The day we went to the Big Buddha, we were lucky to experience glorious weather even if for my travel companion, we had another cable car to endure. Transportation was efficient (as is typical of Hong Kong) with us taking the MTR to Tung Chung station (which took about an hour from where we were). We then walked to the Ngong Ping Cable Car, which took us up to the mountainous area where the Big Buddha shrine sat serenely.

If travelling by cable car (the np360), you have a few options available to you.  You can take a standard cabin cable car, which has see-through windows but a covered floor, and also slightly less of a surface area available to look through the window. You can take a crystal cabin, with a clear bottom and a larger window surface area than the standard cabin. Or you know, you could slum it in a private cabin (but lets be realistic here).

We decided to go crystal cabin on the way there, standard cabin on the way back. This was a huge triumph for my friend in terms of battling his vertigo- we ended up in a crystal cabin with a lovely family, some of whom also suffered from vertigo, and he ended up reassuring them!

  

The NP360 and some views from the Crystal Cabin on the way there…

  

Our sunshiney day                                    Seeing the sea beneath your shoes

Upon arrival at the other cable car station, we explored the area surrounding the Big Buddha (a.k.a. Tian Tan Buddha). There is a viewing deck where you can take clear photos with the statue in the background:

We walked around amongst smaller statues and souvenir stalls.

 

The area surrounding the Big Buddha statue

We also came across a wooden fork specifying how many miles away we were from various famous attractions across the globe, which was quite fun to read!

Only 1972 miles from the Great Wall and 9632 miles to Big Ben!

We climbed the stairs to the Big Buddha, attempting to avoid tripping over the tourists who suddenly stopped at various points to take a picture (we were guilty of this as well) 🙂

   

Upon reaching the summit, you are presented with beautiful views of Lantau Island, where the tribute was built:

   

Within the Buddha itself is a museum with facts about the Po Lin monastery and surrounding area. The main appeal of the attraction to me, though, was actually standing so close to the statue and admiring it’s sheer scale and beauty. It has obvious significance to Buddhists, but even for those of other or no religions, it is undeniably spectacular.

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As the afternoon drew onwards, we returned to the cable car terminal (see below):

And on the way back, we saw Hong Kong at night- still beautiful amongst the smog.