The ride is about 25 minutes long with heady views of both land and sea. For the truly adventurous, there is a hiking path the goes up the mountain underneath the path of the cable car.
In case you are wondering how we got such a great shot, we opted to take the Crystal Car which has a glass bottom. Ken was a little leery about the idea, but he was outvoted and actually decided it was a great option once he saw how great the views were.
The farther we climbed the closer we drew to the clouds until the cars ahead of us began to disappear into them.
We finally reached the top and entered Ngong Ping Village. It is an area filled with restaurants, shops and a tea house.
After wandering through the village, we headed to the temple with Big Buddha atop. There is this beautiful gate and a long path lined with statues that leads to the (what else?) stairs.
The Buddha is most impressive. Thought the temple has been on top of the mountain for quite some time, Buddha is a relatively new addition. It was a a rather quiet place until the arrival of Buddha and the cable car, and now it is one of the most popular tourist sights in Hong Kong.
We decided not to count the stairs (too daunting) but suffice to say there were a lot of them. Along the way there were some trees I had never seen before that looked almost too perfect to be real. But they were.
Once we arrived at the top, Shayne prepared for her bid to get on the Yesterdog wall of fame. For those not from GR, Yesterdog is the greatest hot dog emporium in the world. If you have your photo taken somewhere interesting wearing a Yesterdog hat or shirt, you may have your photo up on the wall. I think this shot should be worthy.
We went through the temple and saw an amazing array of art and statuary. The views from the balconies are beautiful even with the clouds. Luckily by this time much of the cloud cover had burned off and we could see fairly well.
On another part of the grounds is the Po Lin Monastery. It is a peaceful place dedicated to the remembrance of those who have passed on.
The last area atop the mountain is a hiking trail that (for us) ended at the Wisdom Path. On the way to the Wisdom Path we passed some homes and some tea fields where some women were tilling.
The Wisdom Path is in a swale between mountains and consists of a path surrounded by carved wooden pillars. The carving is in ancient Chinese characters and difficult to read but the belief is that if you walk the path you will gain wisdom. I sure could use some so I hope they are correct.
There were a few final views of Big Buddha as we headed off for the next part of our day in the fishing village of Tai O.
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