"A Perfect Day" on Lantau Island

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I had wanted to spend my last day in HK checking out the great buddha on Lantau Island. I just had to figure out the best (and cheapest) way to get there. While feasting on a delicious BBQ Pork roll, I decided to take the MTR to Tung Chung and get the no 23 bus to the monastery.

People who think that there is nothing to see in HK haven't really taken the oppurtunity to visit the lesser known parts. Lantau Island is beautiful. The bus that took us up to the monastery passed sandy deserted beaches, great hiking spots, and lush green vegetation. You would never believe that such a beautiful, natural place could be located in ultra-urbanized HK.

The ride to Po Lin monastery took about 25 minutes. You can't take meat or alcohol into the monastery grounds, so I gobbled up the pork bun I had bought for lunch really fast.

The Buddha is located at the top long flight of white stairs. It is quite a climb, but well worth it. If you buy a vegetarian lunch at the monastery at the foot of the steps, then you can go right up into the Buddha. Since I wasn't in a vegetarian mood (and wasn't about to drop $60HK on lunch) I decided that I didn't really need to go right up to the top.

Like I said, the climb is a long one, but I took numerous stops on the way to capture images of the beauty surrounding the buddha. The sky was starting to cloud over, but it didn't detract at all from the beauty. There were families, and couple around me, taking pictures of themselves and such; it was often hard to get a good clear shot of the Buddha, but I made do. I had been through worse at the Forbidden City.

The Buddha is gorgeous at the top. It looked like it had been there for centuries, but it is only about 14 years old. There are two sets of three smaller statues surrounding the Buddha on either side.

I could have easily spent hours at that one spot, but I eventually went down again to explore the monastery. There were many people there, and some of the daytrippers looked as though they were praying. Since that was the case, I didn't take many pics.

It was just starting to rain, so I decided to head back to HK island. The line for the #23 bus was really long, so I decided to take the #2, which would take me to Mui Wu ferry docks.

I'm glad I went this way - first of all, the bus was nearly empty, and the ferry docks were cool. Since I had just missed the ferry and had to wait 30 mins, I wandered down to the 7-11 and found Strongbow Cider! Sipping Strongbow while waiting for your ferry - priceless.

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Comments

[Carissa]

Amazing
Thanks so much for that Shelley-Ann. Great writing. At times I felt like I was there with you. Also had a few chuckles. I think you may have been a little depressed on your first day ing BJ?? Glad the trip ended on a better note than it started.