Big Buddha

So although I only recently posted about Hong Kong, I actually ended up swapping my KL flight last minute for another trip to HK! This time the weather was on my side, and I spent the day doing a bit of exploring in the sunshine.

I had decided last time to go to the Big Buddha, but obviously with the torrential downpour and clouds of fog there was no point. However this time I woke up early and made my way to Lantau Island, where it is located. The journey there was pretty straightforward, just one change on the MTR. Once you get there it’s around a 30 minute cable car ride up to the top. This is actually a highlight of the trip as the views are spectacular.

I’ll leave you with a few pictures of the view from the cable car!

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Once the cable car arrived at the top, it dropped us off at a little village type area which you have to walk through to get to the Buddha.

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To climb to the top there are 268 steps. This may not seem like too many but they are very steep, and it was over 30 degrees outside! By the time I reached the top I just had to treat myself to an ice cream to cool down 😉

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Surrounding the Big Buddha are 6 smaller statues known as “The Offering of the Six Devas”. They are posed offering flowers, incense, lamp, ointment, fruit, and music to the Buddha. These offerings symbolize charity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom, all of which are necessary to enter into nirvana. (Thanks Wikipedia!)

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You can climb up one level of the Buddha free of charge, and if you want to go any higher you have to buy a meal ticket to eat with the Monks in the Monastery. 

There are some lovely views out to sea as well.

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Going back down the steps don’t seem anywhere near as steep as they were when I walked up!

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I believe this was the entrance to the Monastery, I didn’t go in though.

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To come back down you have to go in the cable car again. There is actually a cheaper option of getting a local bus up the windy roads but you don’t get any of the views, and I suspect I probably would have felt a bit carsick!

The cable car passes right by the airport; I tried to spot the Big Mama (aka the A380) but to no avail!

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A lovely day trip in the sunshine, and another Buddha to tick off the bucket list!

 

P.s. If you want more regular day to day updates on what is going on in my life, follow me on Twitter and Instagram @rachelwwilson!