Friday, April 20, 2012

Ngong Ping (December 31, 2011)

It is difficult to be without internet access for a couple of days let alone 2 weeks. I now have a big back log of online activities that all need my attention! This terrible sizzling hot weather isn't helping as I multitask with beads of sweat pouring down my back even though I just took a shower. Ugh!

I realized as I was (still) uploading tons of pictures from our Hong Kong trip that I haven't blogged about a marvelous place there. I tend to blog about places/events in chronological order, so indulge me as I write about this outing first before I start on my Holy Week adventures and my sister bonding moments.

It was New Year's Eve, I was still feeling weak from getting sick after our Macau day trip but I put on my happy trooper hat and was game to explore Ngong Ping 360.

It is located on Lantau Island (same area of the HK International airport), we took a bus, a long MTR ride and a very scenic 25 minutes cable car ride to reach it.









Once you reach NP360, you explore the Ngong Ping village, a wide expanse with recreational establishments like souvenir shops, restaurants and live shows theaters. The Bodhi path is a long alley where there are 12 statues of "heavenly" generals who each represent the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac.















But the main attraction is the Tian Tan Buddha. It is the world's largest, seated, outdoor Bronze statue of Buddha who sits on a giant lotus flower. There are roughly 245 steps to climb before you reach it.









It is surrounded by six smaller bronze statues known as "The offering of the Six Devas" and are posed offering flowers, incense, lamp, ointment, fruit, and music to the Buddha. These offerings symbolize charity, morality, patience, zeal, meditation, and wisdom, all of which are necessary to enter into nirvana.













You can't stop taking pictures even though your feet is starting to ache, the cold breeze is numbing your fingers and all of the cameras you brought along are now running low on battery!













By the time we were done exploring Ngong Ping, it was already (a chilly) evening. The queue to the cable car terminal was really long but I didn't mind because the cold weather was embracing little tired me. It was a very cold cable car ride back to the MTR station but we truly cherished our very memorable experience at NP360 on the last day of the year 2011.




2 comments:

Photo Cache said...

i also would like to see this place. my hubby was once "stranded" here (read long layover) and he managed to tour this and took home photos.

D@phneL@ur@ said...

yes you should definitely include this place in your list of places to visit in HK :)