Climbing the Pagoda at the Buddhist Temple

The Temple of the Six Banyan Trees, founded in AD 479, is also near our hotel in Guangzhou. It's a peaceful haven in the middle of the crowded city. The highlight of the temple is a Pagoda built in AD 1098, having 17 stories (although only 9 balconies so it looks deceptively shorter). Anyone who knows me, knows that this pagoda represented a challenge to be climbed!! So we began our trek. On the first floor there were signs saying, 'Take care' because the stairwells were relatively short. Being relatively tall, both Ryan and I had to duck down. As we climbed, the stairwells got shorter and shorter because each level is shorter than the last. We found ourselves ducking and crawling and doing the limbo!
Thank goodness there were hand-holds cut into either side of the wall to help us.
This was the entry to one of the stairwells about halfway up the climb.
Once we got to the top, Ryan confided to me that he was afraid of heights. What a trooper! I pity those who must travel with me. but the view was amazing. Unfortunately we could only see run down apartment buildings surrounding the temple. But it was still something I've never done before and would recommend. It's certainly not mountains in Utah though (Tommy and Amanda!).
There was incense burning in the air and at the surrounding buildings, and statues of Buddha everywhere. We also met a monk who was very curious about us. First he looked through my Lonely Planet tour book and our ticket stubs, and then he was fascinated by Ryan, and showed it by touching him! Ryan was a little uncomfortable, but the scene was peaceful and it was a nice break from the hectic traffic of the city.