably didn’t exist.
The thought of any way to avoid those stairs kept jabbing my weak body, so I pushed to make sure he asked. He agreed.
The monks were going to be available to guide us from 9-11 or from 2-5. Hmmm, I wonder what time Greg chose? Since the monks were available at 9, Sal suggested we get to the Temple at 9:30. I queried this statement but agreed on the meeting time. I was tired of hearing the questioning tone in my voice.
For my entire stay here, it has been foggy. In Zhengzhou it might have been something more than fog because the air had a certain tang to it. So, it was almost with giddiness that I saw the perfectly clear blue sky above Dengfeng. Songshan mountain glowed yellow in the dawn light. As is usually the case when I am in a tall building and faced with a beautiful shot, I tried to break onto the roof. The doors were all locked. I settled for pictures from my window.
It was a long time until the meet up with Sal and I had nothing better to do, I went to the Temple. I could get a bunch of shots of formerly foggy shots now brightly lit. Never mind that credo about being happy with the shots I got. Time to get better ones.
Sal and crew found me euphorically snapping away at 9:20. There was some confusion about where to actually meet the monks taking us past the gate, so we walked back up to the road to await them.
We were one seat shy in the car, because the monk brought a driver in the car to get us. The girls went ahead while we waited. I took more pictures of the Damo statue.
They drove us right into the temple grounds to the warrior monks training room. I let Sal go ahead while I snapped pictures outside. When I went into the hall, Sal was doing a sword demo in front a couple of the older Shaolin monks. They were nice enough to applaud when he was done. I taped the end of the routine. Then I filmed around the hall but was then told they don’t allow filming in there.
If you are expecting an exotic chinese training facility it wasn’t. The only illumination came from the dirty side windows. A group of younger monks were beating up a heavy punching bag attached to an old metal frame. There were flags and a giant drawing of Damo on one wall. There was a slightly raised training platform covering half the floor. It was plywood on 2x4’s covered with a thin covering of aged black vinyl. It used to be just concrete in there. The plywood and vinyl was an upgrade.
The monks didn’t have time to join us so we were going to make the climb on our own. Sal had asked about the Wushuguan trail but was told it was difficult to find and we would probably get lost. The stair trail was our best option.
I put a little distance between me and the group as we walked to the trail head. Patty and Sal were having a fight I didn’t need to hear. Plus, I was eventually going to slow way down. I figured to get a head start so I wouldn’t hinder their progress too much.
Did I mention how beautiful the day was? It needs mentioning again. It was a crystal clear blue sky. The air was cold and refreshing and I was hiking to one of the most famous spots in all of Chan Buddhism and Martial Arts.
I bypassed the trail to the nunnery to avoid the nunnery stairs. The path I was on was nice and paved. I asked a Chinese gentleman if I was on the right path to Damo and he agreed. The others missed the turn and went by the nunnery again. I could hear them talking all the way across the canyon.
After several sets of stairs, I arrived at my first rest station on the trail. A monk was there selling trinkets, food, and drinks. He had two scruffy dogs that were lounging on the prayer mat in front of a small altar. When I petted the small dogs, I could feel their ribs through their fur.
One of the dogs elected to follow us up the trail. He followed us almost all the way to the cave. I was tempted to see if he would carry my tripod. Yes, I carried my tripod the entire way. One hand on the tripod over my shoulder, the other pulling myself up the railing.
The next segment was probably the hardest. It had lots of steep stairs not just the one visible from down below. I’d walk a bunch of steps then commence panting to get my hear rate and breathing under control. At the second waypoint, I bought an ice cold green tea from that vendor. I drank it too fast and got a nice cramp for my pains. I waited. It eased.
I finally made it to the steps I had been fearing. I took a break by photographing my companions with the valley as a backdrop. But enough waiting. Time to climb.
It wasn’t as bad as I envisioned nor as long as I thought it was going to be. I was confused to find myself at the top of the stairs but not dead from exertion. The dog just leapt up the stairs like it was nothing. Stupid taunting dog.
There were more stairs but the worst was over. After a couple more rises we made it to the cave. Along the way, Natasha took a picture with a couple. The man had kissed her during the shot and professed his love for Natasha. The woman with him was less than happy at this admission and stormed down the mountain.
There were a group of women stationed at the entrance to the cave. It was a small little setting. They had built a stone platform in front of it. You pass through an arch to get to the small cave. Next to the arch was a stele telling the history of the cave and Damo’s nine year stay in it.
There were also two nuns present. One was at the arch. The other sat in the cave. Patty was disappointed to find out you weren’t allowed to take pictures in the cave.
I wandered around taking lots of shots, dawdling while recovering my breath. I took group photos of the female vendors, the nuns, and our group. I think the Vendors were selling some sort of Shaolin medicine because the card I was shown had pictures of mushrooms on it.
I went into the cave and lit some incense for DM. The nun there showed me were to kneel and laughed when I said Nei Hao. I took her picture in front of the arch.
Famously, there is supposed to be rock that has the image of Damo on it. It appeared like a picture because Damo spent nice years facing this rock. I likened it to the shroud of Turin. I asked Sal where was the rock. He said how could that be possible that a man’s face appeared in the rock. I said but it’s one of the most famous myths. He continued to deny it’s possibility. I told him possible or not, where was the rock? He reluctantly admitted he didn’t know. Phil said later it might be in the temple where we had seen the demo.
Sal decided it was time to go and told the group to get moving. Yeah, that’s the wrong approach if you want me to move. I stayed behind while they continued the climb up the stairs to the massive Damo statue on the peak.
I took some more pictures and thanked the nun. I gathered my stuff in preparation for the climb. The nun pointed to a trail at the back of the little platform. She suggested I take that trail rather than the stairs to the statue. Thank you friend, Nun.
It had stairs, but it also sloped around to the backside. The ascent seemed much gentler. After a couple of minutes of climbing, I came out at the back of the statue. Sal asked how I had got there. I told him the nun showed me this trail.
I took pictures. I marveled at the view and the thought of them building this statue way up here. There was another altar that needed donations and incense lighting. There was a nun sitting next to the small altar. She was chanting along with a radio playing in front of her.
While we waited, the group of vendor woman showed up from down below. They had come here to pray and make offerings, as well. They burnt some of the bottle rocket incense sticks.
At this point, Phil had caught up to us. Sal had tried to get Phil’s attention on the way up by yelling his name repeatedly from the platform as loud as he could.
The nuns and vendors burned offerings in the fireplace in front of the altar. They knelt and prayed. Sal grew bored and decided it was now time for the group to descend.
I went with them and soon regretted my decision. Sal wanted to know how many stairs there were in the climb. He began to count aloud each step he took on the way down. I drifted to the back of the procession.
At the platform in front of Damo’s cave, I stopped all together. I needed one more look inside to further imprint it in my head. My favorite nun smiled at me as I looked around the cave. On the way out, I saw a pretty shot looking out from the cave through the incense in the brazier. The valley served as a backdrop. I knew you couldn’t take pictures in the cave but what about taking pictures out from the cave?
I mimed to the nun. She nodded. But she seemed to indicate I should take pictures of the cave. I made a few more gestures at the cave and my camera. She thought about it and then agreed. She also indicated she would take my pictures in the cave after I took hers.
I would be happy to do that. Very very happy.
I caught up to the group at the rest stop near the bottom where the dogs lived. The group was dining on some sort of noodle dish in a cup they serve everywhere in China. There is even a bowl of it in my hotel room. It was probably cheaper to buy it on the mountain. I just needed some water and breath catching moments. The dogs were under the table begging scraps from the silly americans.
I talked to Phil about his current stay in the temple. I wanted to know if he thought the temple was a viable thing or just a tourist trap. His experience indicated it was still a very spiritual place and they were still teaching the Shaolin way.
Phil is interesting guy. He had crossed paths with Jack Tu, Master Tu’s son, for many years and had once been good friends with him. They had both done K-star and The Disciple together. Phil had come in second in K-star. K-star was the chinese reality show sponsored by the Temple to find the next great martial artist.
As we walked down to the bottom, Phil talked about his experiences with Jack and why they are no longer friends. It gave me a slightly different perspective about the Tu’s.
When I had done the filming with Sal earlier, I had missed several of his routines. I agreed to film them on our way back down from Damo in the same place. Despite my rating and raving me about him, Sal has helped out in many situations. And he had gotten us into the park for free. Plus, I was in such a good mood from the hike, I was ready for anything.
Phil left us to go back to the temple. I climbed the stairs to the top of the dirt mound. Sal asked how the video I was shooting today was going to match up with the video I had already shot. I said it would be fine, because it would be. But Sal was unsure and wondered if I had enough batteries left to film the whole thing again with this camera. I was in a good mood and said it wouldn’t be a problem.
The dirt mound still looked bad, but I could now see the nearby Temple and the mountains behind it. Best of all the moon was just rising over the mountains. Be still my picture capturing heart.
We shot all of Sal’s forms. Then we shot some from the side so he could do inserts. Then we filmed Natasha doing Wu Bu Quan. Groups of people came up to film me filming Sal. At the end, I was still in a good mood.
Phil wanted to meet us at the front of the Temple so he could walk with us to the front gate. While the group sat awaiting Phil’s arrival, I wandered into the side Temple to take more pictures. I reshot this gold statue that looked completely different in the sunlight.
I almost went back into the main temple proper to keep shooting, but I controlled myself and left with the group.
But I dawdled. There were these long tailed birds. I’d been trying to shoot and there were a bunch of them flitting about the trees next to the river. But they could sense my camera and always flew away just as I was about to shoot.
I thought I saw them what looked like a nest and I tried to shoot them through the obscuring branches. When I focused on the nest, it revealed to be a bee’s nest. The birds were pecking at it for food. I also saw this other bird that was a vibrant blue color. My shots of it were slightly more successful than the pictures of the long tailed birds.
When I started searching for the group, I couldn’t find them. I had talked to Sal about calling him on Skype later so I wasn’t too concerned. I walked all the way to the road but they were nowhere to be found. I learned later they had stopped in the Wushuguan with Phil for some pictures.
I took the 2.50 yuan bus ride into town. I went to the bank to change money so I could have a hotel room the following night. I also wanted a little cash to buy trinkets if I went out shopping with Sal later. And yes, I stopped at the pastry vendor and bought more sunflower seed cakes.
I connected with Sal via Skype around 8. We would meet at the bus station at Noon. He told me how to direct the taxi driver to the bus station, laughing at my attempts at pronunciation.
I had my first small bit of Mao’s revenge and went to bed. I’m going to blame the cream puffs.
This necessitated another round of pantomime at the front desk to keep my room for one more day. The only way I know if I have done this right is they give me a ticket to get my meal on the proper day.
Ever since I had been to the nunnery and seen Damo’s cave, the thought of coming all this way and not going to the cave bugged me. I didn’t like the idea of not seeing one of the cornerstones of the legends surrounding Shaolin Temple.
Faced with the extra day, I decided I would make the climb. Yes, I was psyched out by the view of the stairs from the nunnery to leading to the top. But it also looked closer than I had been anticipating.
I told Sal of my plan. He and the girls decided to join me. I later learned that in all the many times Sal had been coming to Shaolin he had never visited the cave. He also indicated he was going to ask the monks to get into the Temple for free. I told him that he should asks the monks if they knew of a trail behind the Wushu school that might take us around the stairs. Without bothering to ask anyone, he told me he thought such a trail probably didn’t exist.
The thought of any way to avoid those stairs kept jabbing my weak body, so I pushed to make sure he asked. He agreed.
The monks were going to be available to guide us from 9-11 or from 2-5. Hmmm, I wonder what time Greg chose? Since the monks were available at 9, Sal suggested we get to the Temple at 9:30. I queried this statement but agreed on the meeting time. I was tired of hearing the questioning tone in my voice.
For my entire stay here, it has been foggy. In Zhengzhou it might have been something more than fog because the air had a certain tang to it. So, it was almost with giddiness that I saw the perfectly clear blue sky above Dengfeng. Songshan mountain glowed yellow in the dawn light. As is usually the case when I am in a tall building and faced with a beautiful shot, I tried to break onto the roof. The doors were all locked. I settled for pictures from my window.
It was a long time until the meet up with Sal and I had nothing better to do, I went to the Temple. I could get a bunch of shots of formerly foggy shots now brightly lit. Never mind that credo about being happy with the shots I got. Time to get better ones.
Sal and crew found me euphorically snapping away at 9:20. There was some confusion about where to actually meet the monks taking us past the gate, so we walked back up to the road to await them.
We were one seat shy in the car, because the monk brought a driver in the car to get us. The girls went ahead while we waited. I took more pictures of the Damo statue.
They drove us right into the temple grounds to the warrior monks training room. I let Sal go ahead while I snapped pictures outside. When I went into the hall, Sal was doing a sword demo in front a couple of the older Shaolin monks. They were nice enough to applaud when he was done. I taped the end of the routine. Then I filmed around the hall but was then told they don’t allow filming in there.
If you are expecting an exotic chinese training facility it wasn’t. The only illumination came from the dirty side windows. A group of younger monks were beating up a heavy punching bag attached to an old metal frame. There were flags and a giant drawing of Damo on one wall. There was a slightly raised training platform covering half the floor. It was plywood on 2x4’s covered with a thin covering of aged black vinyl. It used to be just concrete in there. The plywood and vinyl was an upgrade.
The monks didn’t have time to join us so we were going to make the climb on our own. Sal had asked about the Wushuguan trail but was told it was difficult to find and we would probably get lost. The stair trail was our best option.
I put a little distance between me and the group as we walked to the trail head. Patty and Sal were having a fight I didn’t need to hear. Plus, I was eventually going to slow way down. I figured to get a head start so I wouldn’t hinder their progress too much.
Did I mention how beautiful the day was? It needs mentioning again. It was a crystal clear blue sky. The air was cold and refreshing and I was hiking to one of the most famous spots in all of Chan Buddhism and Martial Arts.
I bypassed the trail to the nunnery to avoid the nunnery stairs. The path I was on was nice and paved. I asked a Chinese gentleman if I was on the right path to Damo and he agreed. The others missed the turn and went by the nunnery again. I could hear them talking all the way across the canyon.
After several sets of stairs, I arrived at my first rest station on the trail. A monk was there selling trinkets, food, and drinks. He had two scruffy dogs that were lounging on the prayer mat in front of a small altar. When I petted the small dogs, I could feel their ribs through their fur.
One of the dogs elected to follow us up the trail. He followed us almost all the way to the cave. I was tempted to see if he would carry my tripod. Yes, I carried my tripod the entire way. One hand on the tripod over my shoulder, the other pulling myself up the railing.
The next segment was probably the hardest. It had lots of steep stairs not just the one visible from down below. I’d walk a bunch of steps then commence panting to get my hear rate and breathing under control. At the second waypoint, I bought an ice cold green tea from that vendor. I drank it too fast and got a nice cramp for my pains. I waited. It eased.
I finally made it to the steps I had been fearing. I took a break by photographing my companions with the valley as a backdrop. But enough waiting. Time to climb.
It wasn’t as bad as I envisioned nor as long as I thought it was going to be. I was confused to find myself at the top of the stairs but not dead from exertion. The dog just leapt up the stairs like it was nothing. Stupid taunting dog.
There were more stairs but the worst was over. After a couple more rises we made it to the cave. Along the way, Natasha took a picture with a couple. The man had kissed her during the shot and professed his love for Natasha. The woman with him was less than happy at this admission and stormed down the mountain.
There were a group of women stationed at the entrance to the cave. It was a small little setting. They had built a stone platform in front of it. You pass through an arch to get to the small cave. Next to the arch was a stele telling the history of the cave and Damo’s nine year stay in it.
There were also two nuns present. One was at the arch. The other sat in the cave. Patty was disappointed to find out you weren’t allowed to take pictures in the cave.
I wandered around taking lots of shots, dawdling while recovering my breath. I took group photos of the female vendors, the nuns, and our group. I think the Vendors were selling some sort of Shaolin medicine because the card I was shown had pictures of mushrooms on it.
I went into the cave and lit some incense for DM. The nun there showed me were to kneel and laughed when I said Nei Hao. I took her picture in front of the arch.
Famously, there is supposed to be rock that has the image of Damo on it. It appeared like a picture because Damo spent nice years facing this rock. I likened it to the shroud of Turin. I asked Sal where was the rock. He said how could that be possible that a man’s face appeared in the rock. I said but it’s one of the most famous myths. He continued to deny it’s possibility. I told him possible or not, where was the rock? He reluctantly admitted he didn’t know. Phil said later it might be in the temple where we had seen the demo.
Sal decided it was time to go and told the group to get moving. Yeah, that’s the wrong approach if you want me to move. I stayed behind while they continued the climb up the stairs to the massive Damo statue on the peak.
I took some more pictures and thanked the nun. I gathered my stuff in preparation for the climb. The nun pointed to a trail at the back of the little platform. She suggested I take that trail rather than the stairs to the statue. Thank you friend, Nun.
It had stairs, but it also sloped around to the backside. The ascent seemed much gentler. After a couple of minutes of climbing, I came out at the back of the statue. Sal asked how I had got there. I told him the nun showed me this trail.
I took pictures. I marveled at the view and the thought of them building this statue way up here. There was another altar that needed donations and incense lighting. There was a nun sitting next to the small altar. She was chanting along with a radio playing in front of her.
While we waited, the group of vendor woman showed up from down below. They had come here to pray and make offerings, as well. They burnt some of the bottle rocket incense sticks.
At this point, Phil had caught up to us. Sal had tried to get Phil’s attention on the way up by yelling his name repeatedly from the platform as loud as he could.
The nuns and vendors burned offerings in the fireplace in front of the altar. They knelt and prayed. Sal grew bored and decided it was now time for the group to descend.
I went with them and soon regretted my decision. Sal wanted to know how many stairs there were in the climb. He began to count aloud each step he took on the way down. I drifted to the back of the procession.
At the platform in front of Damo’s cave, I stopped all together. I needed one more look inside to further imprint it in my head. My favorite nun smiled at me as I looked around the cave. On the way out, I saw a pretty shot looking out from the cave through the incense in the brazier. The valley served as a backdrop. I knew you couldn’t take pictures in the cave but what about taking pictures out from the cave?
I mimed to the nun. She nodded. But she seemed to indicate I should take pictures of the cave. I made a few more gestures at the cave and my camera. She thought about it and then agreed. She also indicated she would take my pictures in the cave after I took hers.
I would be happy to do that. Very very happy.
I caught up to the group at the rest stop near the bottom where the dogs lived. The group was dining on some sort of noodle dish in a cup they serve everywhere in China. There is even a bowl of it in my hotel room. It was probably cheaper to buy it on the mountain. I just needed some water and breath catching moments. The dogs were under the table begging scraps from the silly americans.
I talked to Phil about his current stay in the temple. I wanted to know if he thought the temple was a viable thing or just a tourist trap. His experience indicated it was still a very spiritual place and they were still teaching the Shaolin way.
Phil is interesting guy. He had crossed paths with Jack Tu, Master Tu’s son, for many years and had once been good friends with him. They had both done K-star and The Disciple together. Phil had come in second in K-star. K-star was the chinese reality show sponsored by the Temple to find the next great martial artist.
As we walked down to the bottom, Phil talked about his experiences with Jack and why they are no longer friends. It gave me a slightly different perspective about the Tu’s.
When I had done the filming with Sal earlier, I had missed several of his routines. I agreed to film them on our way back down from Damo in the same place. Despite my rating and raving me about him, Sal has helped out in many situations. And he had gotten us into the park for free. Plus, I was in such a good mood from the hike, I was ready for anything.
Phil left us to go back to the temple. I climbed the stairs to the top of the dirt mound. Sal asked how the video I was shooting today was going to match up with the video I had already shot. I said it would be fine, because it would be. But Sal was unsure and wondered if I had enough batteries left to film the whole thing again with this camera. I was in a good mood and said it wouldn’t be a problem.
The dirt mound still looked bad, but I could now see the nearby Temple and the mountains behind it. Best of all the moon was just rising over the mountains. Be still my picture capturing heart.
We shot all of Sal’s forms. Then we shot some from the side so he could do inserts. Then we filmed Natasha doing Wu Bu Quan. Groups of people came up to film me filming Sal. At the end, I was still in a good mood.
Phil wanted to meet us at the front of the Temple so he could walk with us to the front gate. While the group sat awaiting Phil’s arrival, I wandered into the side Temple to take more pictures. I reshot this gold statue that looked completely different in the sunlight.
I almost went back into the main temple proper to keep shooting, but I controlled myself and left with the group.
But I dawdled. There were these long tailed birds. I’d been trying to shoot and there were a bunch of them flitting about the trees next to the river. But they could sense my camera and always flew away just as I was about to shoot.
I thought I saw them what looked like a nest and I tried to shoot them through the obscuring branches. When I focused on the nest, it revealed to be a bee’s nest. The birds were pecking at it for food. I also saw this other bird that was a vibrant blue color. My shots of it were slightly more successful than the pictures of the long tailed birds.
When I started searching for the group, I couldn’t find them. I had talked to Sal about calling him on Skype later so I wasn’t too concerned. I walked all the way to the road but they were nowhere to be found. I learned later they had stopped in the Wushuguan with Phil for some pictures.
I took the 2.50 yuan bus ride into town. I went to the bank to change money so I could have a hotel room the following night. I also wanted a little cash to buy trinkets if I went out shopping with Sal later. And yes, I stopped at the pastry vendor and bought more sunflower seed cakes.
I connected with Sal via Skype around 8. We would meet at the bus station at Noon. He told me how to direct the taxi driver to the bus station, laughing at my attempts at pronunciation.
I had my first small bit of Mao’s revenge and went to bed. I’m going to blame the cream puffs.
So much for the flickr badge idea. Dammit