Hong Kong

The past two days have been full of long lines and beautiful views. It's been a whirlwind experience so I haven't had too much time to sit or sleep. On Sunday Sarah, Brooke (my roommate for a couple of days) and four of Sarah's friends who have been traveling around and now met us in Hong Kong, went to the Lantau Island to the Tian Tin Buddha (aka Big Buddha). We too the Gnog Ping 360, which is a gondola ride across the harbor. It probably wasn't the best day to make that choose considering it was the first day the gondola re-opened after having a cable car fall 6 months ago. The lines were enormous but I'm glad we did it.

The bronze Buddha sits on top of a peak at the Lantau Monastery. After climbing the never-ending steps to reach the top we were able to go inside to the museum and see the bone relic left when Buddha reach Nirvana. The outside was quite bare and simple, while the inside was ornate and purposefully complex.

From Lantau we ventured back down the Gnog Ping and across town to Victoria's Peak. This is when I realized that the Chinese has an affinity to long zig zag lines. We waited for 45 minutes to board an old trolly car looking tram to take us to the top of the peak. I have never seen so many people move so fast. As soon as the doors opened everyone ran onto the train, pushing and shoving to make sure they got a seat. The top of Victoria's Peak boasts the best views of Hong Kong especially at night. We saw the entire city lit up.