Advertisement
Kowloon Walled City Park
Used to be known for prostitution and gambling. Those activities have now been moved to Las Vegas. After spending the last couple of days doing sweet fuck all because we had both come down with an unpleasant case of traveler's poopies, ambition kicked in and we headed for the outlying islands, hoping some new scenery and fish would quell the beast within and allow us a day not centered around inspecting the latrines of every McDonald's in Hong Kong.
It wasn't going well.
We were slow getting out of the hostel due to a less-than-amusing game of musical toilet, and promptly booked it for Mickey D's once the ferry docked at Mui Wo on Lantau Island, and made the "clutch-and-waddle" run once the bus arrived at the monastery, and then again at the MTR station at Tung Chung, and before supper...and so on and so forth.
Camille's Travel Tip: While the food can be quite atrocious at times, McDonald's provides a certain universal standard when it comes to cleanliness and overall hygiene, and is a safe bet for sit toilets - as opposed to the squatters - which can be a right kafuffle in situations like these.
Anyway, the ferry ride to Lantau Island was short and scenic, and we killed time waiting for
The Big Buddha
It's 268 steps to the summit...and you can drive up too, but I already used that joke before. the bus by watching this Chinese equivalent of a Hippie wig-out on his luggage and then oogle his Virgin Mary doll; only to continue a few minutes later to giving his suitcase a good what-for, all before righting his abused baggage then quietly sitting back on the bench to ponder, I can only presume, why his parents named him 'Wang'.
The bus finally arrived at Mui Wo to whisk us through steep hills and tight turns to the
Po Lin Monastery, an active temple complex high up in the hills, with quite possibly some of the nicest public bathrooms I've ever been in. We made the ascent to the Tian Tan Buddha statue, or 'Big Buddha' as he's commonly known, all the while listening to a monk chant prayers. The monk, I should point out, was wearing a '
We come in Peace, Mon!' t-shirt that depeicted an alien smoking a joint. Curious choice of attire at a religious site, don't you think? Maybe his '
Buddha kicks ass!' shirt was in the wash that day. The Big Buddha is the tallest outdoor, bronze, seated Buddha statue in the world. Note the criteria listed is quite specific because, apparently, there are taller outdoor,
Spaghetti Penguin
Chilly Willy is well on his way to becoming a Bodhisattva...he just needs to give up the ladies! seated Buddhas, but they are
not made from bronze so I guess that doesn't count for jack. It's kinda like that American sprinter Michael Johnson saying he's the world's fastest man, if only it wasn't for Donovan Bailey, who
whipped his whiny ass in a race.
The views from the peak are great, and probably even better when not obscured by clouds. The whole of the complex, which is actually quite large, is neat and tidy and smells of incense. We had arrived during the celebration of Buddha's birthday and were hoping to watch some of the festivities, but our stomachs would not hear of it so we missed out on martial arts performances, and some other cultural happenings that I don't really care about anymore because we didn't get to see them. Unfortunately, that was the extent of our day as we always seemed to be 5 minutes behind the bus schedule and kept missing rides to seaside villages we were hoping to tour. But with time winding down we thought it best to head back to the city and the comfort of our room.
We met up with a friend and spent a gorgeous Monday on Lamma Island, an ex-pat haven to
KWCP Pond
There are turtles and fishes in them waters...also known as 'dinner' to the Chinese. the south, enjoying the sunshine at Hung Shing Yeh beach. Aside from seafood restaurants and the beach, there's not much going on here. So we worked on our tans, glad that our bowels were being more cooperative today. Later on, the ferry ride back to Central went through some rough wake and at one point hit the water with such force that we were almost thrown from our seats! Several passengers gasped at the sudden jolt, and one man stood up looking like he was about to don his lifejacket and abandon ship.
That night we were blessed with exceptionally clear skies so we headed up to The Peak again - the view is great during the day, but even better at night time. It was packed at all the viewing platforms, as everone was elbowing for some room on the ledge to get an unobstructed view. A little patience and the occasional flicking of some poor schmuck's camera off the cliff and we soon found ourselves with prime real estate.
Tuesday saw our courageous duo bravely venture north to the New Territories, a bunch of small towns nestled in the hills on the way to mainland China.
10,000 Buddhas Monastery
A 9-storey pagoda...that's all I have to say about that. First stop was the serene
Kowloon Walled City Park. Getting here was a bitch as there were no maps or signs, and our guidebook failed to mention that the park was actually
inside another park, a fact I thought was worth noting. Once found though, it was well worth the trip, with kept gardens, ponds and gazebos all over the place, and elderly Chinese folk sitting on the benches napping in the shade.
Further north in the town of Sha Tin is the
10,000 Buddhas Monastery, another boldly-coloured attraction with colours so bright you'd think you rubbed your eyes too hard (or were flyin' on some pretty wicked drugs...I dunno...Mom, can you clarify the effects of dangerous narcotics please?). The monastery is up atop another steep hill, and the path is lined with bright gold Buddha statues with bold red lips(tick). This made me wonder:
1) Why do Buddhists always build temples on sheer cliffs?
2) Did Buddha moonlight as a hooker to raise money for the building of temples and other such religious structures?
The walk back to the train station took us through the traditional Chinese village of Pai Tau, which had quiet streets lined with low houses and kids playing
Two IFC
As seen from Statue Square...at night...as if you couldn't tell already (thanks, Captain Obvious!). soccer. A nice way to end our journey I thought, because when we resurfaced from the MTR (subway) back in Causeway Bay, it was anything but peaceful. Oh well, at least it's quiet in the loo and some fat guy isn't asking me if I want 'sexy man love'.
Camille & Denise
Advertisement
Tot: 0.142s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 10; qc: 28; dbt: 0.0225s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Fitchel
non-member comment
2 things
1. Mom's a crack ho - Ha ha. 2. Thanks for the play by play on the workings of your bowels. It was very umm, informative.