Giant Buddha's at Datong

Back in February I shared some pictures of our road trip to Datong. You could see some pictures of the highway, but you never arrived with us at the final destination.

So especially for you, today some pictures of Datong and the Yungang Grottoes just outside town.

A pagoda at the entrance to the grottoes.It was bitterly cold, so there weren't many people around and we had the place to ourselves.

Your tour guide for the day.

This guy doesn't look that big...

But compare him to the tiny people in the foreground.

There are a totla of 51,000 statues at the Yungang grottoes. (Many thanks to whomever counted them all.) By the way, the site stems from around 460-525 AD, when the Northern Wei dynasty was in charge and adopted Buddhism as a state religion. In 2001, the Yungang Grottoes were made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Try not to get this guy against you.

Look at me! (Bottom of statue)

Top of statue.

The outside of the grottoes. (All the Buddha's on the pictures before are inside these caves.)

Two classic guys.

Praying for good fortune and winning soccer matches.

One giant Buddha in the distance, and a little one up front.

Datong in the evening.

Wanna buy some meat?

This road in the middle of Datong wasn't particularly great.

These are possibly the best noodles I have ever had. You get the noodles, choose a topping (for me veggies), and then put some cilantro or other greens on top. Yum! We found out later that Shanxi province noodles (Datong is in Shanxi province) are very famous. For good reason, I would have to say.

Slurping is allowed! Sshhluuuuuhrmmhphm.

Simon loves noodles (but doesn't necessarily show it in this picture) :-)

Datong by night. Good night!

In het Nederlands: Dit is het vervolgverslag van ons tripje naar Datong in februari. By de Yungang grotten zagen we vele kleine, grote en enorme Buddhas. In Datong zelf heb ik de lekkerste noodles ooit gegeten.