Saturday was an exciting day.Early morning, I made my way up to my colleague's place who lives in Mid-Levels (Half the way to the Peak of Hong Kong). People who live in midlevels need to take 40 escaltors every morning to reach Central.Its no joke and the escaltors are not in any way short.In the mornings all the escalators come down and in the evenings they all go up.Mind you, these are only 1 way escaltors, meaning if on your way down you have forgotten something, you need to walk all the way back up :)
From there we both set out to the Peak, the top most point in Hong Kong Island.The view from there is simply mind blowing. On a clear day, you can see nearly all the surrounding islands very clearly.There is also a Madam Tussad's wax museum at the peak. Although not as impressive as the original one, it might be worth an entry.On our way down, we took the 'Peak Tram'. Another mode of transport for people who live up the peak.
From there, we took the MTR and went till a place called Tung Chung.Its on another island of Hong Kong called Lantau Island.Lantau is the 2nd largest island of HongKong.We made a long one-hour bus journey to Po Lin Monastry, home of the Giant Buddha.The Buddha is on top of a series of what feels like a never ending staircase.Reminded me of the many Indian temples situated up mountains and you need to climb endless number of steps to reach them. The Buddha sits on a lotus 25 metres tall. From the top, the view of the mountains of the island is a beautiful sight.Unlike what I expected, the monastry was not exactly a 'quiet haven'. It was filled with noisy tourists and local people alike.
After that we returned to the Town Centre in search of the ferry pier.We were told it was '10-mins' to the ferry pier from the Town Centre.Little did we know that it would turn out to be a gruelling 45 min ride up down and around the mountain.After a very bumpy bus ride and my stomach upside down, we came to the ferry pier.We decided to spend a little bit more and go in the Deluxe class.The Best decision we made that day. The delux class has an open deck with seats so you can enjoy the breeze and the beautiful scenary on the way back.
After reaching Hong Kong, we went to Stanley Market.It took us about an hour to get to Stanley and after getting lost and finally finding the market,we realised it was already closed at 9pm.So we made our way to Causeway Bay and took the MTR home.
Sunday started with thunderstorm and rain.I was quite disappointed that I would not be able to go out.So I made my way to my S'pore friend's place, who was sleeping when I reached.We went to for lunch then headed to the ferry pier and went to a small island called Cheng Chau.
Cheng Chau is very different from HK.All the houses are 1-2 storeys and made of wood. It was terribly crowded for a small island (which seemed to still be lost in the pre-techology era).We later found out that there was major preparations going on for the 'Bun Festival'.Huge cone like structures made from tall bamboo sticks were being constructed. Apprently, buns will be stuck on them and it is believed that if you eat those buns,you will get goodluck and good health. Nearby was a fair and you can see people climbing a similar structure and coming down,its supposed to be a practice place.
We decided to hike around the island and spent the next few hours exploring the island and some parts of it.We walked aroung the Tung Wan beach and hiked up 'mini great wall'(From far,it really resembled the great wall but much smaller, thus the name),needless to say that the view was fantastic from anywhere in the island.We didnt have much of a map, so we just followed watwhere road we saw, uphill or down.After a while our legs went on strike and refused to move any more.So we found our way back to the beach and ferry pier and came back to HK island.
I reached my room and just as I was about to crash, the weekend fireworks went off.It was a spectacular sight and a great way to end the weekend.
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