Hangzhou and Xi Hu

After an early rise, some crowd darting techniques, and even a bit of running we managed to catch our train to Hangzhou. We sat near some delightful chinese that taught me a few things in chinese and how to write a bit (really not much, just bathroom--Tse Tsua, Water, Rice, Hello--Ni Hao, and a few others).

Reaching Hangzhou, Kate remarked it is a bit remniscent of going to Hawaii for an American. We decided to save time we wouldn't check into the hotel until we explored the city and kept our backpacks on all day. We began with a luch at La Luna... for what its worth the food was good (western food-- we had a club sandwich and spaghetti) but it was weird considering we were the only ones there and although there were 8 staff on duty everyone pretty much ignored us and pulled out their cell phones to play tetris on them. They also elaborately unwrapped a napkin onto my lap revealing a fork and gave Kate nothing at all. Plus people passing by took pictures of us.

Anyway, Kate and I made our way to the Lingyin Temple area in the hills above the West Lake (Xi Hu). Entering the park we encountered ancient buddhist stone carvings in the rocky walls the lined the river. There must have been hundreds and it seemed like you stumbled upon them every 50 feet or so. Kate and I made our way off the beaten tourist path up the hill and then decended back down right overhead the prized "Laughing Buddha." After soaking it all in we went to the temple and were greeted by sounds of chanting and the smell of insence. We sat mesmorized as people lit 50 or so insence sticks at a time and religiously bowed towards each direction of the temples. Looking inside the temple there were arround 100 monks walking in a large circle around a golden Sidharta. Later Kate and I wandered through a maze of a temple with 4 corridors lined on both sides with hundreds of lifesize bronze statues of monks that served in the temple over the ages. It was a glorious retreat.

We caught a taxi back and stopped at the Gu Shan island on the lake for dinner at Louwailou restaurant and ate the most delicious "beggars chicken" (clay covered chicken cooked in a fire) as well as West Lake Soup (a sea weed-like soup from Xi Hu).

Stuffed and statisfied we took a beautiful boat ride in the moon light back to our hostel. I wouldn't believe it until I saw it, but the Hangzhou hostel actually had a 50 ft. climbing wall inside it! The beds were pretty much rock hard, but we managed and aside from kate's huge mosquito bites, we slept like the hardness of our beds.