July 14th, 2005 -- Bhante Sukhemo is soon to leave the United States of America for his motherland, the Republic of Indonesia. As a way to make his trip more enjoyable, our family decided to take him and monks who were staying in Wat Suddhavasa in Riverside to go to Palm Springs in order to scale the mountains by way of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Bhante Sukhemo, who had spent the night in Wat Suddhavasa, accompanied with 5 monks from Wat Suddhavasa, one monk from Guam and one Samanera, came to our house to have lunch. Simon and his family also joined us for the small feast and generously offered to drive us to Palm Springs and back, using Simon’s experienced van. Bhante Sukhemo was joined by two monks, Achan Somporn Samanawangso from Guam, who was staying as a guest in Wat Suddhavasa, and Achan Manut from the aforementioned temple.

As we slowly scaled the road towards the Aerial Tramway, the individuals who had never been up the Aerial Tram, looked in awe at the towers and the cables that connect the towers and carry the trams. The tram, which had been the dream of engineer Francis Crocker's since 1935 simply to "go up there where it's nice and cool" (it's very true, the difference of temperature between the valley city and the peak may be up to 30 degrees Fahrenheit), started its construction in 1945, when the then California Governor, Earl Warren, who would later be admitted to the Supreme Court, approved the bill to start construction. In 1963, the tram, dubbed the "eighth wonder of the world", was finally completed and the inaugural ride occurred on September 14th and in 2000, a complete modernization of the aerial trams was completed. The modernization included two new rotating trams, which allows its passengers to experience a 360 degree view of the scenic route.

After an exciting tram ride of which the usual occurred, such as various people being scared out of their wits every time the tram would approach a tower, we reached the Upper Tramway Terminal, about 8,000 feet above sea level. Another three hour hike would take us to the zenith of Mount San Jacinto, standing tall 10,804 feet above sea level. But we weren’t about to do that. We then walked to the majestic outdoors, the reason which people travel here. We walked the treks, stunned by the utter beauty and uniqueness of the forestry. There are endless picturesque photo opportunities of which I tried to do justice. We walked the trail and took a side road which led to a secluded area, perfect for meditation. So the meditation commenced for half an hour, only the sounds of nature filling the air. Achan Samanawangso and Bhante Sukhemo were openly impressed by the area, the former commenting that he wants to "take a meditation camp for a week" there.

On the way to the tram station, the monks became somewhat of an object of interest of many people, being photographed, filmed and asked questions by various people. As the amateur media died down, we made our way downhill to our awaiting car. We decided to tour the city of Palm Springs for a bit, and we were fortunate enough to go there on a Thursday, when Palm Springs has its weekly market night of sorts. Unfortunately, fatigued from the hike, we were not inclined to look around, so we drove past the night to our respective homes, waiting for the sun to come up with no conclusion.

Salam,
Metta Surya & Agung

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