The Big Buddha

According to the Hong Kong Tourism Board “No trip to Hong Kong is complete without a visit to the Big Buddha…”  However, it’s taken us a couple of years (and a couple of unsuccessful attempts) to visit this “must-see” attraction.

The Buddha is a whopping 112 feet tall and is said to weigh 250 tons.  It’s located in a somewhat remote, mountainous area of Hong Kong.  To get there you can take a bus on a long and very windy road or by a cable car that travels over deep valley between the mountains.  We opted for the cable car.  Although I’m not scared of heights, I have to admit that as we were hanging by a string (cable) at who-knows-what distance from the ground, I wondered if I SHOULD be scared of heights.

The cable car ride did give us a bird’s eye view of Hong Kong where we could see just how much green space there really is.  We were also near the airport, so we could see the airplanes taking off and landing from a completely different perspective.  Our only regret is that we didn’t get out to the cable car the weekend before, when the skies were stillmagnificent.  

The Buddha from a distance.  We went over mountains and rivers to get there.

Lydia enjoyed the cable car ride!

View after we got off cable car.  We had lots of stairs to climb!

Close to the top!

We toured the area that is under the Buddha - it's a mausoleum where shrines are set up for the departed.  A very interesting place.

Next to the Big Buddha is a monastery that is open to the public.  Other than some construction noise (inescapable in HK!), it was a really quite place with nice architecture and some large open spaces.

So, now I guess our trip to Hong Kong is complete!  Ha.  J