七 | Touristy Things prt. 2

September 24th, 2016

My favorite trip so far was to Ngong Ping Village in Lantau Island. It’s wayyyy up in the mountains of Lantau. You can get up there by bus, or by taking the highly recommended cable car. It’s a beautiful ride up, that’s around 15 minutes. You begin ascending at the waterfront and get dropped off in the mountains. I felt like I was in Jurassic Park haha. I recommend getting on the car with the glass floors so you can get a full view of the scenery. You’ll see the water below, along with the trees that look like a bunch of broccoli from above, and you may catch some hikers making their way. You’ll know you’ve almost reached the village once you see the huge Buddha sitting high and sticking his palm out.

Up in the village there’s a lot to check out. There’s a bunch of shops around with some of the best souvenirs I’ve seen so far, and some restaurants. The main attractions are the Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery, which are just across from each other. You have to climb up quite a bit of flights to reach the big guy, but it’s definitely worth it. When you get to the top you get some good views of the mountains and the rest of the village.

The Monastery is amazing, from the structural beauty, to the artifacts and sculptures, the whole overall aesthetic is sensational. There are different halls and temples to walk through giving you a visual experience of the Buddhism religion. It’s a very tranquil experience. The Main Shrine Hall that houses the Master of Healing is jaw dropping, with an interior filled with gold. I would’ve taken a picture but photography is not allowed in that area.

There’s a couple hiking trails up there. The Lantau trail takes you across the mountains in the direction we came up from, but instead you will be on the ground level rather than up in the cable car. That trail takes a couple hours; we walked the trail for a bit then ended up breaking off and climbing up a mountain for an awesome view. You can also take a bus trip to the nearby fishing village for a more local adventure. I didn’t get to that this time around but will go back for it.

This sums up the major attractions I’ve gotten to so far. There’s still Disneyland, Ocean Park, and everything else that I’ll make way to… and I still gotta study.