Half day trip to 灵隐寺 Lingyin Temple and 飞来峰 Peak Flown in from Afar @杭州 Hangzhou, China

We took the advice of the hotel staff and decided to cab instead of bus to 飞来峰 (loosely translated as Peak Flown in from Afar).

Tried out 滴滴出行 Didi Rider app and managed to get a ride quite easily at 7+ in the morning. We arrived around 8am, got our tickets (¥45 per adult), and made our way in. It was rather quiet with only one tour group, and we could take our own sweet time to admire the carvings.

We also spent quite a fair amount of time in 灵隐寺 Lingyin Temple (¥30 per adult), just enjoying the stroll and chatting along the way. We also stopped for a bowl of 罗汉面 (¥18) at the restaurant 十方苑 within 灵隐寺 Lingyin Temple to take a break from the cold and walking. In the midst of walking, we also found the 老酸奶 yoghurt drink that I was so fond of during our Beijing trip. In 2016, we paid about ¥5 per bottle, here it cost ¥15 😮 Because I missed it so much, I paid for it *no eyes to see*

We also recommend trying out the vegetarian buffet restaurant 清心素食馆 just outside the Lingyin Temple ticketing counter, where we had lunch. For ¥30 per adult, we got to try out many different dishes.

It was almost 2pm by the time we were done with lunch. There was a lot of cabs available, and we took one to Hangzhou Train Station (¥35) as we wanted to buy our train tickets for the subsequent trips in advance.