You would think that once you had ridden a bus and a cable car, you would actually be at the top of the mountain. And while it's true that you are, this particular mountain has many small peaks, and each peak has a structure on it. And between these peaks, there are more steps. So many more steps. Do you see how happy I look in this picture? That is because I did not yet know about the steps.
We went up these steps:
And we came to an area with many large engraved stones, where emperors carved messages into the mountain and offered sacrifices to it.
Then we went up more steps, through one of the temples. Many of the small structures on the mountain are temples, each of which has a fire burning so that people can light large incense sticks and leave them there to burn. Ironically, there are also "No Smoking" signs everywhere.Finally, we arrived at the highest point of the mountain, and also the highest temple. The 1545 on the sign is meters, so that's over 4600 feet. It was a little chilly up there, too.
Hubby said when he was here before, the temple was really crowded. On the day we were there, only a few people were there. This is a picture of the altar with the incense burning. Notice all the padlocks on the fence behind it. Chinese couples have their names engraved on these, and then leave them here as a symbol of their eternal love. Or something like that.
The view wasn't bad from up there, either, although it would have been better on a clear day.
And because I have so many more pictures to share, I will save the story of the trek downward for another day!
You could sooooo fill up 3 scrapbooks with all the pictures and stories.....
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