Confessions of a Drifter

Day 1—January 26, 2011

The small van made its ascent up the mountain, lurching around every corner with cliff face on one side and foggy nothingness on the other… Good thing that by then it was too dark for us to see how steep the drop was.

Finally, we made it to the little mountain village on top. Underneath the arches with bulgy-eyed Chinese lions, we rolled to a stop in front of the temple.

2 people stayed in the car and the rest of us went to assess the conditions of this Buddhist accommodation. The outside was beautiful enough, with a mote-like river flowing beneath the entrance and Chinese symbols painted on yellow walls. Up here it was snowing now, and every corner and statue was capped with powdery white. Picturesque scene on a dark, snowy mountain. Beautiful…

When I entered the temple, Breiter was already in a side room making Mandarin queries. There was a guy talking back (who didn’t really look like a monk), and two women that mostly smiled and giggled.

“OK,” Breiter translated, “so he says we can stay, but the rooms will be freezing cold I think. But we get blankets.” Mixed reactions…some of the boys were willing to tough it out, but the girls and the sickly ones weren’t. “So the monks aren’t going to serve us breakfast?” chimed in a wise-ass.

We wanted to take a look at the inside of the temple and rooms.

“OK,” said the Buddhist negotiator, “but only one.” Breiter translated; murmurs of outrage and demands for explanations. “It’s because the monks are praying,” Breiter translated.

At that moment I strained my ears…and could hear the faint cacophony of chanting and the beat of a ceremonious drum. Melodic and soothing…

So Breiter ended up going upstairs to the main temple area with the guy, while the rest of us waited frustratedly at the foot of the stairs. The chanting and drumming grew louder…to the point where we couldn’t take it anymore, and a few of us had to go up to take a peek…