Po Lin Budda — Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Today was the first time we actually felt like having a full days sight seeing. Yesterday we went to a huge department store called Time Square but were still feeling the pace of China. After a bit of shopping we came home and had room service and flaked out. This morning we were feeling a little more awake and so decided to go……….shopping. We took the Star Ferry over to Kowloon which is the mainland on the other side of the bay which we can see from out hotel room. The Star Ferry is the traditional way of getting to Hong Kong Island before the bridge and tunnel were built. Looking at Amy’s face, I think the bridge or tunnel might have made her less green. I was craving for culture and new experiences, but Amy dragged me round a computer shop and then of all things, a book shop. I tried my usual body language of not speaking and following at a close distance trying to shepherd her towards the door. Unfortunately she’s immune to this now. I resorted to telling her I was board and wanted to go. At least she got the message. We decided to go and see the Po Lin Budda on Lantau Island. This is apparently the largest Budda in Asia. This meant more boats. We took the Star Ferry back to Hong Kong and then another catamaran for about 45 minutes out to the ferry port. From there it was a bus ride around and up the mountains to the Budda. Lantau Island has just had a Disney Theme Park built on it. I don’t know why they bothered when they could have just sold tickets for the bus ride to the Budda. I have never been so scared on a bus before. I think the driver thought he was Colin Mcrae with a big diesel engine. I felt and looked worse than Amy did with the boat trips. Thankfully we made it leaving our nail marks in the back of the seat in front. The Budda was worth the trip. It’s only 10-15 years old but looked the part. This thing was huge, on the top of a hill and if you bought a ticket you could go in the museum inside it. The main reason we did this was you got a free drink and an ice cream which you needed after going up the 200 or so steps to his perch. After asking Budda to provide us with protection and donating large sums of money we prepared outselves for the coach ride back to the ferry port. This journey was worse because the driver’s progress was not halted by having to go up hill. Budda held up his side and we made it back without rolling down a mountainside into the bay. After we got back we went to the Antiques part of Hong Kong called Hollywood Road. There was some spectacular stuff which the store owners tried to convince us was Ming Dynasty. Being clueless we decided not to buy as most things seemed to have huge price tags. It did look like the plunderings of many Chinese tombs. We stopped off at a restaurant on the way back and had some beautiful food but sooner than we hoped we are again both shattered. Tomorrow we plan to go to Stanley beach and market and see what else takes our fancy. Rob