A Trip to Lantau Island

The view from Wisdom Path in Lantau Island

It's a lovely dreary Sunday here in Hong Kong. My floormates and I have been spending the day indoors, watching HK dramas, doing laundry, relaxing and just generally being lazy. At the end of the day we went grocery shopping down the street, but for the most part, Sunday in Patrick Manson was pretty slow. Of course, we were recovering from a pretty full day yesterday (which I'm about to tell you about!). For those of you who think Hong Kong is just one big city full of crazy drivers and great bargains, I'd like to show you the natural beauty of Lantau Island.

We left around eleven to get to the ferry in a group of eighteen international students! I was quite certain the group wouldn't stay together for long since there were so many of us, but it was pretty fun to meet new people going to HKU and chat about the events of the day. On the way there I saw what must have been the biggest Apple store in the world, with people waiting in line all the way to the back of the store. I was quite impressed!

When we arrived at Central Pier, I was surprised to see that it looks a lot like the piers in San Francisco. If it didn't have the Chinese characters on the building, I probably wouldn't have known I was in Hong Kong! 

The ferry ride itself cost 14.5 HKD (about US $2 or so) and it was so relaxing. I have motion sickness issues (as I'm sure my long-time readers know from my first day in Hong Kong) and I was really worried I would be sick the whole way to Lantau Island. Lucky for me, the waves weren't too choppy and I felt pretty good. I even had enough time to make my first Hong Kong short film! I'm hoping to make one minute-long movie every week or every two weeks about something I do or notice in Hong Kong. If I actually stick to it, it should be a neat little experiment. Here's my first one, called "Ferry Ride."

We got off the ferry at Lantau Island and I was surprised at how different it felt when compared to Central. Lantau reminded me a lot of Hawaii, with dense tropical-looking forests and mountains and bicycles as far as the eye could see. 

We quickly made our way to a bus which would take us to the Big Buddha and Wisdom Path. The trip took forty five minutes up a windy mountainous road (my ears must have popped forty billion times) and when we arrived, we were ready for adventure! Tourists flock from all over to see the Big Buddha, which doesn't surprise me as it might be one of the most spectacular sites I've ever seen.

I loved this groovy guy, pointing at the Big Buddha. He reminded me of John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever...

 The view of the Big Buddha from the bottom of the stairs. Isn't he majestic?

The view from under the Buddha looking out over Lantau Island was just as beautiful. 

Tourists taking photographs of Buddha, while his bronze ladies look up at him with gifts.

A buddhist dog who I thought was super cute worshipping at the base of the Big Buddha.

So what if it's a tourist trap? That, my friends, is one Big Buddha, and it's definitely worth visiting if you ever have the opportunity. 

We decided we were up for more exploring since we had come this far, and decided to follow a sign that read "Wisdom Path and Fun Walk." Because it sounded pretty darn fun if I do say so myself! We ended up passing by some cool rickety looking buildings and made it up to Wisdom Path.

Wisdom path was a flight of shallow stairs surrounded by giant wooden sticks with ancient Chinese phrases written on them (hence, Wisdom Path!). When you're up close to them, they seem to randomly stand on either side of the path in no particular order...

But move back a bit and you'll see...

An infinity symbol! Isn't that neat?! 

A couple of friends and I walked down the "fun walk" road as well, which I guess is a trail that leads up to a peak. According to the trail sign, the hike up would take about two hours, but I just wanted to get a good view, not a good workout, so I only walked thirty minutes of the way up. The stairs were beautiful, like something out of a samurai movie! Or maybe it would be more accurate to say a kung fu picture...

 This was by far my favorite view of the whole trip. The fog really enhanced the haunting feeling of the view, but I definitely wonder what it would look like without the thick white layer.

The Big Buddha didn't even look that big from up here! 

Our friends who were way ahead of us on the trail.

The walk was absolutely incredible. I felt so adventurous when we were done, though it definitely took the wind out of my sails. Those stairs never ended! I decided to head back, since it had been a long day, I was hiking in sandals, and my stomach had started rumbling a long time ago. I had only eaten a little bit of street food, green tea and an apple! Being an adventurer is hard work.

I still had to make it down these steps. It was supposed to be a fun walk, not a suicide walk! I was pretty cautious...

When I got home yesterday night, I passed out almost immediately. The trip to Lantau Island was definitely my most rewarding, and most tiring adventure here in HK yet! Don't get me wrong, I'm so incredibly grateful for these awesome excursions, but man, sometimes a girl's gotta sleep!

Oh and one last thing: On the way home, we found this guy, who likes to play music with a wet pot. This place never ceases to surprise me.