The long distance bus station turned out to be further away than I thought and with my packs on, it took longer than I thought to get there. I finally arrived at the bus terminal and bought a ticket for 9:40am to Lushan. The ticketing lady was very nice and helpful. I got onto the bus and met Manning, retired fellow from Du Pont, France. When it came time to depart, we were the only two on the bus along with the driver.
The bus driver was a man in his 40's who really didn't look like a bus driver. He had a kind face, and a happy heart. I decided to inquire on how he does it, what's his secrete method because he looked good like someone who enjoyed his life. We ended up talking and laughing the whole way. He said to me, "Money is good for use when you need it, but what is more important, a happy heart. What is all the money for if you are not happy?" When we got to Lushan he really took cared of us. He helped to check our bags in at the bus station and that we knew which trail to take one we got into the area. He instructed us to not be tricked by sharks lurking outside the entrance of the park. We bid our good byes and he went on to the rest of his day driving the bus.
Once we got into the park, Manny and I went to check out the caves. In these cave were images carved out of the red stone mountain. They were beautiful and old, most of them were not completely intact. The Big Buddha facing the water was beautiful and worth seeing. But it also made me sad over the three that was lost in Afghanistan by the bombs, how much more amazing those must have been.
It rained the whole time. It was getting late for me and I needed to head out to the long distance bus terminal to get a seat to Chengdu. I don't wish to arrive after sundown to find my way around Chengdu for my hostel. So Manning and I parted, he continued on because wanted to see the rest of the park in the rain. LuShan felt really nice except for all the puddles and getting all my luggage wet.
