Longest Day EVER!!!

Longest Day EVER!

I managed to hit 3 landmarks today with the help of a new friend from the TravBuddy website.  Mother, her name is Jess and no she did not try to rape or kidnap me.  There are other uses for the internet besides trolling for victims.  Porn springs immediately to mind.

We headed out to Lantau Island at the decently early time of 9am.  This involved a 20 minute walk to the subway station, a 20 minute ride to Central, a 10 minute walk to the pier, a 45 minute wait for the ferry, an hour ferry ride, lunch, a half hour bus ride and 5 more minutes of walking to get to our destination – an ENORMOUS bronze seated Buddha.  It was completely worth the trip. 

The Buddha itself is kind of breathtaking.  You can see it from miles away as it sits on it’s mountaintop.  When you arrive at the monastery/surrounding village there are colorful flags everywhere because Buddha’s birthday is in 3 days.  When you get to the base of the Buddha you still have a ways to go, 268 stairs to be exact.  But again, totally worth it.

When you’ve had your fill of the Buddha and the temple and the 75 souvenir stands, it’s time to head back down.  At this juncture you are faced with a choice: bus ride or cable car ride.  Everyone who said bus ride just got 5 demerits in my mind.  The cable car ride is 4 miles long and takes about 25 minutes.  The views are incredible.  Pictures will follow.

At the end of the cable car is an MTR station, which got us back to Hong Kong where we decided to check out the Peak.  It is exactly what it sounds like, the top of a large mountain just behind Hong Kong proper.  Scattered about the area are the homes of the rich and famous, according to Jess “the Beverly Hills of Hong Kong” (with actual hills to boot).  The best way to get up there is the tram which drags you up the mountain at approximately a 45 degree angle.  When you get to the top there are more incredible views of Victoria Harbor.  And a couple of malls.  Hong Kong is one giant mall.  Anyone who tells you differently is selling something.

Once we’d had our fill of the Peak it was time to go home, shower, and change for a little Night Market shopping.  We met up with a couple more TravBuddy friends (Tim and Thomas from Amsterdam, who also did not try to rape or kidnap us) and hit the Temple Street Night Market.  A flea market of sorts that stretches for what feels like miles and in actuality is about 15 blocks  Thanks to the Chinese love for neon, it is a very colorful 15 blocks.  Bargaining is the name of the game.  I suck at the game.  I did however get some shopping done before crying exhaustion at 1130p and hopping the subway home. 

 

Classy lady, hanging her laundry out the window to dry.

If you like it then you should have put a ring on it.

"Oh Lexi, stop mocking the divine generals." Sorry, General.

Buddha High Five!

The view of the airport from the cable car.

The view from the peak.

I'm not proofing this. I am going to sleep.  Deal with it.

xoxo

P.S. I came back and proofed it a little.  Couldn't help myself.