China's Mount Hua pilgrimage may be the most dangerous walk in the world. The poet
Basho in medieval Japan had a much easier time hiking an ancient trail, I am sure.
I found this article on Yahoo. An excerpt is below. The full article may be
read here. The pictures which accompany the brief article are astounding. Enjoy.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012 8:27am PST
The
five peaks of Mount Hua have been vertical sanctuaries for monks,
hermits, and spiritual seekers, especially Taoists, for centuries, but
to get to them pilgrims must cross treacherous trails, such as those
made from links of chain and wooden planks joined by iron staples. And
now with winter approaching, it's the most dangerous time of year to
attempt what could be the most dangerous hike in the world. All five
peaks are joined by steep, narrow trails, stairs, and ladders, and
dotted with temples and lookout points. Though some peaks involve
riskier ascents than others, all hikes require slow and steady climbing
along the trails, or you'll risk a speedy decent. Numerous visitors have
embarked on the hike and never returned, although the Chinese
government isn't saying how many. Check out this skyscraping trek below.
6 comments:
Mt. Everest is *so* last year.
It makes me wonder who thought putting that trail there and all that goes with it was a good idea in the first place!
Master Eastwall asked Chuang Tzu, "What we call the Tao -- where does it exist?"
"There is no place it does not exist," Chuang Tzu replied.
"Come on," Master Eastwall said, "you must be more specific!"
"It is in the ant," said Chuang Tzu.
"How can it be so low?"
"It is in the grass."
"How can it be even lower?"
"It is in bricks and shards."
"How can it be lower still?"
"It is even in excrement!"
Now, since I am BIG on balance but POORLY with heights, I take great heart in the above passage, i.e., no need to cross those pictured bridges. Great photos, though. Definitely not for the obese!
Nice excerpt from the Inner Chapters, Walt.
Mount Hua has become legendary in contemporary Chinese culture principally due to the fact that best selling martial art fictions depicted Mount Hua sect (operated out of Mount Hua: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Hua_Sect) as one of the six major sects in old China's Wulin [literally: martial world] (Shaolin and Wudang being the largest and most well known sects). Mount Hua therefore lives more vividly in people's imagination than in physical reality - as far as modern day Chinese are concerned.
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