Today we set off to see the big buddha. Although my father does a good impersonation, I wanted to climb 240 steps after a harrowing cable car ride to see a giant one instead.
The train ride out to Lantau island is just like the train ride to the airport but with extra stops. A guy on the train got a laugh when I compared dad to buddha. We assume he could understand english.
On arrival we had to navigate the upsellers trying to sell us a package that included a trip to a fishing village or the glass bottomed crystal cabin on the cable car. We stuck to our guns and bought the cheapest return ticket possible.
Cable car
The cable car ride up wasn’t exactly calming, but wasn’t too bad. I believe its a good 5.3 kms of cable car action and its a bit up and down, just to test the nerves. After the last crest on the cable car there was a view of the big buddha.
The village at the base of the big Buddha was the usual tourist trap. Mum and Dad successfully scaled the 240 or so steps up to the big buddha and also managed the descent without much trouble. They must be used to the boot camp regime I’m putting them through.
Big Buddha
The way back on the cable car was spent with mum not feeling too great because of the wind and a Japanese guy also shrieking with fear when it got windy. I was doing my best to keep a brave face 😉
We forgot all the dramas of a swaying cable car by doing some outlet shopping. About $40 for a pair of adidis/nike/reeboks etc.
As I was writing this we’d lost Dad. He went to buy a 7″ Samsung tablet but took over 2 hours to do so. Given a loaf of bread can take him an hour back home, I think he did well in this instance.