You Can't Have Everything

You can't have great days without having a few mediocre days. Today was one of those days where much of it just didn't hit.

We got into a Chinese Jeep and headed west. This was a much more primitive vehicle than we're used to. The only glass was the windshield, the suspension was very stiff, but it did have good ventilation!

We were headed for a mountain where monks have built a Buddhist temple. To get almost to the top of the mountain we used a cable car, and then we went up many stairs. The temple is being re-built. We never learned what happened to the original structure. The monks were asking for donations to buy concrete.

Farther up the mountain were many Buddhist statues, the final one of the reclining Buddha. You see this pose in many places in Asia. This is the Buddha having entered into Nirvana (and has died). There is a sign asking you to not climb on Buddha, or write your name on him.

Back down the mountain, there was a gift shop selling, of all things, the bark of cinnamon trees. I've never seen it is such large pieces, and they were very inexpensive.

Most of the rest of this day was a bust because this was the second day of the year, and many places are still closed. On a normal day we might have seen salt being recovered from the sea, and a market. But even the super market is closed.