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I went on a 30th anniversary bash for work to GoodWood Revival. I went as a 5th columnist, as indicated by the enemy aircraft on my tie, a Ju52, the Brylcreem boys were there in abundance, but obviously needed to study their aircraft recognition posters as they failed to recognise the Ju52, shocking lapse in security, as I spent most of the day in the officers club, and managed to get a flight in aircraft!. We got a Helicopter flight courtesy of the 2 yanks in the Jeep. 3 attractive women in the Jeep and I am the only one showing off my complete ensemble, which is a bit of a result against stiff competition. I gather that clogs are in this year. I got into the 60's theme by taking my 1960 TLR.

Photo courtesy of Deva.

Deva Veediya - Kandy by Charith Gunarathna

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Deva by Rosalie

DevaCurl haircut & pintura highlights

12-Francis David's Cell by mmuha@sbcglobal.net

David Keyes laying a wreath at the cell where Francis David was martyred

Deva Lute by Neil Noland

The following series is the last from the October 2014 trip around China with Doug.

I'll break Leshan and the Buddha park into two separate sets. They feel like separate entities, anyway, though they share the same area. I was most amused at the admission price: The Oriental Buddha Capital (Park) charges 80 RMB admission. The Leshan Buddha (by far, the more known of the attractions) is 90 RMB. Now normally, there's some sort of incentive for buying tickets to both...usually a discount, even if it's a pittance. So, how much for both of these? Yep...170 RMB. Well-done, China tourism. :-)

This series focuses primarily on the Giant Buddha ("Dafo" in Chinese), but also has a few shots of the area that you can only see with admission to the Giant Buddha section of the park.

Getting to Leshan is very easy from Chengdu; it's a 2-2.5 hour bus ride southwest of town and, I think, this is considered southern Sichuan province. I would still say doing Leshan and Emeishan on the same trip is fine -- if you have 2-3 days. Otherwise, treat them separately. Leshan can be done in a day, but Emeishan would need at least two (and more, if you're hiking to the peak).

There used to be some controversy over this being the largest (or tallest, if not largest) Buddha statue in the world, along with the Buddhas at Bamiyan, Afghanistan. Then the Taliban happened...destroyed the Bamiyan Buddhas, and all doubt is removed. Here's to hoping they never reach this corner of the world. (And here's to hoping their zealotry doesn't go on destroying history that belongs to the world.)

Some basic details about the Grand Buddha:

1. It's 71 m. (223 ft) tall.

2. Carved from a cliff face at the confluence of the Minjiang, Dadu, and Qingyi Rivers. (The hope was that a giant Buddha would calm the otherwise turbulent waters. Well...as they removed stones from the cliff face and dumped them in the river, guess what? River calm, problem solved. And strength in Buddha very much reaffirmed.)

3. Construction was begun in 713 AD by Haitong, a Chinese monk. Funding became an issue, though, and construction wasn't completed until 803 AD by Haitong's disciples (after finally having found a sponsor to pay for it).

4. When it was carved, there was also a 13 story stone structure built to protect Buddha from the rain and sunshine. That particular structure was sacked by the Mongols at the end of the Yuan Dynasty (~1250-1350 AD) and, since then, Buddha has been exposed to the elements.

5. As you can see from the pictures, Buddha looks dirty. This is a result of weathering and pollution, local development run amok, and the swarms of tourists. (The Chinese government is certainly aware of this and has promised to do something about it. We'll see...)

6. I don't have much in the way of specific dimensions or details (other than the height), but can say that quite a few people -- possibly ten or so -- could easily sit on Buddha's large toenail.

Now...my personal experience with this Buddha: I will happily say that this -- like the Terra Cotta Warriors in Xi'an -- is something that everyone should see...and also that once is more than enough. (I'll return here, but only if someone is visiting, and I'm playing tour guide.)

As you stand at the Buddha's head, you queue in a fashion similar to an amusement park ride. Then, everyone is funneled down a stairway to Buddha's right. This is a very, very slow-moving affair as most tourists in this country seem unaware that anyone else exists and movement grinds to a halt...almost constantly. I think it took over two hours to descend roughly 200 feet of stairs. That alone is not pleasant at all. (I would, however, do a boat tour of this, just for the slightly different perspective, though you would then be jostling for deck space with tourists. Doesn't seem to be a good scenario here, unless they start regulating the number of tourists or figuring out how to move lines along.

At any rate, I hope you enjoy these last two collections from October 2014.

As I wasn't alone on this trip (very rare for me), you're also welcome to visit my good friend Doug's pictures for a different perspective. His sites are:

www.dougmcmillen.com/ (Access the China pics under his 'Travels' heading.)

www.flickr.com/photos/mcmillend/

deva-da-cura2 by Gnosis Online