Day 36: It’s a long way to the top

Indeed it is a long way to the top, and the sight out our window this morning suggested that it was going to be a long and wet way to the top of the mountain opposite on Lantau Island, home of the Tian Tan Buddha or the Big Buddha as it is better known. Scrumptious Breakfast had, it was time to borrow a complimentary hotel umbrella in preparation for our trek. We had not set a toenail outside the Citygate complex and could see the rain was teaming, but we delayed the dampness for a few metres by making our way through the undercover bus station. Here is seems must have been a nexus for the protest movement in recent weeks. I would have loved to have stopped and taken photos of the extensive number of posters and post it notes that had been plastered to the bus station wall by protesters, about people disappearing and not trusting the police,  but, as you never quite know when you are being watched, thought better of it and walked straight through. There were some mighty big puddles to negotiate on our way to the cable car station. 

When we got there, there was a thunderstorm and so the ticket sales on the cable car had been temporarily suspended. It took about 40 minutes for them to reopen the ride and by that stage there was a huge number of people there. Not too long though and we were on, sharing the cable car with two German young men and a young Asian couple who were really struggling as we made our way up the hill. The ride takes just about 30 minutes. It travels 5.7 kilometres and the highest point is at the last tower just before the village where it is 585 metres. During the ride it changes direction 3 times and traveled over water and over verdant forest. We actually enjoyed the experience. 

Once at the terminal we had to run the gauntlet of the photograph sellers who wanted to sell us a package of photos including one in a snow globe of all things ... in Hong Kong!!! Having survived that ordeal we wandered out to see the Buddha. It was a little spitty and very humid and the statue kept being covered by low cloud. Chris was very brave and decided to climb the 250 steps all the way up to the Buddha. Liz stayed down at the base and recorded photographic evidence of the feat. Chris was very lucky because it started to rain just as he reached the bottom and we sheltered briefly under the Coca Cola umbrellas which seemed strangely out of place, before heading over to the Po Min Monastery shrine. 

The monastery is beautiful: it is ornately carved and peaceful. It has an entrance hall with 5 Bodhisattva and then a large hall and a couple of side halls. Very beautiful, and the wafting smell of incense from the offerings at the entrance way was quite evocative. 

Still raining on and off and the Buddha kept being covered by cloud every time we tried to photograph it. And then, the heavens opened and for 10 minutes there was no respite from teaming rain. We sheltered under an awning at the bathroom, before running the gauntlet of some very deep puddles to make our way down to one of the restaurants where we had a lovely Chinese lunch. We mooched in the shops for a bit before travelling back down in our very own cable car. 

Chris about to beat the drum for Success

The view on the way down was terrific , and we could clearly see the airport and various parts of Tung Chung. It was even temporarily sunny at the base station, where, once again the photo brigade were out touting for the souvenir photo. 

No sooner were we back at the hotel than we looked out the window to see huge ominous black clouds out the window, hovering over the top of the mountain. A couple of flashes of lightning and then the rain started in earnest...the cloud descending and encircling Tung Chung. We certainly feel that we had had the best part of the day up there. Time for a short rest and a shower and late check out as we had to allow plenty of time to get through the increased security at the airport as a result of the protests. 

When we arrived at the airport it was certainly a high security site. The shuttle bus from the Novotel was able to drive us right up to the apron where we disembarked and faced running the gauntlet of extensive security. It certainly was not a warm welcome as we were questioned about flights and had to display passports in order to access the terminal. Once inside it was fairly painless checking in and then we headed off to find the refund counter for the MTR passes to get whatever refund we were entitled to. All that remained was to find the lounge.

So this final blog of the actual holiday is being updated in the Qantas Club lounge before we board our flight home... and thanks to a sneaky upgrade by Christopher, that trip will be snoozing in business class. Woot hoot.