Hong Kong's Big Buddha
Trip Start
Jan 06, 2010
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146
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Trip End
Jun 21, 2010
Where I stayed
The Garden View International Hotel, Macdonnell Road
Hong Kong, China
Monday, May 31, 2010
We then caught the same train to the airport and dropped off our remaining luggage into an electronic locker which would cost us $30 for up to 4 hours and then another $30 for any time after 4 hours.
Next we found the S1 bus to Ngong Ping which took about 30 minutes to reach. Here we took the Crystal Ngong Ping 360 cable car to the top of the Lantau Hill. The Crystal cable car has the top two thirds transparent, and the floor, so not quite 360, but you get the idea! It was quite cloudy on our way up leading to some interesting moments and views! The first views were of the hills and the airport from above, taking us over some water and over the first hill. Here we plunged into cloud unable to see any other cars around us until they were really nearby. Below us we could see vegetation and a pathway running along the hill in the same direction. After about twenty minutes we got our first glimpse of the main attraction of Lantau - the large Buddha sitting on the hill. This was accompanied by the sound of streams and waterfalls somewhere in the clouds below us. All very serene!
Upon arrival we headed to a nearby cafe called Zen Noodle where I had a Japanese Dumpling Ramen and Ben had a Spicy Beef Ramen for lunch. The food was relatively okay, though not the best. After lunch we walked through the main shopping street to the Buddha. Out past the shopping street they are in the process of building a new walkway in granite, with gateways at either end. It potentially looks stunning, so worth a trip when it's completed!
The Batu caves looked like a doddle when we reached the Buddha's hill - Oh, the stairs! As I made my way up I had a real "Howl's Moving Castle" moment and half expected to find a short legged dog snuffling around my feet waiting to be carried up. The Buddha itself was pretty amazing. There was a bit of information inside about how it was built from the initial engineering to modeling a small one, to modeling a 1:1 version! Then casting it in bronze and working out how to break it up into transportable pieces before rebuilding and tweaking it in the factory. All very fascinating!
The walk down was a tad easier and we made our way further into the complex to visit the Po Lin Monastery where there were Monks doing their official chanting through microphones which was very loud! After looking around the Monastery and the gardens we made our way back to the cable car, this time taking a standard car down which doesn't have the transparent floor. It took us a few attempts to get the return bus for the correct place as it drops you off outside the Cable car but picks up for the main bus terminal over the road and the signs are non-existent. We had to rely on the bus driver who pointed us in the right direction. Twice.
At the airport we collected our luggage and headed through immigration which was all rather painless. We stopped for a snack of Ben & Jerry's ice cream (Cookies & Sweet Cream/Chocolate chip cookie dough) and Millie's Cookies (Raspberry & white choc/oatmeal & raisin) with a hot chocolate and Mocha Chocca which should get us through to dinner or to bed in case the food was dire on the flight.
Our gate was in the satellite terminal which wasn't too far away - a couple of minutes on a bus. The flight seemed to go well and the food was passable. We landed at 11pm where we were met by Rita (Gao Le) from Sinoway Travel (well, actually a Beijing tour agency that Sinoway use) and our driver Mr J.
On the half hour journey to our hotel, Rita introduced us to the stone dragon with money in its mouth that sat in the middle of the car. Apparently it's called a Pee Shou, which translates as "Stingy Dragon". It essentially eats lots and doesn't go to the loo...
We arrived at the Red Wall Hotel and got checked in to room 6102. We were expecting to head up in a lift to the 6th floor, but instead the bell boy took us around the back to a Chinese style room! It wasn't massive, but i was full of character with carved doors and furniture and lanterns down the corridor. The bathroom was lovely too though rather cold.
We headed straight to bed ready for a 9am pick up the next morning.
