Lantau Island
Trip Start
Mar 14, 2006
1
26
374
Trip End
Mar 15, 2007
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Saturday, April 8, 2006
Two guys on the ferry were planning on hiking across the island to the Po Lin Monastery where there is the world's largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha statue, the reason for my visit, but I opted to take the bus but only for the scenic ride of course.
Getting off the bus I wondered for a second were the statue was but on turning around it is hard to miss standing (sitting really) high above on the hill overlooking the monastery. The view from the top gave a good panoramic vista of this part of the island with everyone making straight for the ice-cream vendor at the top of the steps who must do a roaring trade.
Taking the bus back down to Tung Chung, the main town on the island, were I planned on taking the MTR back to Kowloon but only after stopping for a McFlurry at McDonald's. Supposedly Hong Kong McDonald's have the most fattening Big Macs anywhere in the world but I declined to try one at this point even if tempted purely for research purposes.
Once back in Central in Hong Kong Island I took the world's longest escalator up through the Soho area which contains many bars and restaurants. The escalator is actually a series of them rather than one single long one which only runs one way in the morning and the reverse later on, thankfully it was going my way when I arrived.
Hoping off the escalator before it reached the top I finally headed towards Hong Kong's number one tourist attraction which is unfortunate simply for the long queue to ride the tram up to Victoria Peak.
The view from top was even more amazing than the view of Hong Kong island from across the harbor at night with the view of the city at dusk from the peak easily being one the best views I have seen so far.
