Sunday, June 20th: Lantou and The Big Buddha

On Sunday, we decided to visit Lantau Island, the island just west of Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately, Eric wasn’t feeling great in the morning, so it was just the two of us for the day. We took the MTR to the island, and from there we boarded the Ngong Ping Skyrail, a 3.5 mile aerial cable car ride that goes from peak to peak until it reaches a small touristy, white walled village. The village is nestled in a valley that looks up on The Bid Buddha.



It was quite the sight looking up at the largest outdoor, seated, bronze Buddha in the entire world, even though he kept hiding behind clouds! In front of the 250 steps leading up to the Buddha was a courtyard, where people were praying.





Past the courtyard and a large archway was a monastery, were we toured a temple and ate a vegetarian meal of noodles and a few pieces of dim sum including, curry sauce pastry, spring roll, mushroom pastry, and steamed rice cake with black beans.


Inside the Lantau Monastery


View from the cable car on the way back down

While we were in Lantau, Eric had discovered some restaurants close by our apartment. After surveying the options, we decided on “Yummy” Vietnamese Cuisine. And yes, I can confirm that it was in fact very yummy. Kenneth and I split a bowl of Tom Yum soup. This was not any soup. It was served in the largest bowl in which I have ever eaten (about the size of a basketball in diameter), so it was more than enough for the two of us.