Giant Buddah

Today is travel day to Johannesburg, but I don't fly out until 11:45pm. So I basically have all day here in Hong Kong. However, my aching feet won't take much more walking, so my plan is to see the one remaining sight, then checkin to the Cathay Pacific business class lounge and wait there for my flight. That sight is the giant Buddah in Ngong Ping, which you get to via a 25-minute ride up the side of a mountain in a cable car. I got video going up, and got this photo on the ride back down:

That's the airport on the left, and a town of highrise appartments named Tung Chung on the right.

The Budda himself is made of brass, and is really huge. Here's the first good shot you can get of him, when walking through the little village at the top of the cable car ride:


Here's a straight-on shot, after you walk to the base of his mountain:


Unfortunately, you have to climb a lot of steps to get up to him. Of course, this is NOTHING compared to climbing the great wall, which really did me in... Also unfortunately, most of my photos at the top came out blurry. I must have accidentally left my camera on Landscape mode despite taking pictures that were mostly close-up.

So I saw Buddah, and after I climbed back down, I went to a show entitled "Walking with Buddah" which was inspirational, in a way. Apparently the guy who this statue honors was a prince, son of a king in Tibet, who was married and a father. Despite all his riches, he could not find peace in his heart. So, he left his riches and family, and went in search of enlightenment. He found it after years of searching and sacrifice, apparently almost starving himself to death. He became one of the greatest Buddahs ever, with many inspirational teachings to his credit. Of course, the story does not say what became of his wife and child...

I got back to the airport before 2pm, and my flight doesn't leave until 11:45pm. I asked the Cathay Pacific people if I could check in early and spend the time in the business class lounge, and they said OK. When I got my boarding pass, the seat they assigned me was 84K. Usually, business class seats are in row number less than 20, so I asked about that, and he said my seat is upstairs. I've been upstairs in a 747 a number of times, and I know the row numbers up there only go to 25 or so, so I asked, "Is this one of the new big Airbus planes?" "Yes," he replied. Cool! I'll see if I can get some photos after I board.

In the mean time, I need to catch up on my paperwork: recording daily expenses, maybe even submit a travel expense account to cover the expenses on my current AMEX bill.