Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island

On our first free day in Hong Kong, we headed to one of the outlying islands named Lantau. It's known for the Ngon Ping 360 cable car that takes you up to the Tian Tan Buddha.

I'm not crazy about heights. I almost couldn't get off the elevator at the top of the Eiffel Tower because there was a crack that I could see through. But because I love Jason SO much....I let him talk me into riding in one of the crystal cars...."crystal" as in everything is translucent.

So, as you can see...here are out feet. Looks like the bottom of the cable car is a weird grayish green color, huh? NOPE...that's water below us (not sure if it's part of the harbor or the Pacific).

This picture makes it a little more clear....see those trees below Jason's feet? Honestly, I was ok with the ride as long as I was sitting. Standing up to take this picture, not so good though.

This spot was our first view of the "Big Buddha."

As if I didn't already know just how far from home I am!!!

At this point, we had finally made it to the bottom of the steps to the Big Buddha. Only 268 stairs to go.

About 1/2 way up, everyone stops to take a picture and catch a breath.

We made it to the top. Here is a picture of the Big Buddha up close and personal (with a zoom lens of course).

We made it to the Big Buddha (that's what most people refer to it as) just in time. We had a little bit of blue sky to start off with. Not long after we made it to the top, the clouds rolled in nice and thick. The wind picked up too. Notice my crazy hair-do.

By the time we hiked back down the trail, the Big Buddha was almost completely covered over.

Here's our ride back down to Hong Kong.

As you can see, our trip back was uneventful. The clouds were so thick that it seemed as though we were in a gray walled car. What a difference a few hours can make!