Big White

April 03, 2009

Big White

For my Canadian readers, you probably think this post is about "Big White" the ski resort near my hometown of Kelowna, BC, but you're wrong..... :)

This post is actually about the "Big White" Buddha sitting on the mountain side not too far away from where I live. A couple weeks ago, Andrew and Seyha rode their bikes out there. I didn't go because I figured I'd let the boys have a good ride without me tagging along. So last Sunday, with the afternoon stretching out in front of us with nothing to do, we decided to head up there on the motocy.

Even from the highway it looks huge, but as we got closer and closer.....it just kept growing until it's imposing image was towering above us. It almost looked like he was staring right at us!

Once we parked the bike, we still had a decent task before us - 650 stairs to reach the base of the Buddha! But the view from the top was worth it! Being way up there, looking up at the towering image above us, we wondered how much bigger and more amazing was the golden calf or the golden image that King Nebuchadnezzar built!

The fantastic view...isn't Thailand beautiful??

Even though it's just a huge mass of painted cement, it provided an artistic photo opportunity!

Even though the point of the excursion was to see Big White, my favorite part was actually at the base of all those stairs - a beautiful peacock! I saw him before we went up, but he was just sitting there, uninterested in showing off his beauty. But later, 650 steps up the mountain, I could hear him squawking, and I was upset that I was missing the show. We rushed down the stairs (which was not easy!) just to see him putting his feathers down. I had missed it! The crowd dispersed, and even Andrew wandered off in another direction, but I wasn't about to give up that easily. I sat down on the steps and waited.....and waited............and waited. I talked to him, and he squawked back at me. Stubborn bird. But finally, my patience paid off as he opened up his tail and strutted around in all his glory! And he did a little shake of his tail which make all the little "eyes" look like they were moving - it was incredible!!!! And definitely worth the wait!!