Hong Kong – Day 2 and 3

This morning we were picked up at our hotel and taken across to Hong Kong’s largest island Lantau. Here we boarded a cable car that took us up the Ngong Ping Plateau across from the new airport to where the Giant Buddha sits majestically close to the Po Lin Monastery.
Tian Tan Buddha is a symbol of the harmonious relationship between man and nature, the 34m bronze statue sits in a lotus position with its hand out to welcome visitors.


Close by is one of the main centres for Buddhism in Hong Kong the Po Lin Monastery where we experienced a vegetarian lunch.

We were then taken to Tai O Fishing Village and walked through the local market selling the most weird looking things and felt the experience of local lifestyles with the Tanka Boat People who live in stilt houses.

The next morning was at our leisure and not wanting to miss anything we headed over to Ocean Park to see the Giant Panda’s. This was a 15 minute taxi ride away costing less than £5.

It is very much like Disneyland but animal based, however there is a crazy theme park with some massive rides I did not experience. You can spend a whole day here just walking around, taking the cable car or the resort train. Our main visit was to see the Pandas.

I had never seen a real life Panda before and felt quite emotional. Only one made an appearance that morning but we could see the female in her hide just thinking about coming out.

This evening we experienced the true beauty of Hong Kong in a different perspective. At night. Our first stop was a visit to the tallest building, the International Commerce Centre where we travelled up the fastest lift taking under 60 seconds to the 300th floor. You could feel your ears pop at the speed.
I even spotted a ship in port below.

From there we did the Temple Street night market even did a bit of bantering so out of my comfort zone but my daughter was pleased with her hand bag. We then headed to what would be the highlight of the evening. A Symphony of Lights Dinner cruise. You are taken across the bay so that you can see both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. Wow what a sight.

We ate an international buffet and was entertained my local artists while taking in the amazing skyline.
How lucky am I.