Lantau

Lantau is in the New Territories and our day started with a trip there to take the cable car far into the mountains to see the big Buddha. It was a 35-minute bus ride to the cable car station which was very crowded with tourists. We waited over an hour to get on the car but it was well worth the wait. The car was several hundred feet above the ground most of the time and we traveled over Repulse Bay and then into the mountains higher and higher and higher. There were 3 interim stations where we had to stop to make turns. After the third turn off in the distance was the big Buddha, perched up on top of a mountain. It was almost a religious experience just to see it. At the end of the cable car line there is a charming little village with shops and restaurants. We walked through the village and along the road to the Buddhist monastery and the 268-step climb up to the big Buddha. We made the climb with no problem. This is our reward for committing ourselves to never taking an elevator on the ship. From our stateroom to deck 8 where we spend most of our time there are 103 steps and we do this trek many times every day, so 268 steps was a piece of cake to us. Many of our fellow passengers were struggling to get up there. At the top was the 100-foot tall bronze Buddha surrounded by 6 large bronze statues of worshippers offering gifts to him. It was a sight to see. And the views from up there were stunning.

At the foot of the Buddha was the monastery complex and we went through some of the buildings. The temples are very ornate and colorful and most contain statues of Buddha cast in gold. People were worshipping and burning incense and monks were strolling the grounds. With the cable car ride and the quaint village, the flowers and colorful flags it almost felt like we were in Disneyland, but it was a real working monastery.

Back in Kowloon in the afternoon, Ed and I set out for a walk around town and ended up in Kowloon City Park. The park used to be 3 square blocks of run-down apartment buildings but the city fathers decided it was a blight on the landscape and tore the buildings down and built the park. It’s a lovely place, with fountains and bridges, a sculpture park, a hedge maze, ponds with flamingos and ducks and huge fish. It has a convention center and a sports complex with a light board counting down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the Olympics begin in Beijing.

A group of Chinese boys put on a sail-away show for us at 10:30 last night. The decks were crowded with people out to watch the lighted dragon and dancers. It was a festive occasion but I think most of us were a little bit sad to leave Hong Kong.
Today marks the halfway point in our cruise. It’s a beautiful day, a little chilly, but sunny and bright. The water is calm and we’re traveling at a fairly slow pace. We’re moving out of the South China Sea, through Hainan Strait and into the Tonkin Bay, eagerly anticipating our arrival in Halong Bay, Vietnam, tomorrow morning.