What A Monday :)
On my last Monday off, I decided I needed to do it up HK Style. For so many weeks I've kind of taken advantage of the city, ignoring it and living my pool/tv/show/besties lifestyle. But now I've realized that I'm leaving soon, and I need to use this city for all it's worth while i'm here. Hence, a really cool day.
Becuase of the party Sunday night, and some consequential staying up until 5:30am, I slept in a bit longer than planned. Jessica and Dana and I were supposed to take the noon shuttle, but after we woke up we worked the phone tree and pushed it back an hour. After a little more sleep and a good shower, we were on our way. We headed first to the island of Lantau, to see the great Tian Tan Buddha. Lantau is another of the HK Islands, twice as big as Hong Kong Island, where my hotel is. It's where Disney is, and although it's grown in popularity since the park was built, the island is full of forests, parks, and natural land. It's also the home of the Big Buddha.
I went to see a big Buddha in Kamakura, Japan, which I thought at the time was the biggest Buddha. Little did I know there's some kind of secret Asian competition to have the Biggest, so here comes Tian Tan Buddha. It's official claim is that it's the largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha, and whatever it is, it's cool. First we took the bus to Central station in downtown HK, and then hopped on the subway to go under the water to the edge of Lantau. After 45 minutes on the train we hopped on a bus to take us to the Buddha. After 50 minutes, we finally arrived in the tiny village. There's a monastery wehre you can eat a great vegetarian meal with Monks, there are a few souvenier shops, and there's the Buddha. We climbed 260-some steps to reach him, and were dwarfed by his size.
Once we got to the top, it was incredible. We were surrounded by beautiful, lush, undeveloped mountains, with mist at the top. We took a million pictures as we breathed in the freshest mountain air. We went through the Buddha museum, which taught us about Buddha necklaces and how they bring you happiness, good luck, and health. Even though everyone on this tour has about a million jade buddha necklaces, Jess, D, and I each bought another. Mine's white, and he has a really big smile, which means he'll bring you extra happiness. We spent at least an hour at the top looking around and relaxing and just enjoying the peace. Eventually we headed back down the mountain and checked out the monastery. The temples there were original with their strong coloring... saffrons and oranges that were much richer than usually seen in darker HK. We stopped for a quick bit to eat, consisting of tea, noodles, spring rolls, and sesame puffs. Eventually though, we had to say goodbye to the amazing Buddha, and hopped back on the bus.
Our bus ride TO Buddha had been unremarkable, but since my Frommer's had warned me I wasn't surprised when the ride home started to heat up. We were in a bus with five seats across, packed to the gills. All the roads were one lane, and the bus would speed as fast as it could, and then swerve to avoid a truck coming in the opposite direction. I swear we almost died ten times, and I almost pucked about a hundred. Luckily, after 45 minutes we were back at the station. We got on the subway and headed back to downtown. Our day was only half over. At central we walked to the other bus terminal, and started another adventure! To be continued...
Becuase of the party Sunday night, and some consequential staying up until 5:30am, I slept in a bit longer than planned. Jessica and Dana and I were supposed to take the noon shuttle, but after we woke up we worked the phone tree and pushed it back an hour. After a little more sleep and a good shower, we were on our way. We headed first to the island of Lantau, to see the great Tian Tan Buddha. Lantau is another of the HK Islands, twice as big as Hong Kong Island, where my hotel is. It's where Disney is, and although it's grown in popularity since the park was built, the island is full of forests, parks, and natural land. It's also the home of the Big Buddha.
I went to see a big Buddha in Kamakura, Japan, which I thought at the time was the biggest Buddha. Little did I know there's some kind of secret Asian competition to have the Biggest, so here comes Tian Tan Buddha. It's official claim is that it's the largest outdoor seated bronze Buddha, and whatever it is, it's cool. First we took the bus to Central station in downtown HK, and then hopped on the subway to go under the water to the edge of Lantau. After 45 minutes on the train we hopped on a bus to take us to the Buddha. After 50 minutes, we finally arrived in the tiny village. There's a monastery wehre you can eat a great vegetarian meal with Monks, there are a few souvenier shops, and there's the Buddha. We climbed 260-some steps to reach him, and were dwarfed by his size.
Once we got to the top, it was incredible. We were surrounded by beautiful, lush, undeveloped mountains, with mist at the top. We took a million pictures as we breathed in the freshest mountain air. We went through the Buddha museum, which taught us about Buddha necklaces and how they bring you happiness, good luck, and health. Even though everyone on this tour has about a million jade buddha necklaces, Jess, D, and I each bought another. Mine's white, and he has a really big smile, which means he'll bring you extra happiness. We spent at least an hour at the top looking around and relaxing and just enjoying the peace. Eventually we headed back down the mountain and checked out the monastery. The temples there were original with their strong coloring... saffrons and oranges that were much richer than usually seen in darker HK. We stopped for a quick bit to eat, consisting of tea, noodles, spring rolls, and sesame puffs. Eventually though, we had to say goodbye to the amazing Buddha, and hopped back on the bus.
Our bus ride TO Buddha had been unremarkable, but since my Frommer's had warned me I wasn't surprised when the ride home started to heat up. We were in a bus with five seats across, packed to the gills. All the roads were one lane, and the bus would speed as fast as it could, and then swerve to avoid a truck coming in the opposite direction. I swear we almost died ten times, and I almost pucked about a hundred. Luckily, after 45 minutes we were back at the station. We got on the subway and headed back to downtown. Our day was only half over. At central we walked to the other bus terminal, and started another adventure! To be continued...
posted by Beth at 11:59 PM
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