Big Buddha Day!

The next day, we took a day tour to see Tsing Ma Bridge, Tai O Village, The big Buddha at Po Lin Monastary and ride a cable car. As I said before, Michelle has a little conspiracy theory. So when a "company photographer" boarded the bus, she was suspicious. Our first stop was the Tsing Ma Bridge. According to the brochure, this is the longest suspension road/rail bridge in the world, at 1,377 meters.  The upper deck has three lanes heading each direction and the lower deck has two tracks of railway and two emergency lanes so that the bridge may stay open during typhoon conditions.  It really is pretty amazing.  Here are some pictures:

Now, while we were here at the viewing platform, the "photographer" was doing us all a bunch of "favors" by snapping pictures for us.  I asked Michelle to take my picture and as I was smiling and she was just about to snap the picture, she was suddenly elbowed out of the way by the "photographer," who was screaming at me, "Ma'am!  Right here!  Ma'am!"  It was really quite hilarious - especially since, according to Michelle's Chinese birth year animal (the monkey), she is "more famous than most," not me.  I was wondering what the hell was happening and Michelle was checking herself for bruises...and I guess he snapped a picture somewhere in there.  We boarded the bus to head across the bridge, to the fishing village.  Fast forward to the end of the day: When we got back on the bus to head back to the hotel, we all had a little souvenir to purchase:

I love that I'm nearly laughing.  You bet your ass I bought that plate.  Priceless.

Next stop: Tai O Village.  This is a rare example of a Chinese stilt-house community.  The people here have built their homes on stilts above the water because they do not feel safe on land.  That's not the only reason I'd call 'em crazy.  Here are a few pictures:

In case you haven't thought that far - there is no plumbing in these houses.  Apparently, there is sometimes a waste pipe that goes straight down into the water.  That makes me pretty confident that I would never use that ladder...or buy fish from this guy:

We went in a temple here and I saw this warrior:

The tour guide insisted this was not an obscene gesture.  I don't know - it looks pretty obscene to me.  I wouldn't be messing with that guy.

You could also buy dehydrated fish here in the village.  They do this to the fish so that they keep longer.  Then, they just rehydrate it and cook with it.  Maybe you'd like some dehydrated squid to take home?

Maybe not.

FINALLY, we get to Po Lin Monastery - home of the biggest Buddha I have ever seen.  The Buddha is about 80 feet tall and, with the base, over 100 feet tall.  The visibility was really poor, unfortunately, but you get the idea:

After seeing the Buddha and hearing about the development of Buddhism, we went down to the actual monastery:

"Maybe you'd like to take a swing?" the tour guide asked...Why yes!  I would love to!

The tour included lunch in the V.I.P. dining room where the monks dine.  Shockingly enough, dogs weren't allowed in.  It was a vegan meal, which I was skeptical of.  No meat?  Not even bacon?  It was actually delicious!  Which was great, since it was Michelle's last meal.

The final adventure of the day was a ride back down the mountain, about 5.7 km, in a gondola (which is why Michelle thought she was having her final meal).  This cable car ride was quite possibly one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.  It would have been so amazing if the day was a clear one.  Just gorgeous.  The most disappointing part, though, was the end, when we were over the water and the water was filthy with trash of all sorts.  Coming from Okinawa, where cleanliness is a must...Hong Kong was not on the same page there.  Here are a couple of views from the gondola:

What a day!  We rested for a bit in the room and hit the Ladies' Market a little later.  That's a whole 'nother story, though, so it'll have to wait!