HK - first week

So I just went out to find après sun lotion and found Si Chuan noodle soup, the latter being part of my quest to try all restaurants in the vicinity of my apt (think I have to limit it to a 200 meter radius, otherwise won´t be successfull).

The rest of the day I was venturing on Lantau, based on a recommandation by Florence, a friend of mine whom I met on Wednesday (drinks on the roof of LKF hotel to be recommended). Lantau is the island where the airport is located, but it`s also very famous for it's trails and its giant buddha.

Taking the ferry in the morning from HK centre to Mui Wo, I got on the first section of the trail, winding up to Sunset peak (869meters, from sea level..), then going down again (think to around 350meters elevation) and taking on the second challenge, Lantau peak (934meters), afterwards heading to Ngong Ping, where the big buddha is sitting/ chilling.

Ngong Ping was initially a (I guess) rather quiet monestry, but then in 1993 some genius had the idea to install "the largest sitting bronze Buddha" in the world (31meters height), connecting the whole place with a cablecar (where you can pay extra to get a crystal cabin with glass floor..) in 2005 and the turning the whole place in a major tourist attraction.

But still have to give some credit, the Buddha ist quiet impressive, at least when standing below it (from Lantau peak it took my 5 minutes to spot it). Anyways, great day but a healthy portion of stairclimbing up and down (Chinese trails seem to be mostly rock staircases, plus seem not to have flat sections..) and not so much sleep last week so early bedtime for today.

Bits and pieces...

Friendlyness (1): I read in my smart guidebook that Chinese people will hand you business cards holding it with two hands, and initially thought it was a legacy, but in fact it is very common, including return money in restaurants, credit cards bills in the supermarkets etc. - will follow the "when in rome do like romans do" and see what happens..

Friendliness (2): people generally do rather not greet on trails (some even don't look at you when passing); as the trail was not that crowded, it seems that feeling empathy with the other folks that enjoy nature is more a concept from the central alps (I do not intend to adapt to local habits..)

Smog: Tuesday was a public holiday, but I decided not to go hiking because it was foggy. Wednesday morning in the early morning coffe talk I learned that Tuesday had been a clear day. Seems to be a fact that especially HK downtown is quite often in a cloud of grey and any tendency towards sunshine is welcome.

Outdoors: it's amazing how fast you can get into nature here, basically taking the Soho escalator (15min) from downtown brings you already in the trees, and taking ferries or the subway adds another ton of possibilities, plus there are lot's of short and long trails around on HK island as well as new territory.