Day 6.066: Ten thousand fish

On Friday afternoon, we visited a temple a few miles away. The name of the temple means "Ten thousand fish" because, as we were told before we went there, many many fish make their home there.

What we found was not quite what we were expecting!

Here are the fish:

The story goes that these fish left the East Sea and came here to hear the words of a wise monk - and they stayed and turned to stone.

One of the "mysteries" of the site - apart from this extraordinary stripe of jumbled stones down one side of the hill - is that some of the stones sound like steel when they are struck:



Here we are with our host and our guide (photo taken by the driver who is the one hitting the rock in the video):

This beautiful carving is new - done two years ago in a rock in situ.

And this temple building contains the largest of the "fish stones" - still in its original location with the building built around it.

The other "mysteries" include a pool which is never dry even when there is little water elsewhere and whose water level is said to vary with the sea level rather than with rainfall or other expected factors.

When I first heard about this place - I was told it was "very strange". I have to agree!