Shek Mun Kap

The plan for today was to visit Lantau island to see the giant Buddha and Ngong Ping village and then go to the Mongkok markets at night.

First stop Prince Edward station, this time we caught the train in the opposite direction, going away from HK city, few more stops and we changed train at Lai King station for the Tung Chung lane.

After crossing the impressive Tsim Ma bridge (from the train we could see the motorway going on the upper deck) we arrived at Sunny bay station were lots of people left to go to Disneyland. A few more minutes and we arrived to the end of the lane Tung Chung. The station is actually located in a big complex with a big shopping centre, hotels and other services.

No far from there we got to the Cable Car terminal where we got our ticket and were ready to board the units. The trip up the hill is really nice, great views of the ocean, the airport and the green slopes of Lantau island. Near the end of the journey we started to see the shape of the Bid Buddha.

The cable car finishes at Ngong Ping village, time for some photos and then on our way to the big Buddha (we didn't stop to see the shows in the village). More and more people was gathering around.

The stairs leading to the Buddha are said to have 240 steps, I lost count half way, not only because I was tired but also the scenery around was distracting all the time. The Buddha is huge and from the tops the views back to the village and Po Lin monastery are splendid.

Going down the stairs was easier obviously so with enough energies we kept going to Po-Lin monastery where we saw some Monks with their traditional clothing. The Hall of Buddha offers impressive displays of Chinese architecture including the colorful decoration inside.

We had the option to have lunch here but decided to go back to the Ngong Ping village to eat there, not a bad call the food in one of the restaurants was superb.

We took the cable car back to Tung Chung so we had time to explore the Citygate outlets and enjoy a free function at the local supermarket. No disrespect at all it was just interesting to see how fresh fish, prawns and crab are sold. They are basically alive in fish tanks and are killed in front of you so you can take it home. I can see this place accused of animal cruelty back in Australia.

Anyway we then went back to the hotel and then explored Tung Choi st and the famous ladies market. Well we started at the Gold Fish market were all sort of fishes, especially gold fish and other marine creatures such as turtles are sold (apparently we didn't need a license to buy a turtle here) A few blocks from here we arrived at the ladies market, a paradise for my wife, unlike Causeway bay this one is a street market so there are no big department stores but street vendors offering all sort of bargains to the mass of tourist that come here every night.

Back at the hotel, it was time to start packing up.Read more