Ele was set to land in the morning of Saturday. However, big delays at Heathrow meant that she had to fly via Bangkok (thus one upping me in the number of Asian countries she has visited!) and instead landed in the evening, about 9 hours late. I took the opportunity to check out Lantau Island – a logical move, since Chep Lap Kok airport is on the same island.

I took the Star Ferry over to Hong Kong Island and immediately leapt onto the first boat for Lantau. The Star Ferry is a wonderful relic of the age of the British Empire, while the ferries for the outlying islands are more Thunderbirds. The quality of public transport in HK is both deeply impressive and characterful, mixing state-of-the-art systems (aiport express, MTR, boats) with older modes (Star Ferry, Trams).

Views from the Star Ferry

The world’s biggest outdoor, seated, bronze Budda is situated on the island (statistically ridiculous, but I didn’t really care – it was still big) and caught some nice views accross the islands. The Cantoese are much more likely to go hiking than the Taiwanese and the mountains really are very beautiful.

Details of the Buddist temple

Incense burning

Statues beneath the Budda

Owing our sanity to international text messages between our mobiles, we finally met up and it was great! Although she was almost tearful from lack of sleep we headed straight out for a drink on the dock side and then sushi. Hello Sister! A sight for sore eyes.

Ele in Hong Kong!