Big Buddha, Cable Cars and Tea

Along with about a bazillion other people, we went to see the Big Buddha today on Lantau Island. Officially named the Tian Tan Buddha, it's 112 ft tall. Huge! Unfortunately it was a very grey and cloudy/smoggy/foggy day so photos are not the brightest.

Transportation to the Buddha included the metro and the Ngong Ping 360 (a very, very long cable car ride). Humourously, as we got closer to the front of the line the staff were looking for two people to fill one of the gondola cars. They quickly scanned and waved us forward. It took me a while to figure out how they knew we were only two. Duh! Tall white people! Which two of these things don't look like the others?!?

After getting a closer look at the Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery, we found refuge from the crowds in a fancy tea shop where we learned the art of making a cup of tea. Boil water to a very specific temperature, warm the tea pot and cups, rinse the tea (once or twice depending on the type of tea), then strain and pour (no steeping for the type of tea we had). We tried the fermented Pu-erh, which neither of us had ever had before. "Good for digestion," we were told.

One of two pillars guarding the entrance to the monastery.

Inside the monastery.

The Art of Tea

Nature in the City

The Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Gardens is a bit different than those elsewhere. To start with . . . it's free!!

There are several large aviaries, lots of different kinds of primates (gorillas, orangutangs, various types of monkeys and ring-tailed and ruffed lemurs) and a few turtles both very big and very small. A few of the monkeys were very active so we sat for a while, watched and laughed at their antics. It was great to see that they all have quite large areas to move around in.

I didn't take many photos as the aviaries were not ones you could go into and of course the monkey enclosures were cages so both were not ideal for photographs. And I leave most of the flower photography to Andrew for obvious reasons. (Obvious to those who have seen his photos compared to mine!)

In the afternoon we took the Star Ferry over to Kowloon and headed to Kowloon Park. It was extremely busy so definitely wasn't a highlight. We later learned that October 1 is Chinese National Day so everyone was enjoying the holiday.

Starr Ferry, from Kowloon looking back toward Central Hong Kong

Today we took the metro (two different lines) and a taxi out to the Mai Po Marsh Nature Reserve in the New Territories. The Reserve is now a protected area and is managed by the World Wildlife Federation. It was great to get out of the city for a day!

Our guidebook indicated there were several 3-hour English guided tours a day but in actual fact there was a Cantonese tour in the morning and an English one in the afternoon. Since you can only go into the protected area with a guide and we didn't want to wait several hours, we went on the Cantonese tour. Luckily the guide was kind enough to give us a very abbreviated English version at each stop and answer several questions. 

These water lilies were  gorgeous and plentiful! 

The area is extremely diverse with several different wetland habitats including freshwater ponds, mudflats, reedbeds and mangroves. 

Birds we saw included herons (Great Blue and Chinese), black kites, grebes, Chinese bulbuls, cormorants, egrets, ibis and doves.

Between the sweltering hot and humid days and all the walking we're doing, I am sleeping very well at night!!! 

First Impressions - Hong Kong

Three words to describe our first day in Hong Kong . . . humid, hot, hilly.

In several words . . . the kindness of a stranger; the largest spider I have ever seen; a quiet, beautiful walk along the Morning Trail.

Beautiful little bird

Ginormous spider - about 5-6" long!

View from Morning Trail

We had a good flight to Hong Kong. I highly recommend premium economy. Not that much more expensive than economy but worth it! 

Got thru HK airport very easily. From the airport we took the Express Train to Central Station and, after only a couple wrong turns, managed to find the escalators to take us part way up the hill. (There are a lot of escalators in this city!) Then there was the hunt for the tiny little numbers for the building we were looking for. 

The new Arc'teryx duffles work okay as back packs for a short distance but by the time we found our apartment and got up the seven flights of stairs I was ready to set it down. 

For the first time ever, we rented an apartment through airbnb. We'd gotten all the directions from the owner a couple weeks ago and were to find the key under the doormat. 

No key! Are you friggin' kidding me?!?!? Sweat was dripping off my face and onto the front of my shirt and we'd barely slept in the past 24 hours. 

But it gradually all worked out. We knocked on the neighbour's door and he was amazing! Nam called the numbers we had for the owner and her "helper." No answer at either but we left message hoping someone would call us back. Nam had another suite in the same building so he let us wait there. He brought us a bowl full of grapes to eat and ran back and forth between suites to deliver messages once the owner got our message. It was about an hour later when someone showed up to let us in. Thank you Nam for your incredible kindness to a couple of strangers! 

After totally crashing for the night we were awake early and shortly after 7 am were on the tram heading to the top of Victoria Peak. The 3 km walk took us a couple hours as we stopped often to look at the views, examine the big spiders and their webs, try to take photos of the flittering birds, watch some new-to-us bugs, read the information signs about all the different kinds of trees and check out a few little side trails.

Panorama from the Morning Trail looking down on Central Hong Kong with Kowloon across the water. 

In an attempt to avoid the heat of the day, we spent the afternoon checking out the interesting architect of some of the downtown air conditioned buildings. The most interesting was the HSBC building with its 170-foot atrium, mirrors at the top of the atrium and the longest freely supported escalators in the world. The building is reputed to have the best feng shui in the city due to its unobstructed view of the harbour and its location "on the meeting point of five auspicious 'dragon lines.'"

Inside of the HSBC building

An Inukshuk doing Tai Chi
(Well, ok, it's not an Inukshuk but that's what it looks like to me!)

Building reflection

Fortunately, we haven't yet seen or been affected by the Occupy Central crowds (and riots) but there is certainly a lot of police presence, especially walking by Government House on the way to the tram.

They definitely do not want anyone going over this wall!

A Bear With a Belly Full of Huckleberries

As often happens on the hiking trail these days, we were stopped so that Andrew could take some photos. I was looking around, searching for some more of the ripe and delicious huckleberries we'd been snacking on along the way.

I heard a "huffing" sound (like heavy breathing) and crackling of tree branches from something that seemed much larger than the many ground squirrels we'd seen.

"What's that noise?" I asked.

Concentrating on the photo composition of a flower, oblivious to any huffing or crackling noises, and not picking up on the hint of stress in my voice, Andrew said, "Oh, it's probably just a raven."

(Visualize Shelley rolling her eyes.)

"Ummmmm, noooooo, I think it's a bear," I said in a louder voice.

This finally got his attention. He stood up and shouted, "Hey bear!" And managed to catch a glimpse of the hind end of a small black bear crashing off into the bushes. Heading more or less in the same direction we were.

It's strange, the inane (and loud) conversations one has with a bear after meeting one. Even as mild an encounter as ours was.

"The huckleberries are waaaay better lower down the trail. You wouldn't like these ones here at all."

"Not that we're talking from experience! Oh no! We don't have any huckleberries in our bellies! Really truly! Heck, we don't even have any food in our packs! Truly, really!"

"Shelley has toothpaste in her pack though," said Andrew.

"But I'm sure your teeth are perfectly healthy from eating all those huckleberries so you don't need my toothpaste, Mr. Bear." I replied.

This ridiculousness went on until we suddenly came upon a family of Ptarmigan in the middle of the trail. "Shhhhh . . . don't scare them away!" Because Andrew has to take some photos of course.

We saw lots of these little guys. This one liked charcoal. 

We'd started our hike in Glacier National Park, Montana, five days earlier. The Park has a limited number of backcountry campsites and a registration system that ensures backpackers are spread out throughout the park. We went in with no expectations of what might or might not be available and ended up with a route that was a good mix of longer and shorter days. It was also nice to have a route that ended back at East Glacier Village so we didn't have to worry about catching another shuttle. We couldn't have asked for better weather and were quite thankful for shade-providing trees on smokin' hot days.

Keeping food away from hungry and curious animals.

Each backcountry campground had a meal prep area, a food hanging station, a pit toilet and 2-3 campsites.

Highlights of the Trip

• Hiking along the ridge up to Two Medicine Pass. Beautiful views down into the valleys on either side and, even though it's not much more than a bump in the ridge, going over the summit of Chief Lodgepole Peak.

From the ridge up to Two Medicine Pass.
Cobalt Lake and (in the distance) Two Medicine Lake.

• Relaxing and soaking in the views from Firebrand Pass after a steep scree slog to the top. 

Airing the feet at Firebrand Pass.

• Fording a 20-foot wide, knee-deep, very fast flowing and icy cold creek. Happy to have hiking poles to help keep us on our feet!

Hmmm, where's the best place to cross!

• Colourful alpine flowers.

• Picking huckleberries for breakfast.

• Clear mountain streams, creeks and lakes.

Slippery rocks!

• Andrew telling me my hair looked beautiful even though I'm pretty sure it was plastered to my head in a really bad morning bed-head sort of way. 

Trip Logistics

• Drive to Minot.

• Train to East Glacier Village (Why? Because we love train rides!)

Built in 1905, the Minot train station has recently been restored after being badly damaged in the 2011 floods. 

• Day 1 - Shuttle bus to Two Medicine Lake Ranger Station. Spend most of the morning at Range Station trying to figure out hiking logistics. Hike up to Scenic Point (10 km round trip). Overnight at Two Medicine Campground. 

About half way up the hike to Scenic Point, looking back at Two Medicine Lake.

• Day 2 - Take boat ride to the far end of Two Medicine Lake. It only cut off a couple easy km of hiking but was a fun ride on a boat built in 1924 and the captain told some interesting historical stories along the way. Hike 18 km mostly uphill to Cobalt Lake, over Two Medicine Pass, down to Upper Park Campground. 

Two Medicine Lake

Cobalt Lake

• Day 3 - Hike 4 km uphill to Isabel Lake. If not for still recovering from a big fire in 2003, this area would have been a lovely way to spend a relaxing day beside a beautiful alpine lake. But with the extreme heat and not much for trees, we were chasing shade most of the day! 

Campsite at Isabel Lake

Seeking shade at Isabel Lake

• Day 4 - Hike 16 km very gradual downhill to Park Campground. 

Where in the world is Andrew?!?
The trail was very overgrown at times, especially in the 2003 forest fire area. 

• Day 5 - Hike 8 km mostly uphill to Ole Creek Campground. Meet Mr. Bear just before the high pass. 

• Day 6 - Hike 18 km, gradual uphill, to Ole Lake Campground. Ford stream about 5 km in. 

Ole Lake

• Day 7 - Hike 20 km, steep uphill to Firebrand Pass (try to get it done before the hot sun comes over the ridge), then down and up another smaller ridge before long gradual downhill back to East Glacier.   

Enroute to Firebrand Pass

More photo opportunities

• Spend a couple nights at Glacier Park Lodge, eat lots of delicious food to pack the calories back on!

• Train back to Minot, drive home. 

Inside Glacier Park Lodge. Built in 1913.
Sixty 40-ft Douglas Fir trees, brought in by rail from Washington State, were used in the construction.

One of several veranda areas around the Lodge. This one was quiet and out of the way.

Long flower garden leading up to the Lodge.

Train station built in 1911.

Marketing 101 - Engage Your Audience

I love a good marketing campaign. One that grabs my attention and especially one that makes me smile or laugh.

I was walking along University Drive this morning and and started noticing chalk signs on the sidewalk, obviously left by some young weekend entrepreneurs. The wording has faded a bit so I've included captions.

I'd buy from them. Wouldn't you?  :-)

Lemonade!

Cold drinks

Almost there

Not far now

Watch your step (by large bump in the sidewalk)

Get your ¢ out

You're here!