Winter Escapade - Jin Tai Temple

After we shuffled out of New Yuan Ming Palace, we boarded a taxi and I asked the driver if Jin Tai Temple, one of the attractions in Zhuhai, was far away. He replied that it was neither near or far so I asked him to go there.

It was more than a 100km away. I had the sense to ask if it would be easy getting a taxi back to the hotel. The taxi laughed and wished us luck. I then ask if he would wait for us. "Sure," he said. "But I will reset the meter and keep it be running..."

Having said that, the temple and its surrounding scenery, when we finally did arrive, was breathtaking.

Before we reached however, we turned into a small road which was flanked on either side by strawberry farms...




And this was the entrance to the temple.

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This, the pagoda standing watch over the car park...



And this, the walkway leading in.



This is the first building we saw. I don't know what it housed exactly but one of its most visited facilities was a toilet so...



While inside the toilet, I heard some rasping noises and so treaded carefully towards them. I realised they were actually bleatings and emanated from outside the window...



But then we saw where the main section of the temple was situated and collectively said, "Wah!"

But we had come so far and the meter was running so we hurried on.



Soon, my Mum was knackered climbing the steep steps. But my Dad, old warrior that he is, seemed to take the steps with ease. See the pagoda in the background? That's how far we climbed. And there was more to come!



But we made it to the top in the end, whereupon my Mum, quite a devout Buddhist, stumbled into the temple, collapsed onto the kneeling mat in front of the altar and started praying. She was later to reveal her thoughts:"Keep my family safe and healthy and happy. And by the way, we'll be going to Macau later and I'll be going to a casino so please give me luck as well"



There was yet another flight of steps to the main section of the temple, but my Mum, ever the 'frugalist' and mindful of the running meter in the taxi, felt we had seen enough. Besides, she had already climbed an equivalent of 8 storeys to pray before the Buddha statue at the lower level of the temple. Even if there was a larger statue up in the main section, there should have been a broadband connection conveying her prayers up there, so....

But I did manage to run up to take a few shots of the facade though...




And this was the view looking out from there...



And these were some of the scenery shots I got while we walked back to the cab...






When we got back to the car, we found that the meter had jumped only 11 Yuan, around 2 Singapore dollars. Darn...

Anyhow, that gave us more time to get back to the hotel, where our luggage was, which was a good thing... Cos my Mum, having given prayers, now had Macau firmly in her sights...