Lantau Beach, Big Buddha

On Saturday, Future Roommate Rob and I went to the beach on Lantau Island.* Although Lantau is MTR accessible, Rob and I elected to take the 40 minute ferry ride. To our suprise and my overwhelming delight, it was air conditioned. Plus, the view was nice I guess.

To view a larger version of my face, just click on this (or any) of the images.

Inside the ferry.

The Ferry dropped us off in Mui Wo, seen below.







From Mui Wo, we hopped on an air conditioned bus that took us deeper into the island towards one of the beaches. When we got off the bus, I noted that this was the first time I'd been in a place that was quiet in about two weeks. It was nice.

Right off the bus

Walk to the beach

The beach was pretty beautiful.

Beach during magic hour.

Wild cows by the beach

After having some pretty awesome fish and chips (the fish was definitely fresh) at the seaside restaurant, Rob and I hopped on another bus. This one went to Ngong Ping, a town that the guidebook aptly describes as, "Disneyesque." (I described it as "faux Chinese.") Still, it's a pretty popular tourist destination, being home to the famous Big Buddha and all. Said Buddha is the world's largest sitting outdoor Buddha. I swear I'm not making that up.

We were expecting it to be pretty crowded, but when we arrived at around 6:30, Ngong Ping looked like a ghost town. Even 7-11 was closed. This is because access to the Buddha and Po Lin Monastery closes at 5:30. This also meant that we were unable to do the Walking With the Buddha exhibit, the Monkey's Tale Theater, visit Chopstick Palace, or stop in Railroad Construction City. Only one of the above is my own racist invention. Anyway, we still got a pretty good look at everything.

Village of Ngong Ping

Just a hop, skip, and jump from the USA.

Rob with a wild cow in Ngong Ping

On the road to enlightenment

Buddha Buddha Buddha Buddha Buddha Buddha

Mission Accomplished!

We had accidentally timed our trip so we would be able to see sunset from up at the monastery. Since it was closed, we improvised, climbing up a small hill. Although we missed the sunset by about 5 minutes, the view was still worth the climb.

Buddha in the background

Oh, hey Ngong Ping

From there, we took a bus to the MTR and headed back to Anne Black. Yaaayyy, we did it!



*Hong Kong geography may be confusing for those not living here, so I suggest taking a look at a map. Basically, Hong Kong comprises of Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, the New Territories, and Lantau Island. Kowloon and most of the New Territories are connected to Mainland China. Hong Kong Island is south of Kowloon, and Lantau is southwest of Kowloon. There are also several smaller islands, accessible via ferry.


Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee