The Giant Buddha is a place of pilgrimage for many Buddhists, a tourist attraction for lots of Westerners, and home to a few hundred Buddhist monks who live there in the Monastery!
The journey there was long, hot and at times on a 45deg angle on a bus, moving at about 5mph through the winding roads up to the top of the island. The bus had to pull over every time someone was coming the other way as the roads were only one lane wide! Cows, bulls, and goats lined the roads as we made our ascent that started in a small village that was down on the coastline.
On the way, we drove past a huge man made reservoir to our right. This was the first time we could actually see the giant Buddha on the hill in the distance. If you click on the picture you should see a small dot roughly in the middle on the top of the tree line.
To our left, was the local prison. If the banks of the reservoir were to break, the entire population of inmates would be flushed into the sea......
When we finally arrived at the site of the Buddha you really get a sense for how huge it is. And where there's a huge Buddha, there has to be a ridiculously long stairway that you have to climb in order to get to the Buddha.
So, after a brisk jog up the stairs I turned around feeling like Rocky Balboa to find a great view of the monastery below!
The Island is very remote and was a lovely break from the noise and pollution of downtown. It was very peaceful, very clean, and surprisingly very cool at the top of the stairs. They actually choose the location of the Buddha according to the lay of the land. I think it always must have mountains behind it, the sea in front of it, and be on a relatively high point of the island. I think there is also a lot of symbolism in the way they choose this spot.
Above, the branch of a tree I didn't recognize on the way up the stairs. It was really green an rich so I took a picture.
Me, at the top, looking out over the sea.
Once we came down from the Buddha, we went through to the monastery where there are a few places that sell really local food. On the way in we saw this monk practicing Tai Chi.
Outside of the entrance to some of the shrines, there are loads of huge couldruns where people buy and burn incense. The smoke from the incense was a really intense aroma, not smoky, but really flavourful.
Later in the afternoon, Bazil took us to one of the small restaurants that he had visited about 20 years before! The specialty is Bean Curd.
This is Bean Curd, it was really cold, really sweet, and sort of like really runny cheesecake. Quite refreshing though.
Next, we had glutinous rice dumplings with lotus flower paste.
Me tasting a glutinous rice dumpling covered is crushed peanuts.
Jane, wondering if she can finish her glutinous rice dumpling.
On the other side of the Buddha, there was a pathway called 'Wisdom Walk'.
I was really surprised to see such a calm and peaceful place. It was really nice to have a break from the constant buzz of the city. I can understand why the monks live out here, you can't hear a thing, no cars, no trains, no people (except tourists) and there is no pollution! It was a really cool place to go and visit and I would highly recommend it if you are ever in HK!
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