No No Nan Hua

Today was a day of contrasts. It all started when we went up to the Nan Hua Buddhist Temple in Bronkhorstspruit to celebrate the Chinese New Year. The Nan Hua is the biggest Buddhist temple in Africa and it is the place where peace supposes to prevail.

Soon after arriving we decided to have some breakfast and bought some Chinese omelette which consists of lettuce, mushrooms, a token egg all held together with copious amounts of aspic. Warning: DO NOT BUY! The aspic tasted like SNOT and was very difficult to swallow which meant that breakfast soon ended up in the dustbin instead of our tummies. Okay bad start but it soon went from bad to worse.

Earlier I said that the temple is where peace prevails, well it suppose to but with the madding crowds and the weapon sellers who turned the temple into a market place. Yes I did write weapon sellers. Along with the food tables, I found airsoft guns, knives, daggers, swords, throwing stars, axes and pangas for sale. I am a Christian but the longer I was in this peaceful place, the angrier I got. I was starting to feel like Jesus who found the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem a market place. I wanted to overturn these war mongers tables. Mixed in with this lot were statues of angels, and what looks like angels sitting next to a pool over water with baby angels floating as if they have just been water birthed. Next to them were pentagrams, vampires and Buddha.

My mind was screaming, "GET OUT". So we got out and ended up in Cullinan for a lovely lunch of wine, beer and burgers. The afternoon was much more peaceful sitting under an oak tree than at the maddening crowds of Nan Hua. Photos of my day can be found at the Facebook album No No Nan Hua and on this blog you must be tired of my little rant so you can have this photo of a oak tree protesting a dog.