Cable Car, Giant Buddha, Pink Dolphins

Weekend of Oct. 21 & 22

I tried to put photos in here, but they don't seem to be working. You'll just have to check out the photo site (http://community.webshots.com/user/jbhubbell) John got some good ones of the pink dolphins - they are at the end of the album.

Saturday: NP360, Giant Buddha (again), Fishing Village, Cuban Food
Ashley & I had tickets for the Ngong Ping 360 which is a cable car that just opened up last month. It originally opened back in June or July, but it got stuck & people got stranded up on it for a few hours, so they closed it to make repairs. It is on the island where the new airport is. The NP360 station is right next to the airport. The cable cars run up along the mountains & to the town where the Giant Buddha. I have already been to the Giant Buddha twice, but Ashley hadn’t been yet & going via the cable car was a new adventure. The views were spectacular & it was nice to be out of the city. There is a hiking path that runs underneath the cable car which has to be grueling. I had read about the hiking path in one of my books, they called it a “walk”. From way up above, it sure didn’t look like a very leisurely walk. Up or down, I’m sure it would be torture on these old knees. We were glad to be up in the cable car to say the least. The other people we were with were very nice. There was an Asian-American couple from California and a couple with their son who looked about 9. The son was terrified of the ride & held onto the pole in the middle of the car the entire ride. It took about 30 minutes to get to the top.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this. This cable car is very popular since it is so new & people here love to do stuff like this on the weekend. On a few previous weekends we would hear over the loud speaker at the MTR station that tickets to NP360 had been sold out for the day. I figured this meant that we could purchase them ahead of time & that it might be a good idea for a weekend day. I took a long lunch one day & went to the MTR station where they sell the tickets ahead of time (it was a nice little ferry ride from work). On Saturday when we arrived at the NP360 base station there was a huge line. Ashley had overslept, so we didn’t get as early a start as we had hoped. There was an attendant at the end of the line directing people & she saw our vouchers & told us to go into a different aisle. Well, we got to go right past the entire line & straight to the front & get on ahead of everyone. We felt like celebrities. There wasn’t anyone else in this buy ahead line. Sometimes planning ahead has it’s advantages. Ashley was very impressed!
The cable car goes over some water & over up into the mountains, like I mentioned before. You get a great look at the Buddha from afar. It is impressive. There is a little plaza at the top with lots of shops (need to be able to buy those souvenirs). We climbed the 260 steps up to the Buddha (I didn’t count them, I read it in the brochure). I did much better this time, only stopped to talk one photo. Last time I struggled much more, so I guess all the walking I’m doing is getting me in better shape. We took our photos & walked around the monastery below. From the Buddha you could see smoke coming up from below & it turned out to be all of the incense being burned. I took some photos of the incense sticks because they are so huge. There are some that are probably 5 or 6 inches in diameter. People will buy a few huge ones or several (30 or 40) small ones. There are racks & incense pots all over & they put a few sticks in each one & bow several times & say prayers. There is even a special oven with open flames for lighting the incense.
Around the monastery there are signs that say “No alcohol or meat allowed”. Buddhist monks are strict vegetarians. They joke that there are always lots of dogs & cats in monasteries because they know they are safe & won’t be eaten!! It was time for lunch so we purchased a variety of vegetarian goodies (?) from the monastery lunch line. I took photos because it looked so interesting. There are several items that were sort of pastry things with mystery stuff inside – most likely red beans. There were 3 types of hot food & the woman couldn’t tell us exactly what it was. It looked a lot like meat, but she said it was beans & wheat. Anyway, they didn’t taste like either & it was some of the worst tasting stuff I’ve ever eaten. I guess we didn’t order very well, because all of the people around us were eating noodles (don’t know how me missed them) & this tofu & honey soup dish. They looked much better than what we ended up with.
Along the sidewalk we saw a vendor who was selling fruit on a stick. There was a choice of strawberries or cherries. There were about 5 or 6 in a row & they were soaked in syrup of some sort. They kind of looked like candy apple coating. Before they give them to you, they wrap the entire thing in rice paper which is edible & prevents too much dripping. We didn’t get one, but maybe next time I’ll try one. Just thought the concept was interesting.
We took the bus to the fishing village, Tai O. Not much new there. Lots of dried fish & the shark skin was still there. It was around 5pm & the cable car stops running at 6:30, so we didn’t stay long in Tai O. There were no more buses directly back to the cable car, so this old man explained to us what bus we needed to take & where to get off & how much to pay. He was very helpful. I think he made it his mission to make sure everyone at the bus depot got to where they needed to go. He walked around asking everyone where they were going, not just Westerners. He didn’t work for the bus line or anything, just a nice old guy.
We buddied up with a Chinese family the old man pointed out to us, who were doing the same thing. They were also very nice. We all got off at the designated spot, where the 2 roads split. We walked to the other road & waited for the next bus. After about 20 minutes (it was starting to get dark & the mosquitoes were starting to bite) a taxi came by & asked if we needed a ride. They couldn’t take all of us (there were 4 in the other group) & before we could say that we weren’t all together the driver took off. The next one that came by (there were no other cars at all), the family told us to take. It was a hair raising ride up to the Buddha, lots of twists & turns & the guy drove like a maniac. Fortunately it wasn’t too far. We saw the family not too much after we arrived, so they made it up. We treated ourselves to some wonderful gelato (Italian ice cream) since we hadn’t had the best lunch. The ride down the cable car was good, but it was dark so you couldn’t see too much. We were pretty tired. We got back to Hong Kong around 7:30. We decided we needed to have some dinner & that we would try the Cuban restaurant we had intended on going to last weekend. It wasn’t anything very great. It just had tapas (appetizers) & even the local beer was around $5. Had Cuban spiced hummus (strange combo, but good) & mint pesto with breads & I can’t even recall the other dishes, they were just OK. Good, a restaurant we don’t want to go back to, finally!
Poor John had not planned to go into work, but he ended up getting an email or something about a problem, so he spent the entire day at work. I mean the entire day – he didn’t get home until about 11:15pm. Poor guy. I felt guilty, but not much we could do since the problem didn’t come up until we were on our way up the mountain.

Sunday: Pink Dolphins, Bowen Road & Lover’s Rock, The Peak
For Sunday, Ashley wanted to see the pink dolphins. You hear a lot about these in HK, but I haven’t met anyone yet who has actually seen them, so we were a bit skeptical. I had gotten the tickets ahead of time, so John HAD to come with us. We met the bus down by the pier at 8:30. You will see in the photos that while we were waiting there were some activities going on. There was a guy who had a huge toilet paper roll on his head. We had no idea why he had it on, but he seemed very happy to have his photo taken with people. You just never know what you are going to see around here. There was also a wedding party getting ready. We saw the men getting photos taken & the car decorated up. The guys seemed to be having a great time, clowning around for the photographer. We got to see the bride as well. She looked like a China doll (but of course). Beautiful dress.
We took the bus out to near the airport. It was just where we were the day before. We got onto a boat that was about 30 feet long & had an upper deck. It was very nice & comfortable. We headed out past the airport. There were lots of people fishing. I guess this is a popular pastime for the weekend, especially for the men. Not much different from the states. We passed some large commercial fishing boats that use the nets that endanger the dolphins.
Here is the story about the dolphins. They are actually called Chinese White Dolphins. Their habitat is in the China Sea at the outlet of the Pearl River, which is just outside of the coast of Hong Kong. Because the outlet of the River stirs up so much sediment, the water is very murky. Because of the murky water, the dolphins don’t get much sunlight, so over generations & generations their skin has turned white, they’ve lost their pigmentation because of the lack of sunlight. When they swim, it gets their circulation going & they become pink. Just like when we run, our faces turn red. So they really are very pink looking. When they are born they are steel gray & they get white as they mature. It is hard to appreciate the color in the photos, but I think John got some good ones. They didn’t stay above the surface for very long & you need to have a very fast camera to get them. We saw lots & lots of them, it was wonderful. Of course they are endangered. I’m not sure how long ago, but not very long there were over 1,000 of them, now they believe there are less than 100 left. Their habitat is being swallowed up by the airport & other projects that are reclaiming parts to the harbor for construction. The pollution is also killing them. I guess the build up of DDT & other chemicals gets into the mother’s milk & many babies don’t survive because they get poisoned by their own mother’s milk. There is also a lot of untreated sewerage going into the water. They only have 3 to 4 babies in a lifetime, so their future is a bit grim. The group that sponsors the trip we went on is an environmental group working to try to protect the dolphins & their habitat. I fear it is a losing battle, so I’m glad we got to see them.
We got back to HK around 1:30 & went out for brunch. Brunch is very popular here (I guess eating out in general is popular). John headed back to the apartment for a relaxing afternoon & Ashley & I ventured on. This was her 2nd to last weekend so we needed to make the most of it. She had read about a walk that went past many shires & a place called Lover’s Rock. We decided to try one of the street trams because all of the guide books say you HAVE to try them. They run on electricity & tracks in the street. They are only on HK Island & only go east & west along the base of the island. We got on & it was very crowded. We only lasted 2 stops & got off because they are not air conditioned & is smelled terrible. We are spoiled I guess. We hopped a bus #15 & got off at the right stop (that is sometimes a huge accomplishment in itself, but Ashley’s guide book had pretty good directions). The walk was along Bowen Road which turns out to be a walking path, no cars. It is really nice & very level (not a common thing in HK). There were many people out walking & running, very relaxing. There was a great view down the hill to the race track below & many apartment buildings. This road was about halfway up to The Peak (Victoria Peak). There were indeed some very small shrines along the road. When we got the some steps where there were several small shrines all set together & a set of steps. We walked up the steps to Lover’s Rock which just juts up into the air. Nothing very romantic about it. Nobody could tell us why it has that name, but I guess you light incense up there & it brings your love relationship good luck.
We walked until we came to another “road”, just for walking, that took us down to the next regular road where we could catch the bus again to go up to the Peak. It was pretty hot so we got a good work out. I know being hot sounds good to all of you people in the states who are complaining about the cold, but I have to tell you that I’m ready for some cooler weather. This 80’s & humid is getting tiring.
The bus ride up the Peak is really amazing. What a ride for $1.25 (US). The road runs right along the edge of the hillside & you are on the 2nd floor of the bus & if is exciting to say the least. We were in the front seat, so got a great view.
The Peak is tourist central, so there is always something fun going on up there. Tonight there was a ball room dancing competition taking place for charity. It was outside & the participants were dressed to the hilt. There were kids competing as well. It was very entertaining. There was also this guy walking around in an Elvis outfit that was a blow up thing that made him about 10 feet tall & about 4 feet wide. He had Elvis music playing & was posing for photos with people. We had a great bowl of noodles for dinner, really my first bowl of noodles since I’ve been here. It was loaded with veggies & was just what we wanted.
We stayed up on the Peak to watch the nightly light show from up there. It was crowded & really not too impressive. You could only see the backs of the buildings & some of them just have lights on the harborside. Much better the see the light show from the water front. Took the bus back down & grabbed a cab back home. John had been to the gym & gotten a massage, so he was very happy. I think Sunday is his massage day.
That is it for this weekend. Back to work tomorrow…….and plan what to do next weekend!!!!