Hong Kong and the Tiantan Buddha

We arrived in Hong Kong two days ago without incident. I'm staying at a guest-house adjacent to Hong Kong University, and there is limited internet access outside of some of the public cafes on campus.
Today was our first opportunity to explore the island and surrounding territories at our leisure. I traveled by rail to Lankau, across the bay. Above the village of Ngong Ping rests the world's largest outdoor bronze-cast Buddha, over one-hundred feet tall. The weather was clear and cool and it took several hours to reach the site. Included below are photos from the trip, and a few examples of some of the night life on the harbor.

The Tiantan Buddha.

Statues surrounding the base of the Buddha.

Looking out from the south face.

Gondola to Ngong Ping.

Downtown Hong Kong.

Sunset at Lamma Island.

Hookah bar.

The South China Sea.

Taiwan.

The Biaoyuan Trail

From our hotel in the mountains beyond Hualian there are a number of trails that wind further into the Taroko nature reserve. The below photos were taken on the Biaoyuan path that followed a tributary of the larger gorge system. The highest peaks in the area reach almost 3,000 meters. The forest was soaked from linger clouds that didn't dissipate until late in the afternoon. Fist-sized yellow and black spiders hung across the path on webs that seemed to crystallize in the fresh rain.




Buddhist pavilion above Tiantsing.
Stray dogs staying out of the rain.
Tiantsing market.
Tiantsing gorge.

Taipei, Kaoshiung and the Changchun Temple

The last week has been spent traveling by road across Taiwan. We arrived Monday evening after a twenty-hour flight that transfered at Osaka. The photos below are a few taken over the last several days from various parts of the island, from Taipei in the north to Kaoshiung in the south.

Dawn over Kaoshiung.


The road to Hualian.


Club Dreams. Foreigners enter for free.
Outside of Hotel Formosa.
Kaoshiung neon.

Dolphin doctor.