The Big Buddha
Trip Start
Apr 10, 2005
1
9
14
Trip End
May 01, 2005
Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
We started the morning off by grabbing breakfast at McDonald's located right around the corner from our hotel. I know, shame on us - but we just wanted to grab something quick before heading out to the Ferry. Our hotel is located on Nathan Road, in the middle of the shopping district, where Dior, Fendi and Celine are right across the street from us and where Gucci, Louis Vuitton and Prada are only a block away.
We walked to the ferry docks and for HK$4.40 caught the ferry to Hong Kong Island (approximately $0.50 US for 2)
Buddha
. From there, we caught the Fast Ferry which took about 40 minutes to get to Lantau Island at a cost of HK$42 (approximately $5.40 US for 2). At Lantau Island, we boarded the #2 bus for Po Lin Monastery, the home of the world's tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha statue. The 50 minute bus ride to Po Lin Monastery was both exciting and terrifying. Not only were the roads quite narrow, but they wound their way around the mountains. It was quite the ride!The Po Lin temple was built in 1924 and is situated on Lantau Island. Known as the "Buddhist Kingdom in the South", it ranks first as the most magnificent structures among the four popular Buddhist temples in Hong Kong. The statue sits tall at 26 meters high. We walked up the steps to the top and took pictures of the 6 statues offering gifts to the Buddha.
We wandered around the Po Lin Monastery grounds and saw people praying and burning incense. We followed the chanting to one of the buildings where we saw the monks having a prayer service (not sure what the correct terminology is). We didn't realize that there were female monks.
We grabbed a vegetarian lunch at the dining hall of the Monastery and it was quite delicious. The noodles tasted a lot like a Filipino dish called "pancit" and the jelly-like cubes were dessert (peach gelatin, mango/coconut gelatin).
We took the bus to the ferry docks to catch the ferry back to Hong Kong. From there, we took a cab to Stanley Market, a popular tourist spot. It was all the same stuff as Beijing, but a little more expensive
Female Monks
. Most of the vendors had fixed prices and they weren't as aggressive as Beijing.Finished with our shopping, we caught a double-decker bus back to our stop, Tsim Sha Tsui. For HK$26, we got a one hour tour of Hong Kong showcasing its interesting architecture. We saw a condo/apartment building that was shaped like a wave, some with cut outs/holes through them, and some that were skinny and tall. We even saw a cemetery located at the side of the mountain looking a lot like terraces. They definitely make good use of the land. We toured through some very affluent neighbourhoods with its Mercedes, BMWs, and Alfa-Romeos. The bus went through the tunnel connecting Hong Kong and Kowloon Peninsula, bringing us back to our hotel.
CRAVING North American cuisine, we found ourselves at the Hard Rock Café ordering a bacon cheeseburger with fries and an appetizer plate of chicken fingers, potato skins, onion rings, and chicken wings. It was exactly what we needed! And to top it off, we must have ordered the world's biggest hot fudge brownie sundae. There's only one person we know who could finish such a HUGE dessert...
Tomorrow we leave for Denpasar (Bali), where we will be staying at a secluded resort called Alam Sari. From what we've heard, we may not have internet access like we've had so far. We will be in Bali from April 20 - 23.
On the 23rd, we leave Bali and head to the Philippines where we will be meeting up with Michelle's dad and her grandma (both from the GTA, who flew out a week ago). We will be staying at their hometown, Dila Dila, an hour away from Manila. Hopefully, we can get to an internet cafe in one of the other villages.
So farewell for now, and keep checking back. We hope to update our travelblogs as soon as we can.
