A Walk in the Clouds

Trip Start Feb 08, 2007
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Trip End Jun 12, 2007


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Flag of China  ,
Tuesday, February 13, 2007

OK, it is my turn to write a little about our travels thus far.  I am a bit apprehensive but I'll do my best.  After only three full days in the main cities of Hong Kong, we were feeling a bit claustrophobic and needed some relatively fresh air; so, visiting a nearby island (Lantau) sounded like the perfect get away.  Early Tuesday, we set out to get a more detailed map and grab a few more HK dollars and some light snacks to sustain us.  It sounded simple enough but little did we know what an ordeal it would be.  The map quest went without a hitch as did the snacks (yogurt, nuts and a Snickers!) but the ATM machines just did not want to give us a dime.  We asked again and again for an American Express machine but through the translation errors and the direction difficulties, we went around and around to many dead ends.  Finally at an upscale hotel, we found success and decided on a new slogan for the company "American Express . . . leave home without it!"
             Well even though we left much later than we had hoped, we were finally off Must come down!
Must come down!
 .  We took a 20 minute ferry to the island and had lunch and then began our 6 hour plus walk.  After a half hour we were rewarded with two wonderful sites - a dirt path and our first squat toilet!  Oh it doesn't get better than this!  We ascended into the clouds, which smelled relatively fresh, up countless rock stairs on a path that goes straight up, up, up or straight down, down, down (it seems that the idea of a switch-back here is unknown).  We climbed two peaks on our way to the big Buddha image (one of the peaks - Lantau - is the second highest in Hong Kong at 900+ meters).  Our legs were exhausted but the knowledge that good Buddhist vegetarian food was just right around the corner sustained us on the long journey.  We arrived at the village of Ngong Ping just before 7 pm and just after night fall.  The town seemed very peaceful and quiet . . . too quiet.  At the hostel we learned that the veggie restaurant closes at 4:30 and nothing else was open at this "late" hour.  The manager, Man, who is an avid hiker himself, seemed impressed with our arduous climb and took pity on our rumbling bellies and gave us noodles to cook.  We were thankful but in the end decided to just go to sleep as we were exhausted.  The next morning proved to be more beautiful than we expected.  The mountain we hiked just the day before was visible and quite tall and impressively vertical (at times were where climbing an incline greater than 45 degrees!).  We hobbled around until the Buddha opened (around 10:30) and meet some fellow backpackers from all over the world.  We decide to have lunch with them to discuss travel and teaching English overseas etc.  They were a lot of fun and a wealth of information about the Buddha images and some of the religious meanings of different poses etc.  We are definitely going to make a point to stay in hostels from time to time to connect with this interesting "community".
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malrandamom
malrandamom on Feb 19, 2007 at 02:06AM

Hi Aunt Tammy and Uncle Kelley
Hi guys what you are doing sounds like a lot of fun. Did you meet anyone from the U.S.A.? What has your favorite thing been so far? Was the Budda scary? Did you get to go inside of it or was it just to look at? What kind of clothes do they wear there? Do your legs get tired when you walk that much? I love and miss you guys and I cant wait till your next pictures. Mallory P.S. Are there any volcanos there?

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