Lydia and I decided to go for a stroll to Lingyanshan today, first time in for years and a few things have changed. No need to take the bus because the new line 5 stops at the foot of the mountain, however it’s about 2 km from where I usually start.

It was hot today and the sun was strong and the locals were out in force, mind you as usual I went to a different area to avoid them. Most folk go clockwise but I like to go anticlockwise because it’s not as dangerous. Some of the steeper areas are very sandy due to erosion and if you are heading down you might engage gravity for an exciting ride.

After about an hour we began to meet folk coming the other way. As we got closer to the beginning of the trail it was hoachin. We headed on up and immediately encountered an army coming down the hill towards us. I kept to the right side and walked a path that was fairly quiet. This is what it was like for the next couple of hours, the only problem was trying to get through the narrower sections was challenging because there was absolutely know etiquette in the on coming hordes. I had to tell a few people to wait till we came down difficult areas, they just kept barging through without looking at what’s in front of them.

Young kids as well as adults and then some of them just sit in the middle of the path because they’re trying to have a rest and then no one else can get through. They are Fuckin’ stupid if you ask me. Why not do the sensible thing and step off the track. Fuckin’ numptees.

Lydia struggled a bit but pushed on through and we got to the top for a well deserved rest and a big bowl of noodles at the restaurant next to the temple followed by a coffee. The gardens of the temple are really worth a visit and a great place to sit and recover. I like coming here and I used to climb here once a week when I lived here, however I rarely came at the weekends because of the hoardes however I am running out of time to visit places like this as I’ll be leaving here in just under two weeks to head west before going home.