Day 76 - A misty meating with Buddha and into the noise and lights of the Hong Kong night

Once we were finally ready to face the day, we might as well have been heading out for lunch - instead we jumped on the metro and headed to Lantau Island, which although it is twice the size of Hong Kong Island it has only 50,000 residents. Once on our bus towards Po Lin Monastery we started to realise just how green and beautiful Hong Kong really is - there is so much more to it than the skyscrape skyline that it is renowned for. Driving past the beaches and reservoirs, and through the greenery, we wished we had more time / money so we could fully explore this side of Hong Kong. Our list of locations to return to is growing by the day and at this rate we may never get out of China. Of course having our family or friends coming to Asia will be ample excuse to rewalk some of the adlibing path once more.

Our bus ride was a very stress-free experience, and although it took twice as long as the same trip would have taken in mainland China, at least we were getting value for the unbelievably bankbreaking price of public transport in Hong Kong.

We arrived, once again, surrounded by mist and unable to see the sight we had come for: the Tian Tan Buddha statue, which is the world's largest outside seated Bronze Buddha. As we climbed the 260 steps, the amazing sight of the Buddha statue emerged from the misty shadows to greet us. With our special 'snack tickets' we were allowed entry inside the Buddha into the small exhibition where we gazed upon the scriptures engraved on huge wooden beams before having the honour of standing before the bone relics of Buddha.

After reading more about the temple, the statue and the life of Buddha we were treated to our free icecream and water, and headed back down the steps into the Monastery. At the entry of the Monastery, where worshippers place burning incense into the big metal urn, we got to see how cool our new camera is. We love the shots! Incense burns at every temple and monastery, but here it smelled sweeter than usual and Adam enjoyed being engulfed in the enchanting smoke. As we explored the monastery we were treated to the chanting of monks during a daily prayer session, which added realism to the experience. The months in China have naturally led us to many temples and monasteries varying in age and beauty and every time we think we have had our fill one will as if on cue leave an unforgettable mark, for Adam this was one of those places.

We headed back to town using the world renowned public transport system that every city should strive to imitate (except a little cheaper please), passing through the famous Temple Street Night Markets - where we were tempted by all kinds of gadgets (Adam), clothes (Liv) and the full set of Grey's Anatomy (both of us!). Reluctantly leaving the markets empty-handed we zoomed across town to the waterfront to view the "Symphony of Lights" staged nightly on Victoria Harbour. Taking our spot on the Avenue of Stars, we enjoyed watching the buildings across the harbour light up during the world's largest permanent light show - this was a spectacular laser and neon light extravaganza, that went on for about 5 minutes, all in time to a musical piece. The optical performance was accompanied by an unplanned partner as the moon joined in to dance with the clouds as the lights moved over the night sky.
The ever present rumble of thunder, no hang on... Liv's stomach, sent us on another of our effortful missions to find something to eat. Our adlibing travels have brought us to a country that is so well known for its food and blessed with the greatest ranges of fruit and vegetables you could imagine, that you would think finding a vegetarian option would prove an easy task...But once again, as we have come very accustomed to, we searched in vain for far too long. After leaving yet another restaurant without food in our bellies the situation took on a dark cloud as Liv began to breakdown running on the fumes of an empty tank. Thankfully we found a nice Malaysian place that would make up a vegetarian option for us and luckily for Adam the food turned out to be divine.

Strolling in the pleasant warmth of the Hong Kong night we manuvoured through the crowds and passed on the numerous temptingly cheap electronic shops all the while dogging the insistent drip of the airconditioners clinging to the buildings above our heads. Making it back to our mansion (cupboard in a crumbling building) we settled in for the night.

Adlibing it in the presence of Buddha.