Tuesday, August 24, 2010

HK: Lantau Island

Renee and I finally made to the Big Buddha after we got the too late the other day. (pro tip: the stairs to the statue close at 5:30pm, so of you take the cable car, you should get on before 4:30pm.)  The round trip cable car costs 107hkd ($14) and is outside of the Tung Chung station. We planned on going to the beach, but it was too rainy by the time we finished with the statue. To get from Ngong Ping village, the top of the mountain, you can take bus 23 to Mui Wo ferry port and walk to Silvermine Bay Beach; a one way cable car ride is 74hkd ($10) and the bus is 23 hkd ($3), then buses or a ferry from there to town.

This was a fairly large Buddha and it was beautiful in the setting. From it's perch, we had a great view of the bay and surrounding mountains. I really liked the clouds wrapping around the peaks as they cruised overhead. It was sprinkling while we were there but nothing that would deter us from being there. The storm did bring some wind that rocked the cable car on the way up, but it had does down for our return journey.

We got a great view of the airport and mud flats from the cable car, while the peak graced us with a more serene vantage.  I'd say the gondola was worth it once and a bus or long hike would suffice in the future.

From the base we took the MTR to Central station to check out Lan Kwai Fong for the after-work bar scene. Hong  Kong Brewhouse serves it's own beers as well as and extensive import list with great food to accompany them. We tried the three craft beers and the Brooklyn Reuben ( six pints and sandwich: 392hkd, $51).

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