A Walk In the Clouds

I started my trek to the Golden Rock Pagoda early in the morning so that I could be back in time to catch the last bus to the next city Pa-an (sp?).  The walk was very pleasant and not as strenuous as the Paranoid Planet guide book makes out (as a rule I half the time that they advise).  It would have been great to see the view but being the rain season only mist and rain was on the menu.

Along the way down I bumped into a trio of monks.  We started a very fun broken English conversation talking about SA, my travels, the weather etc.  Out of the blue the leader asked me my religion.  I had to briefly explain that I was an atheist and didn’t believe in anything.  Very curtly he told me I must ‘just believe’ whereupon the three of them departed.  So much for the Buddhist temperament.