After our first ever nights sleep at a monastery (!), we woke early in order to watch the monks carry out their mornings chanting.

This all started around 6.15am, and by 6.45am we were up, dressed, washed, packed and sitting ready for breakfast.

At this time of the morning you would normally expect quiet & calm, however not in the monastery, as everyone was up and readying themselves for another day of hiking in the mountains!

After finishing a very basic breakfast offer, we went to capture a few last moments in the monastery before we departed. It was a real honour to stay there and we will not forget this experience for a very long time.

Leaving the monastery we started the return 7k hike down the mountain back to the town of Emei Shan. Before setting off we took the obligatory team photo.

Going down we came across less troublesome monkeys, who had plagued the path the day before, instead there was just a couple, the King leader and one of his male offspring.

Although it was still before 8am, the heat of the day had already started to take hold, and the sight of the clear waters of the river were very inviting. Sadly there wasn’t time for a swim.

Along the walk we passed a number of couriers taking supplies to the stores and monasteries and were taken aback by the weight they were carrying.

Towards the end of the hike we came across the glistening lake and we were able to acknowledge the natural beauty we were walking in.

Once back at the hotel, we headed out for an early lunch, and from there a further walk to explore nearby temples and the Baoguo monastery in Emei Shan.

The town is blessed with an array of beautiful statues, waterfalls, rock carvings.

Our last stop was Baoguo monastery which has a rich history and enshrines Buddhist Bodhisattvas as well as well as sages of Confucianism and deities of Taoism which makes it a unique temple of three spiritual traditions.

By mid afternoon we were all feeling a little fatigued and decided to retire back to the hotel for a drink and an afternoon snooze in order to recharge our batteries.

Early evening we headed out to a local restaurant for our last spicy & oily rich meal, before retiring to our comfortable beds for a good nights sleep.

Tomorrow we are on back to back train journeys totalling 7hrs taking us first to Chengdu and then on to Yichang, the gateway to the Yangtze River where we start a 4 day cruise.