Day 17 峨眉山

We woke up to a freezing, foggy morning. It had snowed the night before and so the climb up Mt. Emei was cold and arduous due to the ice that had formed over the steps. The fog made it difficult to see anything but we brave all odds and recited as we progressed slowly. When we reached the peak, as if by magic, the fog totally disappeared and the sun lit up the entire mountain, revealing a most beautiful sight – The Peak of Mt. Emei, home to 普賢菩薩 (Samanthabadra Bodhisattva), 3079m above the sea.


Even our local tour guide who had climbed Mt. Emei plenty of times was overjoyed and started taking pictures herself. She said of all the times, this is the first time she has ever seen the peak so clearly. And the sun so happened to be in the position that forms a halo behind 普賢菩薩. We also got to see Mt. Gong Ga, the highest mountain in Szechuan which is a rare sight according to her.



As we were about to leave, the snow on 普賢菩薩's body suddenly started melting and water flowed from his hands and feet. So I went over to collect some to wash my hands and face and soon other pilgrims started to follow and the tour guide said we just start a new trend on Mt. Emei. Check out the photo below. Compare the size of the bodhisattva to the guy standing below. Incredible how they built it at such heights.


In total, there are 4 famous sights of Mt. Emei – The Buddha's light (a 360 degrees rainbow); the welcoming pine; the cloud sea and the burning forest lamp. The Buddha's light and forest lamp are the most rare as they occur only about 20 days in a year. But our guide said that we have had 7 miracles ourselves today:
1. The April snow.
2. The mysterious clearing of the fog
3. Seeing Mt. Gong Ga from Emei.
4. The Sun Halo
5. The Cloud Sea
6. The melting snow from Samanthabadra.
7. We all made it up to the 3079m point and back safely.


The bronze temple, the golden temple, the silver temple.


The coming of the sun and the retreat of the fog.


The view from Mt. Emei.