A more laid back day

Now we are in Hong Kong we are no longer on part of the Kuoni tour so we can take things at our pace, like a 9.30 am breakfast and an 11.00 am start. Today we chose to do just one thing - to see the Smiling Buddha on Lantau Island. It has been cloudy, hot and humid all day but we have not faced any rain. The journey there was enough of an initiative test - a Star ferry across to Central to catch the Lantau fast ferry and then a bus ride to the Po Lin Monastery. However, with clear instructions from our Kuoni rep it was all a bit of a doddle. Fortunately despite some low clouds we were able to see the Buddha quite clearly. The steps up to the Buddha look daunting but because they are arranged with 16 step section followed by a short flat section they are not too tiring. I'm not sure how many steps there are overall but around about two hundred about two hundred and fifty. The bronze Buddha is the largest in the world and was completed within the last ten years, so modern Buddhism is alive and well. For my blip I've chosen an image of three of the Devas who surround the Buddha offering up gifts.