Hong Kong
Ngong Ping

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    • Day 2

      Long day on Lantau

      November 25, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

      We arrived at 4.10am and caught the first train to the city at 5.50am. After a quick train change at Central we arrived at our hotel at 7am. Unsurprisingly our rooms won't be ready for a number of hours, so we decided to tackle our longest planned day - a trip to Lantau Island (back where the airport is!).

      To get back to Lantau we caught a bus to the ferry terminal, then ferry to Mui Wo on the east coast of the island. After a walk around town, a failed attempt for a cache, and a bakery visit, we had a winding, mountainous bus trip across the island to Tai O, a traditional Chinese stilted fishing village on the west coast... and all before 10.30am!

      Tai O, on the Pearl River delta, is also home to the rare pink dolphin, so we went for a boat trip through the village and toward the new Hong Kong-Macau bridge in search of some. We spotted one, which considering there are less than 50 left in the wild, is pretty good.

      It started to drizzle as we walked through the market, sampling some cuttlefish balls on the way, so we caught the next bus to Ngong Ping, home of the Big Buddha. It was raining properly by now, so we decided against climbing the 250 steps to the top and headed for Ngong Ping 360, a 5.7km cable car ride with views across the South China Sea, national park and airport. We knew it was all out there sonewehere, but the cloud was so low we had times we couldn't even see the carriage ahead of us!

      We caught the train back to the hotel, KT had a snooze and Oliver, DC and I went out in search of food. We settled on the accurately named Queen Street Cooked Food Market for some delicious noodle and rice dishes, then a quick trip to the supermarket for supplies.

      KT and Chris frequented the same food hall and got the full theatre of washing your own crockery before you eat, and complimentary tea service, then we all went to the coffee shop downstairs to discuss the next day's agenda over hot chocolates ☺
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    • Day 9

      Der große Buddha

      February 12, 2019 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      Zunächst sind wir in Ngong Ping in die Seilbahn gestiegen. Die Schlage dort war mal wieder ziemlich lang aber es war alles sehr organisiert und man wusste immer was als nächstes gemacht werden muss. Da wir nur zu zweit waren, mussten wir nicht bis ganz zum Schluss anstehen, sondern wurden zu einer netten chinesischen Familie gewunken, um den Wagen voll zu bekommen. Nach einen gemeinsamen Foto ging es dann auch los.

      Da das Wetter nicht ganz mitgespielt hat und es dadurch etwas wolkig war, war die Aussicht nicht die besste. Aber das war erstmal egal, man hat auch so genug gesehen. Die Seilbahn hat uns über die Berge zu dem Dorf geführt. Unter uns war ein Wanderweg, auf dem sogar ein paar arme Schweine unterwegs waren. Wandern war ja schon vorher nichts für uns, da waren wir in der Gondel besser aufgehoben. Man konnte sogar die Straße sehen, die von Hongkong nach Macau führt.

      Endlich angekommen sind wird dann erstmal durch das Dorf gelaufen. Für den Tourismus wurde hier viel Geld investiert, da man links und rechts essen, trinken und shoppen konnte. Irgendwann lief man dann auf ein Tor zu und auf dem Rasen davor standen Schilder, man solle die Kühe/Rinder nicht füttern. Ja gut, dachten wir, wo sollen hier denn schon Kühe sein.. jaaa. Keine 20 Meter weiter stand dann schon die erste. Gut, es ist ein buddhistisches Kloster, hätte man sich denken können, dass da Kühe umherlaufen..

      Durch das Tor hindurch lief man dann eine Art Allee entlang. Links und rechts standen Figuren mit den chinesichen Sternzeichen als Krieger mit Waffen dargestellt. Da wir diesmal phne Führung dort waren, haben wir natürlich nicht so viel Input dazu bekommen. Genauso wie das Kloster selbst. Leicht benebelt vom ganzen Rauch der Räucherstäbchen haben wir und hineingewagt. Er war wieder sehr prachtvoll verziert, mit vielen Hakenkreuzen, was einen erst wundert aber volllkommen zu deren Religion gehört. Wir haben uns etwas fehl am Platze gefühlt, da wir nicht so recht wussten wohin und was wir machen sollten also sind wir recht schnell wieder raus.

      Als nächstes kam dann der Buddha mit seinen 400 irgendwas Treppenstufen. Das bei gefühlten 32 °C und einer Luftfeuchtigkeit bei der man allein im Sitzen schon schwitzt war das ein kleiner Kampf. Aber wir haben es geschafft und es hat sich auf jeden Fall gelohnt. Der Ausblick auf das Kloster war ein Foto wert.

      Der Abstieg ging dann etwas leichter aber mit jeder Stufe wurden die Beine schwerer. Nach der Arbeit hatten wir uns das Essen verdient und haben uns dann an eines der Restaurants gewagt. Nach Dumplings, Curry mit Schnitzel, Nudeln und Frühlingsrollen haben wir uns dann auf den Rückweg gemacht.
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    • Day 2

      Day 2 - He Ain't Heavy

      February 9, 2017 in Hong Kong ⋅ ☀️ 11 °C

      So things I've learnt about the apartment we're staying in. It's somewhere in the vicinity of a late night karaoke establishment. And that this plus the time zone change does not lend itself to the best night's sleep. That being said we still made it out by 9am to get the MTR to Lantau Island and catch the bus to the Big Buddha (via Starbucks. Standard.) It was an interesting up and down through the mountains bus ride on seats ill designed for a 6 foot brick house but we made it in one piece and early enough to beat the big crowds which came later.

      When they say Big Buddha they're not exaggerating - - though I very much enjoy the large list of qualification adjectives to give it the title of 'largest outdoor sitting bronze Buddha'. It's 34 metres tall and sitting on a stone building/altar which is sitting on top of a hill. There were a lot of stairs. 268 stairs a lot. Despite the necessary exercise it's one of my favourite HK tourist spots though and interesting to learn about how it was cast and transported.

      After the much easier downstairs walk we encountered some of the local wildlife include free roaming cows stealing apples and dogs that I thought were dead but were just sun bathing. We walked about the small temples of the Po Lin monastery which housed some beautiful gold buddhas. There was incense being lit everywhere and drums being banged. Very serene and peaceful, even with Matt having a go on the drum.

      Lunch was..... ambiguous. The cafe at the monastery is vegetarian only and as everything else had fungus in the name we went for a 'mixed vegetarian.' I still could not tell you what any of the components were but it was very tasty. One thing was curry flavoured, one sweet and the other again ambiguous.

      We continued exploring the site including the Wisdom Path and an abandoned wreck of a tea garden. I even found a geocache to my great geeky delight. After the excitement of that we caught the bus to Tai O, a fishing village not far away. Man was there a lot of dried fish. And more sleeping dogs (not dried or dead). Plus some cool houses on stilts. I took us on a bit of an adventure wandering through the village with the fake confidence of someone who has no idea where they're going or if they're trespassing but luckily we made it back to the bus stop without being arrested.

      In the evening we grabbed some lunch at a cafe and took the Star Ferry across the harbour and back. Hopefully at some point Matt will learn that it's winter in Hong Kong and chilly in the evenings before Starbucks bankrupts us.
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    • Day 3

      Up to the big Buddha

      August 10, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ 🌧 26 °C

      The big Buddha is up so high on a mountain in the clouds. On the way there are 12 statues of generals. We climbed a LOT of steps and it was super hot but we went past all the people resting on the stairs and had an ice cream at the top.

      What a wonderful view from the top! And the Buddha was beautiful. We got to go inside the monument but weren't allowed to take photos in there. People were praying to a special relic: there was a tiny crystal that was found at the place Buddha went into another realm. That's cool.
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    • Day 4

      Lantau Island & Giant Buddha

      December 19, 2018 in Hong Kong ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

      A great day trip out to Lantau Island, and the Giant Buddha. Also included a stop at a tradition fishing village built on stilts. Enjoyed a lovely vegetarian lunch next to the temple and then a wonderful cable car ride back to the bottom to met the bus for the trip home.

      Booked through trip advisor
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    • Day 3

      Am Fuße des großen Buddhas

      February 2, 2019 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C

      Wie klein der Mensch doch ist..... Erstaunlich viele Gläubige mischen sich unter die zahlreichen Touristen. Woran man sie erkennt? Am andächtigen Beten und am Niederknien... Egal wie nass oder dreckig der Boden grad ist.

      Nicht zu verachten sind auch die tollen Wanderwege hier oben. Wäre ich nicht so müde, hätte ich sicher 2-3h dort verbringen können.

      Den Abschluß machte die Goldeltalfahrt... Mit einer mega tollen Aussicht.
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    • Day 43

      The Big Buddha

      March 19, 2019 in Hong Kong ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      Following our visit to the Po Lin Monastery 2 years ago when we couldn't see 10 feet ahead because of the mist we always wanted to return. As today had the best weather forecast we set off on the metro to Tung Chung on Lantau Island where we caught the bus up to the Monastery as the gondolas were shut for maintenance (as they were last time we visited). The monastery lies 1700 feet above sea level and the bronze Buddha is a very impressive 112 feet high - one of the largest seated Buddha images in the world. The main temple is impressive too not only with the gold Buddhas statues but with all the decoration inside and outside. From here we walked back down the 4 miles to Tung Chung. It was a steep path all the way down on the edge of a woods with good views out towards the airport. An added bonus were the caches we collected on the way down. Back on the metro to our hotel feeling a little tired.Read more

    • Day 3

      Ngong Ping

      November 2, 2017 in Hong Kong ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

      I landed in HK at night on November 1st and made my way to the Regal Airport Hotel where I had booked a room with American Express points that I was unlikely to use otherwise.

      On the morning of November 2nd, I checked out and left my larger backpack with the concierge. Walking out of the hotel, I found the bus stop easily and hopped onto a bus to Tung Chung. The bus journey took about 15 minutes. Crossing the bridge into Tung Chung, I saw the cable car station and immediately alighted.

      There was a bit of a queue for the cable car when I got there at 9.45am, which was just ahead of the operating hours which start at 10am. I bought a standard cable car ticket for HKD210 (about USD30). The line moved quickly and I was on a cable car by 10.10am. The cable car journey took about 25 minutes, climbing up some very steep mountain sides. It was hazy, but I could still get good views of Lantau Island, the airport, and a huge infrastructure project - a bridge linking Hong Kong to Macau and Zhuhai.

      The cable car deposited me at Ngong Ping Village which, not surprisingly, turned out to be a tourist trap. I wasn’t there for the touristy stuff anyway. I walked through the village and found my way to the Tian Tan Buddha, which was a big and very impressive sitting Buddha atop a long flight of stairs. There was an exhibition hall underneath the Buddha but it wasn’t well annotated so I didn’t learn much from it.

      After visiting the Buddha, I went to Po Ling Monastery. The monastery grounds were nice and shady and there were a couple of impressive halls. I had a good lunch at the vegetarian restaurant on the grounds.

      After lunch, I sought out the Path of Wisdom, located about 15 minutes walk away from the monastery. The Path of Wisdom has a series of halved tree trunks with wise sayings carved into them. Unfortunately, I didn’t come away from this walk any wiser because I couldn’t read the inscriptions, which were in Chinese.

      After a very pleasant few hours atop the mountain, I took the cable car back down, boarded a bus back to the airport, retrieved my bag, and checked in for my onward leg to Singapore.

      https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/tian-tan-bu…

      https://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Hong-Kong/Lanta…
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    • Day 3

      Giant Budda trek

      December 21, 2015 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

      It's actually not a trek but emergency exit trail. Super difficult to find as there is no signs on how to get there. As usual good people helped me out.
      It's pretty steep at the beginning . More flat later on but demanding all the way. Not too busy. Good place to enjoy some solitude. It took me about 2h to get to the end. Still 256 steps to see giant Buda itself.Read more

    • Day 4

      Tag 2 Hongkong - Big Buddha

      October 20, 2016 in Hong Kong ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      Heute waren wir bei der größten Bronzestatue der Welt - dem Tiam Tan Buddha auf Lantau Island. Der Buddha ist 34m hoch und die weltweit zweitgrößte freistehende Statue.
      Der Weg dorthin war lang, denn aufgrund des guten Wetters (sonnig und ein bisschen bewölkt bei ca. 31°C) haben wir uns für die Seilbahn entschieden, um auf den Berg zu fahren. Dafür mussten wir allerdings gut zwei Stunden in einer Schlange warten. Die Seilbahn fuhr ca. 25 Minuten und von dieser aus, konnten wir den Buddha schon sehen (Bild). Um direkt zum Buddha zu gelangen, mussten wir aber noch 268 Stufen bewältigen - nicht so einfach bei der Hitze😅
      Neben dem Buddha konnte man noch ein buddhistisches Kloster besichtigen. Danach ging es mit der Seilbahn wieder runter und ab in ein Taxi zum Flughafen.
      Der Weiterflug nach Brisbane war zur richtigen Zeit, da in Hongkong für die Nacht ein weiterer Tayfun angekündigt war.
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