Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya
 
Where's the Great Mosque?
I think it is supposed to be up here and then we turn left!
We've turned left, now where's the great mosque?
I don't know where it is.
It is supposed to be here.
 
You mean we've lost the mosque?
How can we lose the great mosque?
I thought it was supposed to be great?
How can you lose something so great?
 
In the end we finally found the Great Mosque.
Hidden well beneath walls of scaffolding lies Yinchuan's supposed great mosque.

We found no way in so I guess it is closed to the public. The front two pillars and the top of the onion dome are the only things that can be seen from the Yuhuange Nanjie (Road). For future seekers of the Great Mosque here in Yinchuan don't think your task will be any easier as it seems that what ever it is they are building on both sides of the mosque will stretch all the way to the road and maybe even block it entirely from public view.
 
So I guess you could say that the Great Mosque wasn't such a great find after all!
 
And I can't say that Luo Wei was too impressed given the fact that that I talked her in to walking all the way there with a promise of the great mosque's.....um..... 'Greatness'. You would think that things would get better from there wouldn't you.
 
From the Nanguan Great Mosque playing hide and seek with everyone we headed crossed the city and headed up Jinning Nanjie to visit the Museum. When we arrived we were told that there wasn't an entrance fee. How cool I thought, from twenty Yuan down to zilch Yuan.
 
Museum staff can be such nice, kind and considerate people!
 
I never thought to ask myself why the admission fee had completely gone but it wasn't long before we found out. The museum was closed and being packed up as it was moving to a new building. But for twelve Yuan we could still climb the Chengtiansi Ta (or Xi Ta or West Pagoda) which is a thirteen storey pagoda that can be seen from several streets away.
 
As we were visiting the Haibao Ta next I decided not to climb Xi Ta but to save my money and climb the next one with Luo Wei as it offered much larger and safer stairs.
 
HHHHHhhhhhhmmmmmmm!
Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhht!
 
So off to find Mini Bus number twenty on northern Jinning Beijie that would take us to our next destination. There was no longer a mini bus number twenty that would take you five stops towards Haibao Ta. We were told several different buses to catch and none of them arrived so in the end we simply caught a taxi and thankfully it was only a five Yuan fare.
 
If there was a mini bus number twenty there really would not be any need to count the stops as the pagoda is nine storeys and can be seen from a far distance as it is just out of the city limits and for me it would have been easily walk able.
 
The entrance fee to Haibai Ta (North Pagoda) was till ten Yuan.
 
The pagoda was built in the fifth century and was badly damaged by an earthquake in 1739. Some monks with nothing else to do rebuilt it in 1771 and in 2008 the first four floors were damaged in the Sichuan earthquake leaving them unsafe for public use.
 
Needless to say I wasn't too impressed with my decision not to climb the fourteen storey Xi Ta in the shady yards of the now closed museum! I can't say Luo Wei even fluttered an eyelid at the fact that the Haibao Ta's doors were bolted shut. But she did raise her left eyebrow a few times at some of my chosen words to describe the day's events.
 
Anyhow, it didn't matter that;
 
Three out of the three things we chose to see today were entirely or part closed.
We spent about five or six hours walking and cabbing to here, from there and back to just around there again..
It was bloody hot and Luo Wei was still a dark red from the grasslands.
 
What mattered was that we were together under a big happy blue sky!
 
For all those who haven't traveled a lot or choose not to walk between sites no matter how far they are away from each other. The fact is some days will be like this. Some days it will seem that nothing is going right and this will make tomorrow feel a little gloomy. .
 
Don't you think it is strange that three out of three things were partly or entirely closed?
 
I do. Seriously, think about how many things there are to see in a city and around the city and then think about how many of them would be closed. Then think about a couple of tourists choosing to visit only those sites and no others.
 
Conclusions please.
Mine is simple....what a complete bugger!
 
So for the gentle reader.
 
If you find yourself far far away from home and standing before closed doors you have chosen to knock on. Don't get angry or frustrated. Sit back with a smile on your face and think about this;
 
All of your friends are at home working nine to five and you are on holidays.
 
That's all the advice I have to offer.
For all those still unimpressed.
You take life too seriously!
Sit back and relax!
 
My first thoughts of the following day were.
 
Tomorrow we will hire a cab for the day and see some pyramid shaped tombs that were started over a millennium ago and then some rock carvings that supposedly date back from around ten thousand years ago.
 
Need I say more?
For those who are still unimpressed ....this beer is bloody good too!
 
For every door that remains closed to your knock there are a million more that are open to you. Simply smile and move on to the one that feels the most comfortable. When you find it kick back, open a cold beer and thank yourself for being where you are!
 
Beers N Noodles toya.....shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was by the spun out Monster Magnet
The album was 'Dopes to Infinity'
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