Good day, Everyone. Hope you all had a rewarding Black Friday, however you choose to define rewarding!
Today was the final full day pre-adoption fun, and it was a busy day again!
Mom had arranged a guided tour for us through a local Hong Kong tour guide service. Our guide’s name was Nadia and she met us in our lobby promptly at 8 AM, right after our breakfast. We took the MTR trains again, making our way to Tung Chung, on Lantau Island. She described the Tung Chung community as a group of estates, made up of various high rises, located near the HK Airport For example, Nadia lived in Tung Chung and her estate had 13 buildings and housed 21,000 people! And that was just HER estate – there were several others too, some even larger. The Tung Chung community was pretty much self contained, with all of the shopping and support services needs right on site. (The Tung Chung FB Group has 14,000 + members.) There is also a large outlet mall on site, which is a draw for many in HK and the surrounding areas.
Tung Chung is also the starting point for the Cable Car ride to the Lantau Buddha. Nadia was on top of things for us from the start, arranging for priority access as a tour group, since she was certified and licensed as a guide. She quickly snagged our tickets and before too long, we were loading into our cable car. During our brief wait in line, Nadia schooled us on some of the history of Hong Kong, and of the Monastery we would be visiting. She told us that since the Macau to HK bridge/Tunnel had opened, tourist traffic at the Lantau Buddha has increased dramatically. Since we’d arranged for our early start, we were able to beat much of the crowds.
Mom wasn’t totally excited with the heights of some of the cable car spans, but she was fine after she got adjusted. The ride provided extraordinary views of the surrounding mountains, the South China Sea, and the airport as we climbed toward the Big Buddha. The air was clear, and the ride was smooth. The car was large enough so that we could move about comfortably to get tons of photos without swaying too much. The 5.7 km trip takes about 25 minutes, and terminates at Ngong Ping Village, at the base of the Big Buddha. We saw many hikers making the journey on the hiking trail far below. Maybe next time…
Once we rolled into the Ngong Ping station, and we exited the Cable Car, it was time for the climb to the Big Buddha. We walked through the Ngong Ping Village that housed many small shops and a few restaurants to the base of the steps leading to the Buddha. Just before we made the climb, we passed a gallery of 12 statues, paying tribute to the 12 Animals of the Chinese zodiac. Nadia again took time to describ the story of each of the animals and how they came to have the significance they do. It was uncanny how close the personalities in our family synced with the characteristics of the animals representing our birth years!
Everyone made the trek UP the 268 steps to the top (Kyle ran to the top!), where we were rewarded with tremendous views in every direction. There was a large group of Pilgrims (in the Yellow Shirts), who chanted and prayed all the way up the steps (stopping every 4-5 steps), and then joined a procession of Monks who chanted and prayed during their slow prayer march around the base of the Buddha.
The next stop was just a short walk away at the Monastery, where we visited the three temples. We picked up some incense sticks and made our wishes, lit the Incense and planted them for the Buddha to hear our wishes.
So, remember that picture of the sign about the Cows, from a few moments ago… One actually wandered by in the plaza as we were heading out!!! Don’t worry, we didn’t feed it or try to ride it! Thank goodness we saw that sign!
As we headed out from the Lantau Big Buddha, we (with Nadia’s help) caught a bus and made our way to Tai o, a remote fishing village.
… To be Continued…