We crossed the border into our second new province of the trip, Henan, excited and eager to get to our first stop of Song Shan, near Dengfeng, where the very famous Shaolin temple sits. This was just following a fair bit of tension between the drivers and us, or namely the main driver (self-titled 'boss' we think) and Husband, owing to a dispute over music and of who's holiday it really is. I won't say too much at this stage (again, watch this space for the book! Haha, don't mind the blatant plug there) but one of the drivers had some definite 'control' issues. I was thinking the dispute was over and we could get on with 'our' holiday; it seemed they had found common ground over their shared love of songs by Whitney Houston and Celine Dion. Great. Or so we thought. As we drove into Henan and further into the province, the (we'd soon come to realise) ever-present sound of Whitney's voice in the particular songs the driver liked of hers was blasting through the car. Then he'd repeat the same song. Again. And again. And again. So began the theme 'album' or few songs for our entire trip (still considering calling the book "28 days of Whitney" for this very reason).
This couldn't diffuse our excitement however, and we settled in for a few days about 200 metres from the Shaolin Temple. I am a relatively late-comer to the joys of "Kung Fu" featuring David Carradine (thanks Husband for my 'education' earlier this year!), but for those of you well versed in this series from back in the day, we went to see where Grasshopper learned and lived, and to see if we could meet some enlightened monks and find out what it's all about. What we mainly encountered however, was hundreds (or thousands?) of other tourists and scorching hot weather, with a few mini Grasshoppers and a few bonafide monks around too. We did however, meet this monk outside the temple's grounds, who we think may be one of the dudes in charge? Either way, he seemed pretty chilled and enlightened to me:
This couldn't diffuse our excitement however, and we settled in for a few days about 200 metres from the Shaolin Temple. I am a relatively late-comer to the joys of "Kung Fu" featuring David Carradine (thanks Husband for my 'education' earlier this year!), but for those of you well versed in this series from back in the day, we went to see where Grasshopper learned and lived, and to see if we could meet some enlightened monks and find out what it's all about. What we mainly encountered however, was hundreds (or thousands?) of other tourists and scorching hot weather, with a few mini Grasshoppers and a few bonafide monks around too. We did however, meet this monk outside the temple's grounds, who we think may be one of the dudes in charge? Either way, he seemed pretty chilled and enlightened to me:
There are possibly up to a hundred kung fu / wushu academies scattered all around near Shaolin Temple too, with hundreds of youngsters practising their martial arts moves in the 40+ degree heat. Dedicated. I got to see lots of monks-in-training on an early morning run, just before sunrise, when it seemed every academy sends its troops out for a gruelling-ish run, along the dusty main road and up and down a winding mountain road. This was the only run in the whole month where I had company! They were very serious little dudes though, and some seemed very young and small.
Another run in this province was had near the oldest/first Buddhist temple in China: the White Horse Temple, or Baimasi. This was a great run, past veggie fields, the temple, and the very relaxed neighbourhood nearby where we were staying.
I only had two runs in this province, and days-wise could have had more. However, the heat was intense here. 'Hot' would be the key word for Henan, with 'dusty' coming a close second.
The people was lovely here (around Longyou, the Longmen Caves, and the White Horse Temple), very friendly (with the definite exception of near and around the Shaolin Temple, where people were very Unfriendly for some reason) after they got over their initial surprise of seeing two laowei, a puppy, and a caravan roll into their neighbourhood.
Another run in this province was had near the oldest/first Buddhist temple in China: the White Horse Temple, or Baimasi. This was a great run, past veggie fields, the temple, and the very relaxed neighbourhood nearby where we were staying.
I only had two runs in this province, and days-wise could have had more. However, the heat was intense here. 'Hot' would be the key word for Henan, with 'dusty' coming a close second.
The people was lovely here (around Longyou, the Longmen Caves, and the White Horse Temple), very friendly (with the definite exception of near and around the Shaolin Temple, where people were very Unfriendly for some reason) after they got over their initial surprise of seeing two laowei, a puppy, and a caravan roll into their neighbourhood.
The food in Henan province was AWESOME too. Maybe my favourite food of the whole trip. Yum.
After our last stop in Henan of the White Horse Temple Town (Baimasizhen), we continued on to Shaanxi province, Whitney singing out loudly and proudly and with each favourable song on repeat (then repeat, repeat, repeat again).
Did you used to watch Kung Fu?
Do you know if there is a name for some sort of condition where somebody plays the same song over and over again for hours?? OCD or something else??
After our last stop in Henan of the White Horse Temple Town (Baimasizhen), we continued on to Shaanxi province, Whitney singing out loudly and proudly and with each favourable song on repeat (then repeat, repeat, repeat again).
Did you used to watch Kung Fu?
Do you know if there is a name for some sort of condition where somebody plays the same song over and over again for hours?? OCD or something else??
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