Blogs from Lantau Island, Hong Kong, Asia - page 10

Day 2 in Hong Kong, After awaking at 06:55 - put that down to time difference not keeness! - I had a great cup of coffee, attempted to go back to bed but dad started talking to me, d'oh! I faffed around a bit for a few hours then decided to get into gear and start to work on getting visas for places down the line. I headed for the Philippean consulate in Admiral. I packed my satchel/man bag - oh which reminds me, in "The Hangover", my favorite part is when Alan gets abuse for a manpurse, and he tells them its a satchel, having myself described any kind of bag as a satchel for the last 26 years, it seems rather amusing... anyway.... so, I packed my satchel with essential things, like two copies ... read more

Well chapter two begins on the wednesday morning waking up in a bed far too small for one person let alone sharing it with the monster that is barry mcg. I horrible moment of realiastion that not only did it feel like my back ws broken but it also felt like i had slept fo roughly about 2 minutes all night. Anyways the groupe regrouped to discuss the antics and experience of the night before - this included an irish bar in which the majority of the guys ended up, chatting up some german girl, running to the safety of taxis with hands in their pockets to avoid those pesky prostitutes pick pocketing them - jamie burns encouraging everyone he'd be able to handle himself without their protection and Daly arriving into our room and panicing ... read more

The first impression of Hong Kong is of concrete scraping the hazy sky and hazy revellers scraping the concrete pavements. Then you’re taken to the “other side” of the islands where you’re amazed that such exotic beachy alcoves exist in such close proximity to the vast arrays of neon sign topped towers. Then to add one more dimension you find out that on a hill top sits the biggest bronze Buddha on the planet, the third largest Buddha known to be in existence. The mind boggled. I had to confirm this with my own peepers and so began Tuesday, the day of my spiritual journey to the Tien Tan (I think) Buddha. The Buddha is located on Lantau Island West of Hong Kong Island which is reached by ferry, for those who wish to skim across ... read more

The morning began like all others, early, with a huge breakfast. It was then off to Lantau Island, an hour long subway journey, followed by an hour long bus ride. We arrived in a small village, Ngong Ping, where the temperature was a souring 39 degrees and the humidity was a saturating 89% we were wet instantly. To start us off we ate at Jen’s choice of restaurant where we served sewerage soup, slimy noodles but yummy tempura veggies! It was then gelato all round before embarking on our massive assent up the, what seemed to be 1000 stair climb, to the biggest outdoor bronzed Buddha in the world. After several stops along the way, with people collapsing around us, we made it to the top. Spectacular views once more captured by our personalised camera man ... read more

The views from the cable car that takes you from Tung Chung to Po Lin are said to be spectacular, laying out the entire panorama of Lantau Island's northern coast. I wouldn't know. When I reached the MTR terminus on Lantau this morning, the cable car was down for annual servicing. That is how I found myself, a few hours later, hurtling downhill on a bus driven by a NASCAR-racer-wannabe. Actually, this guy could have given the NASCAR rednecks a run for their money. Not only was he fast as a lightning bolt, but he could make both left and right hairpin turns on a steep downhill slope. I sat in the back of the bus clinging to a handrail and listening to a group of drunk Australians cracking jokes. As we pulled up to a ... read more