Day 2, Friday 15/3: Touristing...

After a very good nights sleep, we awoke B&E (bright and early) to start our touristy day. We walked and ferried ourselves to the ferry terminal at Kowloon on Hong Kong Island, boarding a ferry to Mui Wo on Lantau Island. Interestingly, Lantau Island is approximately twice as large as Hong Kong Island, yet has a significantly smaller population. Upon arrival we caught a bus to Ngong Ping, where the Tian Tan Buddha resides. This 202 ton Buddah, only 260 steps away, was opened in the golden year of 1993.

 After checking this out, Patsy and I went for a short walk along the wisdom trail – a concrete footpath – to find a geocache. Upon arrival at the GZ (ground zero), we found some 38 timber poles, arranged in a figure eight, designed to reflect the wisdom of the ‘Heart Sutra’. 

The other main draw card at the main site is the sizable Po Lin Buddhist monastery, parts of which date back to 924, with new wings still under construction. The parts we visited were extremely attractive, however, the tourist to Buddhist ratio did seem to win out on the tourist side quite significantly. Next, we caught a bus to the seaside village of Tai O. This village mainly consists of shanties along the waterfronts. Its main industry is/was fishing and the main streets are lined with live, fresh and dried seafood. All of this seafood gives the village a rather pungent smell. We spent quite some time walking along the shanties and exploring the village. We then had lunch at a local restaurant. As we bussed and trained back to our hotel, one realised just how effective and user friendly Hong Kong’s public transport system is. Using a prepaid oyster card, all you have to do when using any transport is swipe the card and the money is deducted, it couldn’t be easier. The train system is very speedy and we arrived home in no time, despite having to change lines. In the evening, we headed out to view the 8pm laser light show. We were able to catch a ferry across the harbor and see it in part from there. It was quite impressive and I was able to put my DSLR to good use. We then walked back to the hotel and had dinner nearby.