Visiting the sitting Buddha

On 23 May we took a bus out to Lantau Island to east of Hong Kong; it is one of the several islands that make up the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region). The mountains of Lantau are home to the largest outdoor sitting Buddha in the world. Apparently there are other indoor and/or standing Buddhas that are bigger, but I haven’t seen any yet, or even heard about them for that matter, they must be out there, though. The Buddha is located at the Po Lin Monastery and was built in the early 1990’s, so it’s not ancient, which would make it quite a feat considering the winding roads we used to get to it. I’m surprised I am still in one piece after riding a bus that navigated one lane roads at top speed against other oncoming buses. It was definitely a ‘had to be there’ experience.

Here are some pictures from the trip.

Buddha from the side.

Detail of a dragon on the pillars outside of one of the main temples at the Po Lin Monastery complex. Photos of the interior were prohibited.

A traditional dragon dance on the temple grounds in front of the stairs to the Buddha.

A flower from a koi pond on the temple grounds.

Koi from the pond. These were some huge koi, people. I tried to get one as it came to the surface to eat, but the buggers are quick.

View of the Buddha from the main temple at the monastery. The Buddha is at the top of a mountain, and it is about 350 steps from the monastery to the base of the statue.

Who knows. I am currently pretending it is a minor Buddhist deity.

More of the Buddha.

The stairway up to the base of the Buddha.

Me stylin’ some Dior glasses at out vegetarian lunch at Po Lin. You should see and taste the things these people can do with taro. Chicken that looks and tastes like chicken but is taro, ditto fish. Very yummy stuff.

Shot of our veggie lunch. Stay away from the lotus/poi dish, it’s not very tasty.