The best part of the China trip for me was the first full day in Hangzhou with the group. We had two excursions planned that day, one to the tea museum and the on to a park and Daoist temple. When we got to the tea museum, I was immediately reminded of being in the Philippines and the drive up to our house in Baguio…the setting was beautiful, with the museum surrounded by tea gardens in the foothills, exactly like in the Philippines without the museum. Alex, Sakura, Calen and I discovered this trail right behind the museum so we decided to explore. The trail was well marked with steps on the steep part and there were lots of steps, after about 30 minutes of hiking straight up, I couldn’t take it anymore and had to sit…plus my ankle was killing me so I declined to continue and sat down on the steps while the group continued. It was the first time I have been in the jungle alone since my teen years in the Philippines and I thanked God/The Universe for giving me the opportunity to be there…the flood of memories were indescribable and I had the opportunity to see how far I have come in life and what an amazing journey it has been…the time flew and soon I heard noises different from the jungle noises that I was so familiar with and my friends and Calen were on their way back from reaching the top of the hill, excited as can be that they had made it, Alex saying that it was the best part of the trip for him…and I was happy for them and not in the least bit jealous that I didn’t get to see what they saw, because I was being smart for a change and taking care of myself and not over doing it, which I know everyone worries about…Calen had to loan me his arm for support on the hike down as he knows how I am and is very conscious of my condition and in spite of how he pretends not to care, I know he does otherwise he wouldn’t he so helpful and caring. I couldn’t wait to sit down and was thrilled when we reached the bottom of the trail and saw the bus with its comfortable seats and water. Then we headed back to the university for lunch and in my case a power nap, which I am real good at. Next up was going to the park and a Daoist Temple. Hirsh was excited about seeing the temple and knowing Hirsh, I knew it had to be special. Well everyone said it was a little hike up the hill and the around the corner and boom…Temple…Well nothing that involves a hike is ever that easy for me…but I had the feeling that it might be worth it so I decided to hike up to the temple…which means that Calen has to give me his arm for support the whole way…but I thought ‘how bad could it be?’…well naturally it was bad for me…we did pass a cave about halfway up that provided relief from the heat, but soon after the cave the trail got very narrow and steep and I was not having a good time…my ankle was swollen from the morning hike and I was beginning to get cranky and crabby and whinney and all the other things I do when I am not having fun…Calen was the only one that could tell as I am good about hiding my true feelings, but being the trooper that he is, he suffered in silence and continued to give me the support I needed to make it up the hill.…so on and on we hiked…so we get to the top of the hill and no temple…of course not, it is down the other side and around the corner…now I am so over it, cursing and promising myself I am never going on another excursion, blah, blah…and I can go on and on, no one suffers in silence better…but something told me to go on, so in spite of myself, I got up and continued on the path mad at everyone and bitching about everything and taking it out on Calen like I always do…thank God he knows I love him…and then we went around this corner and then all of a sudden on my left was the temple…it was so magnificent and beautiful I was taken aback for a second…I was instantly reminded of my place in the world and how insignificant my little drama’s and pain really are in the big picture…The temple was fabulous, way better than I expected, Hirsh was right as usual. It was bigger than I thought and perfectly situated in this part of the mountain…it was so peaceful and extraordinarily beautiful, pictures will not do it justice you have to see it and feel it. Well of course I realized that all the insufferable pain of the hike was totally worth it, seriously, how lucky and privileged was I to be able to be in this place in the world and be able to have the privilege of seeing this, let alone going in and lighting prayer candles and incense, writing my name in the book and watching the wonderment in Calen’s face and the rest of my class/trip mates. I hope that Calen realizes that very few people get to experience experiences and places like that Daoist temple on the side of the mountain overlooking Hangzhou. And I hope he knows now how special he is to be able to be where he was and be a part of that moment. I truly believe that everything happens for a reason and while in the temple I reflected on the fact that I was supposed to be there, for whatever reason, my journey has taken me there. And Calen was supposed to be there as part of his journey. That moment painted a picture in my mind that will live with me forever. Thank God I listened to that voice and followed my intuition.
