Siobhan, Stu [...]]]> Our October “holiday” didn’t turn out to be as eventful as I had hoped.  There was some odd problem with our bank, and lo-and-behold, nobody at the school was paid … until the day before school started back up again.  Needless to say, I was a little miffed, but …

Siobhan, Stu and I made the best of it though and got in some good exploring of Suzhou.  We took a long stroll around the city, following the main canal that borders the city center, and visiting many gardens along the way.  Its a bustling city with a long history and I’ve still got much to see there, and many museums to visit.

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Did you check those out?  You back?  Okay, here is something real pretty.

One of my favorite places was the Northern Buddhist Tower.  A little temple area located and preserved nicely within the city, it was a nice place to relax and take in a little beauty.

It was well maintained, and naturally, a bit of a tourist trap.  But, you could go all the way up the giant pagoda you see here, giving you a wonderful view of the city and surrounding landscape, err, more city.

Happy Buddha.

Climbing, a nice view of the temple grounds below and city behind.

Higher.

Watch out!

Higher still.

Made it to the top! I don’t know what this look is about.

Views of the endless cityscape.

“Nuclear pagoda.”

Twilight visions.  (… or, a polarized view through my sunglasses.)

After making our descent, we checked out the rest of the temple grounds.

Giant black frog.

Serious Mama Coy. Two feet long.