3 July 2015 - Lantau Island Tour

I left a wake-up call for 7:00 am, but I kept waking up every few hours starting at 3:00 am.  I finally gave up the ghost and got up at 6 and checked my e-mail and other miscellany.  After the wake-up call came, I went down stairs to breakfast. I had scrambled eggs and a croissant. It took me a while till I found where the eggs were being cooked. 

I made sure that I was in the lobby by 8:00 am. I was scheduled to be picked up at 8:20 am.  I got a little nervous since the lobby is fairly large.  However, they found me.  I was taken to a location where we switched buses.  Apparently they picked up everyone from a particular hotel and then we transferred to the bus which would take me on the tour I requested.

The bus took me to a ferry which took us to Lantau Island where we were met by our tour guide named Ben and a small bus.  The ferry ride was a bit rough, but I enjoyed it.  Lantau is part of the land rented by the British in 1898 for which there was a 99 year lease.  Part of the agreement was that there would be no development on the island.  The result is that Lantau which is several times larger than Hong Kong Island has a population of about 120,000.  When the British took over the island, there were four groups of people on the island; (1) monks and nuns, (2) fisherman, (3) farmers and (4) pirates.  The British established a maritime police force which with time got rid of the pirates.  The South China Sea was overfished and is no longer fished.  Fish is imported from surrounding countries.    90 to 95% of Lantau is owned by the government with the result that there are many hiking trails open to the general public.  There is about 50 Km of roads on the island.  The people were leaving the island because it was difficult to live there and work elsewhere.  Things have improved since the airport was built there.  There is concern that housing will be built along the roads.  There is a subway stop on the island and apartments near subway stops are very expensive.

There are prisons on the island, two of which we passed.

Ferry ride to Lantau Island

 On the way to Lantau Island

Our first stop was Cheung Sha Beach. We were told that we could go swimming there although I didn’t have a bathing suit with me and that we would be leaving in 15 minutes ;-}.

First stop - Upper Cheung Sha Beach

Beach

Beach facing the other direction

Beach

Looking out to sea

Looking towards other islands

Me with beach in background

Me again

As we drove on the road, we saw relatively few buildings.  It was mostly wooded.  At one time there were a several monasteries and nunneries on the island.  Fewer young men and women are entering the religious life as it true in the west with the Catholic church.

Our next stop was the “fishing” village of Tai O.  Since there are few to no fish, there are no longer fishing.  The population has fallen drastically.  We were taken on a boat ride to see the houses which are built on stilts.  We were told that many of these people have government housing on solid land which they use for storage, but continue to live in the houses which are still on the water. Many of these houses are made of wood covered by metal.

Entering Fishing Village of Tai O

Looking at ships

On boat tour

Housing on Stilts

Housing frequently consists of wood covered with aluminum

A nice looking house still on stilts

Note the expensive outboard motors

view of the hills around the fishing villageiew of the hills around the fishing village

There are two Taoist temples in the village. They are side by side.  The older one is larger and the whole group was able to fit in.  The larger temple had been built originally in 1488.  Originally the magistrate was in the adjacent building.  When pirates were caught, they were behead in front of the temple.

Description of Taoist Temple(s)

Taoist Temple

 Interior of Taoist Temple

Inside Taoist temple

Inside Taoist temple

Plaque indicating the improvements to the temple and who paid for them

Small Taoist Temple

Interior of smaller Taoist temple

From the village we headed up the mountain to see the Giant Buddha.  Pictures were problematic because the fog kept rolling obscuring particularly the head.  I was surprised when I saw a swastika on the chest of the Giant Buddha.  

 Giant Buddha

View of temple complex from Giant Buddha

 One of the statues surrounding Giant Buddha

View from platform of Giant Buddha

Other statues around the Giant Buddha

Looking up at the Gian Buddha

Note Swastica on chest of Giant Buddha

Last two statues

View of platform

 Me in front of Giant Buddha

We then headed down the mountain to the monastery area. We walked through the area and entered the restaurant/cafeteria. We were told that the food would be vegetarian. I was surprised and pleased at how good it was.  First we were served soup, which was put in bowls which were on a lazy susan.  Then various other dishes were placed on the lazy susan.  There was a large pot of Chinese tea was available. 

Buddhist Temple

Note detail on corners of Temple roof

Other temple in complex

Interior of Temple - picture taken from door way

Giant Buddha from temple complex - fog rolled in

Arch in complex

Giant Buddha  with slightly less dense fog

After lunch we leisurely strolled through the complex and saw the other buildings.  I tried to get a picture of the Giant Buddha, but the fog had rolled in.  When we approached the place where we were to get on the sky rail, we sat in the square and some of the people treated themselves to gelatto.  I was still full from lunch.

The sky rail ride down the mountain to the airport was interesting and a bit unsettling, but I mostly enjoyed it. We could see the pylons in the water that will be part of the bridge or causeway that is being built to connect Macau to Hong Kong.

Cable car down the mountain

Note pillons in water - building a bridge (or causeway) from Lantau to Macsu (Portuguese Island)

Cable car heading into airport area

Better view of airport


A lot of the people on the tour were Australians.  Apparently a lot of Australians stop in Hong Kong on the way home from wherever they have been.  Apparently it takes 34 hours to get from Australia to London.