The Blog of E.M. FitzGerald

The subway in Hong Kong is cheap, from where we were staying to the airport for example is 15.5 H.K.D.. Also known as $2 U.S.D., essentially nothing serious. Efficient, quiet and crowded, the subway is a great way to get around to the many islands that make up Hong Kong. As such, we decided that it was time for a bit o’ adventure and wanted the subway to take us there. Our destination was to be the Ngong Ping 360, a site where the largest seated bronze Buddha is located.

Getting our cheap subway tickets we rode one stop past Hong Kong Disneyland, got out and made our way to where the gondola pickets up passengers for the ride to the Buddha. The cost of a normal, round trip ticket on the Ngong Ping 360 turned out to be 107 H.K.D., a little expensive and more than I was willing to pay to be honest. Not wanting to let my friend down though, I purchased the ticket and we lined up to get on the gondola. After being seated across from a Chinese couple who spoke no English, we were whisked away and up towards the Buddha.

The Ngong Ping 360 ride takes one from level ground, over a bay where there is a great view of the airport. After that, it is up, up, and away over large hills were the vistas are sublime. However, it was raining. I saw the airport, was entirely thrilled (not at all thrilled) as I sat on a seat that put my behind to sleep. Crossing over the bay was fine, the problem was that because it was raining it was quite wet. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue, but because the gondola has windows that weren’t sealed properly, it rained on us throughout the entire ride up to the Buddha. The rain was also a bit of a nuisance when we got to the top, as its source (clouds) obscured any kind of view. Sure, we were able to look down and see some nice vegetation and a few shallow waterfalls, but nothing picture worthy. I expected to have my face pressed to the glass, watching the world go by outside. I was sorely dissapointed in this regard, as all I saw were beads of water on the windows obscuring my already poor view.

We arrived at the gondola station, got off, engaged our umbrellas and made our way to the Big Buddha. Naturally there was loads of touristy shopping before we got there, but we skipped it all because who needs that kind of stuff? The walk to the Buddha was short, and despite the constant wet descending from above, I was content. The Po Lin monastery is located next to the Buddha, and unfortunately it was under construction so there wasn’t anything to see, monks included. A bit put off by this, we ascended the multitude of steps to the base of the Buddha. Not having worked out since we had let Phuket, this was the sole time I felt my muscles do much of anything the entire time I was in Hong Kong. There were many steps, most had puddles on them which made for a rather squishy experience.

At the top I took a gaggle of Buddha photos, as well as some vista shots. The clouds had parted just enough to get some beauties, lots of dramatic mountains with fluffy clouds crossing over the peaks. Stuff straight out of those wall hangings from China that one sees in museums. We didn’t stay at the top very long due to the weather conditions, and after a bit of time we headed back to eat some ramen before we descended the mount. All in all, it was a bland 30 minute ride up, followed by 30 minute ride down, then a 45 minute subway ride back to Kowloon. All of this mind you, with squishy shoes and wet feet. Joy?

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 6th, 2010 at 12:39 am and is filed under Hong Kong. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.