Ngong Ping Cable Car to Tian Tan Buddha: An exciting journey to visit the Big Buddha on Lantau Island in Hong Kong

     

Big Buddha peaking out to say hello to tourists on the Ngong Ping Cable Car.

  
     Get the crystal cabin round trip! Floating high above the blue waters and greenery of Lantau Island, you will want to take in the full view with a glass bottom cable car. The 25 minute ride is worth every cent, as you take in the breathtaking views of waterfalls and hikers making their way up to see the Big Buddha. When you first spot him and Po Lin Monastery towards the end of the journey, you will be stunned. This is one of those tourist attractions that you MUST DO!

The actual cable car fits about 8 people comfortably--four on each side. When you are standing in line, make sure that you are not next to anyone that might ruin your trip. Keep in mind that you will be with them for 25 minutes in the car. You don't want to ride along with those that may have forgotten their deodorant or might look weary of heights. 

If you are there in the summer, it is going to be insanely hot. Make sure to bring tons of water while you are waiting in line. If you buy the crystal cabin then the line will be a bit shorter since you pay more. A round trip is $165 ($21 USD) for a standard cabin and $255 ( $32 USD) for a crystal cabin, not that big of a difference unless you are penny pinching. I'd say its worth the extra $11 to get it both ways. 

I don't recommend buying any of the tour packages that include a trip to Tai O. The 360 Sky-Land-Sea Day Pass will load you on to a crowded bus back down the mountain on a windy road that will make you lose your lunch. Tao O is a little fishing village. Its cool if you want to go explore and have no expectations, but it is just another fishing town in Hong Kong with shops selling a bunch of fish products and little sea food restaurants. Plus, I've seen a few bad reviews of the Tai O excursion online reporting that although they were able to see a few pink dolphins, the trip was rushed and the boat drivers were not very friendly (which doesn't surprise me). You will probably be exhausted from walking around at the Buddha and Monastery, so I'd say skip the package and just pay for a round trip cable ride. 

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    Gone Seoul Searching by Marie Webb is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at goneseoulsearching@gmail.com.

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The biggest Buddha in Korea Part 3: Photos from Nammirueksa

I somehow always manage to find a piano! Even in the middle of nowhere inside of a Buddhist prayer hall!

    Nammireuksa is such a memorable place, but good luck finding any photos of the temple online. Most photos online will only have pictures of the giant Buddha statue. But there is much more to this temple than just the big guy. My photography skills are not excellent, but hopefully they will bring you a more diverse and natural view of the temple grounds.

Some Korean puppies that lived at the temple. They had the cutest dog houses!

Rows of Buddhist deities.

Beautifully crafted doors of one of the halls.

The entrance to the temple is surrounded by rice fields.

Another view of a prayer hall.

A smaller prayer hall surrounded by a lily pond. 

Thirsty? Grab a drink from the Buddha water fountain!

Outside view of one of the temples.

Large elephants mark the entrance to the temple.

A small altar in a prayer hall.

Some of the monks houses on the grounds.

A small courtyard.

A cool view of the Buddha.

A view from the Buddha's feet of the two pagodas.

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The biggest Buddha in Korea Part 2: about Nammirueksa

    Once you survive the crazy journey to the temple, you will quickly realize that your final destination was well worth the visit. I have been to numerous Buddhist temples throughout Korea and Los Angeles, but nothing compares to the quaint location and humble surroundings of Nammireuksa.

The best part about visiting the temple is that there will not be thousands of tourists in your way. In fact, my friend Andrea and I were the only people (besides the monks) at the temple for a good hour and a half. The only other tourists that I saw were a cute Korean couple, and two old ladies that we saw drive away in their car about half an hour after they arrived.

    Of course the most popular part of the temple is the 36 meter or 118 foot tall Buddha statue. The magnitude of this statue is completely overwhelming when you reach the top of the steps at the base of the Buddha.

  

    Surrounding the base, are numerous prayer wheels. I learned that you should walk around the base of the statue starting from East to West while touching the wheels so that they spin. A women working at the temple who spoke barley any English said the word “hope” to us as she took us around some similar stationary wheels inside one of the temples. I learned from Wikipedia that the wheels are the equivalent of reciting a sutra or prayer. The detail on each wheel is beautiful, and they bare the words “Om the Jewel in the Lotus Hum” which is a mantra of the god Avalokitesvara.

                       

A video of the Prayer Wheels.

 

    There were many worship halls throughout the grounds of the temple. I could enter about six different prayer rooms, but there were also some that were closed off. The only hall which had someone monitoring is pictured to the left. Unfortunately, I could not take pictures inside of this room. The experience of standing with thousands of golden Buddha’s surrounding me literally took my breath away. The detail inside of this temple is unbelievably ornate, and just being in the room was calming and inspiring.

     One of my favorite halls (picture no. 2) had hundreds of golden lanterns hanging from the ceilings. The room was not open, but there was a round handle on the ornate doors and so I carefully snuck inside to take a peak. Being in that room alone and bowing in front of the altar gave me the most peaceful and memorable feeling.

    Another one of the temples high points are the three pagodas. There were no English explanations so I had a hard time knowing any history about them. But from my knowledge of Buddhism I know that each pillar on the pagoda has a symbolic meaning.

     Overall, the temple is absolutely stunning. I could go on and on for hours about the beauty of this place, but there is simply no was to describe its elegance correctly. This is truly one destination that has made me realize and see fully the beauty of this world. There will be a Part 3 of this blog displaying numerous photos from the temple.


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