Hong Kong – The fragrant city

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The food selection at the Restaurant Po Lin

Saturday was very different to Friday weather wise.  It was overcast and misty and as we left the flat it started to drizzle.  Our plan for the day was to go Po Lin Monastry on Lantau Island and then do the Peak Tram.

We got to the terminus of the cable car that goes to the  Monastry a little before midday only to find that there was a long queue for the cable car.  It began to rain while we waited.  The Lantau hills were covered in cloud mist and it was also raining as we rode up to the complex.  There was another group on the car with us and when they were talking I thought I heard  French then dismissed it deciding it must be another language.  Then I heard a few more words and realised it was French but I had a bit of difficulty with the accent.  I suspect that they were French Canadian.  When we got to Po Lin we went to the restaurant where we had some very nice food. 

Buddha in the mist

It had ceased raining when we finished but everything was shrouded in mist.  There was  a lot of chanting.  In the temple there were priests and followers doing the chanting of some script in front of them.   The clouds lifted as we left the temple complex and the huge Buddha appeared out of the clouds.  We climbed up to the statue, took some pictures and then took the cable car down.  For a few minutes before we left the cloud and mist cleared away then it slowly closed in again.  On the way down the clouds lifted so that there was a wonderful view of the airport and the activity going.  It was close to 5pm when we got onto the train.  When we tried to enter the system using our card we found that they had expired and that turned out to be a bit of a mission to get the single journey tickets we needed. 

Christmas at 360 in Landmark

By the time we got back to Central it was dark so there was no visit to the Peak.  Instead we got some food from the 360 Gourmet Food  shop and took it back to the flat. It was another early to bed night as we were off to London and some cooler temperatures.