Devout Of This World 4

I asked around for accommodation in the tiny settlement at Mati Village, but the prices were a rip-off. So I chatted to some local guys and they said I could camp up the road. Perfect. Except that it's gonna be cold tonight and I don't have a sleeping mat. I left it behind somewhere or other.

Cave shrines. A small sign of what was to come.

I eventually made it to another little settlement, near the main grotto area.

I was tired and famished. I found a spot to pitch my tent, hidden by some trees, and then went off to find some tucker, quicksmart.

I stopped at pretty much the first place I saw, this Tibetan place, and immediately ordered a bowl of yak yoghurt. It was bloody good, very creamy, and with a stack of white sugar on top.

Tofu, mushrooms and rice tonight.

There were a few older buildings in the little settlement, but not many.

After dinner I went wandering.

The guy in the middle was some sort of large turkey

See the caves up there?

I climbed up to a Tibetan gompa (temple compound) up the hill, because I hadn't had enough exertion for the day.

Stunning Tibetan thangka, a hanging artwork depicting spiritual images and teachings.

The wheel of dharma, the circle of life. Its basic message is that if we don't stop desiring things and having expectations (and therefore judging things as good or bad) we'll never ever be happy. We'll just be stuck in a continual circular habitual pattern of craving and disappointment.

Simple innit.

Innit?

There was a beautiful monk there, we chatted for awhile, he was very sweet, very calm and easily amused. My kinda guy.

Then I climbed further up the hill because I love pain.

The view was good though

Note my stealth camping skills. Can you see my tent?

Clear as bloody mud mate (which happens to be the colour of my tent, chosen deliberately for such occasions).

Unusual hats. Wish they had them when my young kids had birthday parties.

Fake tree with fake blossoms.

Tibetan style architecture. Beautiful, and practical.

All set

It was freezing at night, but I had enough warm things. What I didn't have was a sleeping mat, and the ground was quite hard, so it wasn't so comfy after awhile. But I went to bed early, and still slept solidly for a good number of hours, I was happy.

The view from my spot, in the morn.

I got up early, as they allow visitors to the temple grottoes from 8am, and, being the Labour Day holiday weekend here, I knew the place would be inundated with tourists from all over China, from fairly early in the day.

Thirty Three Heaven Grottoes

I ran the plastic gauntlet, leading to ....

A restaurant. I ended up having brekky there later on.

The views were stunning as I climbed the hill. My legs were pretty jellyish though, they've had many heavy workouts for a lot of days in succession now. They need rest.

And then I caught my first sight of the cliff face. It totally blew me away.

The thing that immediately struck me was the sheer devotion the people who built it must've had.

The creation was designed to look like a pagoda from the outside.

The grotto area is basically a sheer cliff face, and religious artists and builders have painstakingly carved and chiselled caves, crevices, pathways, stairways, shelves and platforms into the stone. The most incredible Buddhist sculptures, frescoes, and hanging art works have been created throughout the whole maze of the  grotto network, to create an ancient, living, natural masterpiece.

The temples and shrines were initially built over 1600 years ago, during the Jin dynasty, and the first parts were intially built as a school for Buddhist studies. During later periods various images and additions were built inside the grottoes.

There are seven separate levels to climb once inside, and 21 different grottoes, it's mindblowing. The feeling in there was so powerful for me, just knowing what would have been required to build such a masterpiece, cave by cave, step by stone step, all carved by hand, and knowing the age of the temples, and the fact that the religious beliefs and faith that guided the whole creation are still very much alive today.

As I went through, devout Buddhists, mainly Tibetan, were paying homage to the various images and shrines in there. Hardly any tourists were inside - they arrived, in droves, a little later on, as I left.

There were no pics allowed inside, so here's a couple from the web:

This is the Great Buddha Hall, the largest single cave grotto in China.

Tunnelways and steep stone and wooden steps led through the maze

I climbed right to the top, to the highest grotto, and there's a beautiful statue of Green Tara, a female enlightened being, who represents compassion and wisdom in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition. Meditating on her is considered helpful in realising our own true Buddha nature, which is a nature free of the complexities and judgments of the mind, and a nature synonymous with openness, awareness, and love and respect for all beings, and ourselves.

That's the spirit Tara.

The views looking out from up there were rather grand too, I must say.

After exploring lots of other parts of the cliff, and being further blown away, I eventually left and floated down from the grottoes, had some brekky, packed up my tent, and then rolled down the big hill to explore more amazing temples lower down.

So Wonder-full

There's so much history in the caves and the cliffs and the mountains that punctuate this arid landscape.

I have more to explore here in Mati, and then I want to visit an incredible World Heritage listed national geopark, famous for its totally unique geological forms and colours.

And then I plan to roll over to the western edges of the Great Wall of China, and the stunning fort of Jiayuguan.

Around here, it appears that hidden ancient wonders never cease, and, fortunately, neither does my appetite to experience them❤️

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