Hong Kong Day 3: Big Buddha – Tai O – Night Market

We were woken up early Saturday morning to thunder, lightning, and rain. We'd already bought tickets to see Big Buddha that morning so we tried to think optimistically that the rain would let up. Mom and Val visited Big Buddha in January and besides being extremely cold, it was so foggy that they couldn't even see Big Buddha when they were standing just below his feet. We hoped for better luck this time around.

To get to Big Buddha you ride a gondola up. The views were spectacular on the ascent up. 

About half way to the top the fog rolled in and we couldn't see a thing. I thought it looked really neat though and added a neat ambiance to the experience. 

This was taken as we were just entering the fog – it got so thick you couldn’t see anything but white in front of you.

There's no way I can describe how surreal this experience was - it was like a scene from a movie that you can't fathom as being something you could experience yourself. China is so incredibly different from anything I've ever experienced. Amazing!

We walked around the village and shops a bit as the fog started to lift. 

Birdie takes her meditating very seriously :) 

Big Buddha from the base

We then took a short hike along the Wisdom Path to the outdoor replica of the centuries-old Heart Sutra, one of the world's best known prayers revered by Confucians, Buddhists, and Taoists. The sutra is displayed on large-scale wood pillars forming an infinite symbol on the hillside. 

Along the path there were signs for a restaurant – we were surprised when we came across this old dilapidated building.

We walked around the Po Lin Monastery - home to Monks, gardens, and many areas where people were burning incense. 

The three Buddhas inside the monastery represent the past, present, and future.

Amazing murals on the ceiling

View of Big Buddha from the monastery

By the time we made it back to Big Buddha we found that the fog (and rain) had returned and engulfed Big Buddha. We decided to find something to eat and hope that the weather would improve before making the climb up to Big Buddha. Lunch was interesting. Brenda and I decided to share a "Greek Pizza" whose description was - feta cheese, spinach, onions, black olives, and tomatoes. When we got our pizza we found romaine lettuce instead of spinach, tomato sauce instead of tomatoes, and not quite sure there was any actual feta cheese. It was still good though. Brenda and I also shared an ice cream dessert crepe – yum, yum we should have each gotten one.

It was still raining when we finished lunch, but we decided this was a once in a lifetime opportunity (twice in a lifetime for Mom) and rain or not, we needed to make the climb up the 268 stairs to Big Buddha. It wasn't nearly as strenuous as I feared and I was so glad we did it. 

View of the village below

Big Buddha is the world's tallest, outdoor, seated bronze Buddha

One of the Six Devas making offering to Buddha

The sun was shining by the time we got to the bottom and when we saw that we'd have to wait a half hour for the next bus down we decided to spend a few extra dollars and hop in a taxi (great idea, Holly!) We took a taxi to Tai O, a small fishing village. Again, another world entirely. 

The streets were lined with vendors selling various fresh, sun-dried sea life. 

Even little toys and decorations from sea creatures.

We walked around a bit off the main path and checked out some the houses made of metal. 

When we reach a dead end Val decided to simply cut through the open homes to get back on the main path. So we meandered through people's kitchens and living areas. An overwhelming experience - there's no way you can see the way these people live and not recognize and even feel even a little guilty for the blessings and comforts you have been given.

We took a short little boat ride through the village. 

The homes along the water are small open shacks up on stilts. Unbelievable how people live that way. 

The boat also took us out along the coast a little ways to see if we could see the pink dolphins. Mom and Val have tried before without any luck, but today was meant to be perfect and we had two pink dolphins swimming near our boat. Seriously, PINK dolphins in their natural habitats. 

Another, incredible experience (I feel like I'll be saying that every day a dozen times). The perfectness of the day was overwhelming to me on the way back to the village. I felt so blessed to be experiencing all that I was. 

The bus ride back to the MTR air-conditioned and comfortable. The views were pretty incredible too. As we winded down the mountain we saw some beautiful beaches along the coastline. Before boarding the MTR I had a hankering for some baked goods. People don't have ovens here so they purchase all their breads and cakes at bakeries. We probably tried 8 different pastries. Yum!

Brenda and her cream cheese panda bear roll

Back at the apartment, Brenda and I needed to decided whether to relax at home for the night or run ourselves ragged and hit the town. We hit the town, but first we needed to get something to eat. Thankfully Brenda is a bit of picky eater like myself so we're not terribly adventurous. We decided to get some cheesy fries at Outback - it would be too long of a wait to actually get a table so we took them to go. We found a little table near a coffee store, but a few minutes into our meal we were told we couldn't eat outside food there (wish they would have told us before Brenda bought a drink there!). We roamed around trying to find a place to enjoy our fries - after 10 minutes without luck we tucked ourselves into a bathroom and ate enough cold fries to get our fill.

On to the Temple Street Night Market where the streets are lined with venders selling all sorts of junk at ridiculous prices. Well, they start out ridiculous and you barter them down to something more reasonable. 

Brenda made the first purchase of the evening and we forgot about the whole bartering things so she paid full asking price for a dress. When I looked at a handbag the gal told me it would cost $280HKD - when I told her I wasn't interested she jumped right down to $180HKD, than $160 I still wasn't even sure I wanted the purse, but counter offered $150 - she thought we'd settled on $160 and asked for more when I started to walk away. $150 it was and I had a new purse. I also bought a little Hello Kitty mini-fan necklace to help stay cool. His price started at $20HKD and I was only able to get him down to $18HKD with an extra set of batteries. I walked away, but ended up coming back 15 minutes later realizing it was only a $2USD purchase so to not get it over a matter of cents was silly. The market was fun. I'm not a big shopper, but the experience was one you can't miss in Hong Kong - there are so many similar markets.