Ngong Ping, Something

Since I got so far behind in Taiwan by not posting daily I’m going to try to avoid that here.  Which means I don’t  know when I’ll catch up on Taiwan, but I will sooner or later.

Today I took the trolley to Hong Kong Central station.  The trolleys here are a great value.  Each trip runs 2.30HK, or about  35 cents US.   They run the length of the island and get you to almost any metro (subway) station you could want.    I rode the length of the orange line, the Tung Chung line, to reach the Ngong Ping aerial tram.  The subway ride ran 22.30HK, or about $3.50 US each way.   I know it’s cheaper if you buy their special card, whatever it’s called, but I don’t know that I would use it enough to make it worthwhile.

The trip was quick, quiet and uneventful, even peaceful.  I did get a laugh when I reached the spur line that runs out to HK Disneyland.  Yep, Disney has it’s own MRT line here.  Not just their own line either, they also have their own special train where all the windows in each car are shaped like Mickey’s head and all the cars are painted dark blue with white stars all over them.  Cute.

Anyway, next stop the Ngong Ping 360.  Turns out the whole thing is run by some big HK tour company that pushes its tour packages all the way up the line from the time you get in line to buy the tram tickets until the time you manage to escape with any of you wallet intact.  All the shops above and below are owned by the company and staff by earnest young people dressed in the company’s signature green and gold (tan?) uniform.   I think they took their cue from a mixture of Disney and the cruise lines.  Everything is a package if they can sell it to you!

Ah, but enough on that.  It’s Sunday here today, which means oodles and oodles of people every which way you turn looking to see the sights.  So the line for the tram was long.  It took about an hour for me to actually be able to board the thing.  And I had to decide if I wanted to pay extra to ride in one of the glass-bottomed cars.  I passed as I tend to get vertigo when looking straight down from any height over about 30 feet.  I shouldn’t have.  The price difference was only about $3.00 US and the line was 75% shorter.  Which I didn’t find out until I turned the corner after buying my ticket.  I could have saved myself a whole lot of waiting if I had just kept my gaze straight out to the side.  Isn’t hindsight wonderful?

just getting started

The ride to the top was fabulous.  The mountains were beautiful.  The ocean was beautiful.   The view of the islands was beautiful.  The scenery along the tram route was beautiful.  I think you get the picture.  It was worth a lot of pictures.  Oh, there is a trail up the mountain.  You can hike up; you and hike down.   Either way you would do a whole lot of up and down.  And thousands of stairs both ways.  I have no idea how many hours it would take, but you had better be in pretty fantastic physical shape if you intend to try it.  But it looked lovely as I was floating over it in my comfy tram seat with a gentle breeze wafting through the car.

small section of the trail

The purpose of all this isn’t the picturesque tram ride.  That’s just a nice way to get to the top.  There are buses that go to the top.  I think you can just drive up if you have a vehicle.   The reason for the tram and the theme village the tram company built at the top (with lots and lots of gift shops!) is the Po Lin monastery, ancient temple and giant Buddha that are also up there.   The religious community is renowned for their possession of an actual artifact of the Buddha.  It’s a tiny fragment of bone that was left in the ashes after his cremation.  It’s housed in a little crystal shrine inside the giant statue.   You can view the crystal gizmo that holds the artifact and there is a photo of the bone fragment posted above it.  Looking at the two things I’m guessing that the fragment is about a quarter of an inch long.

just a few steps away

big Buddha

Once you manage to get out of the money-sucking portion of the journey, the mountain top itself is just a really nice place to be.  It’s much cooler than the city.  You’re above the smog.  There are great views in every direction and flowers, birds, butterflies and dragonflies galore.  In short, a little slice of heaven sitting just a 15 minute tram ride from the ant-hill apartment highrises of Hong Kong.   I hadn’t been there 30 minutes before I was wishing there was a hotel I could transfer to for the night just so that I could walk around up there after all the tourists had gone home for the day.   I also wished I had gotten there earlier in the day so that I could have had some time to spend hiking part of that trail that went up the mountain.

There was a wonderful slice cut between two folds of the mountain not far from the upper tram station (maybe 3/4 of a mile) where a small, crystalline stream flowed, tumbling over rocks into a series of small waterfalls and gentle pools that had my name written all over it.  But I had to choose.   The Buddha statue, monastery and temple, or the hike.  It was not a choice I enjoyed making.   But doing both would have meant missing the last tram down the mountain.  I probably could have still caught a bus down…or not.  It might have meant hiking down the mountain in the dark.  Not a happy thought to someone who is pretty much night-blind.

I truly enjoyed the things I did see.  Including a very old monk who was visiting from Tibet who was tying little woven bracelets around the wrists of people who were visiting the temple as a sort of blessing, something about health and long life.  He was attended by two younger monks whose job seemed to be keeping the old master comfortable and happy as he communed with the faithful.  I watched them rubbing his legs when he was tired and adjusting his wrap when his shoulders got cold.   They were really dedicated to the old guy.   They obviously cared for him deeply.

old monk

The temple at the Po Lin monastery is getting an enormous upgrade.  There is a building going up behind it that will be about five times the size of the current temple.
The current temple is beautiful and extremely ornate, as they all seem to be.  It is surrounded by lots and lots of flowers and on both sides of the “street” leading up to it there are places for the faithful to burn incense.  Not the little incense sticks we’re used to seeing.   The smallest of the incense sticks these people burn are at least 18 inches long.   The big ones can be close to three feet long and about and two inches thick.  And nobody lights just one.  They light the smaller ones by the dozen.   Everything is done in threes also, I don’t know why, but they do have a reason for it.    They clap three times before they worship.  Temples have three doors.   Worshipers bow three times when they bow.  It’s all part of the package.  I’ll have to look up the “why” of it all sometime.

figures in shrine

temple altar

temple courtyard

new construction

temple

 

 

 

 

 

 

flag courtyard

incense

Anyway, all good things come to an end and I figured my “end” here should come about an hour and a half before the last tram to avoid the rush of people who had to get down the mountain.  I should have headed down about an hour before I did, apparently.  I spent an hour and 15 minutes in line before I finally got to board a tram down.  I went down wedge between some Israeli guy, who spent the whole trip down talking animatedly with his friend sitting across from him (neither one bothered to look at the scenery until they were about 2 minutes from the bottom from what I could see) and a Chinese man on the other side who sat like a statue beside his wife all the down, neither of them speaking a word.

islands

The subway ride back wasn’t nearly so peaceful.  The car was crammed full of people and I couldn’t get a seat until about 2/3 of the way back to my station.  The trolley was just as crowded.   Everyone trying to get back home at the end of their weekend I guess.   Since my “weekend”, all 31 days of it, isn’t quite over, I wonder where tomorrow will find me.  Guess I’ll wrap this up and do some research on that.

dragon fruit in the market

Goddesses worshiping Buddha

From Lukang to ChangHua and BaGwa (Shan) again

Skipping forward a few days on this trip.  I’ll have to catch up the back posts later.  I’m getting a bit behind myself.

Today, being Saturday, Brian (the oldest of my younger brothers) and I decided to stay near home.  It seems that weekends are no time to go anyplace popular, or to any large city like Taipei.  Apparently everyone in Taiwan goes sight-seeing to various points of interest on the weekend.  Thus the roads and all points of interest are clogged with people, making it hard to do anything.

The first place we went was Lukang.  Located in Lukang is the oldest temple in Taiwan.  Lukang is also known as “the city of temples” for the obvious reason that there are more temples here than anywhere else in Taiwan.

As we drove into the city, Brian spotted a colorful dragon peeking over the rooftops and pulled over to let me get out and snap a photo.  The dragon turned out to be part of a small shrine or temple tucked behind the storefronts.   The dragon and the building that it topped were so colorful they reminded me of an ice cream stand one might find near the beach.  That structure was surrounded by a small moat with an arched bridge connecting it to the rest of the temple.  Two young boys, about 8-10 years of age were burning piles of books or paper tracts of some kind that had apparently passed their “sell by” date in an iron furnace attached to the main temple.   A woman stood behind a near-by counter selling the current version of the same item plus various prayer “scrolls” and charms for luck, wisdom, health, etc.

In the US, leaving two young boys as young as those I observed doing the burning alone to play with that much fire just wouldn’t be done, but hey, this isn’t America.  And children here are not wrapped up in safety packaging and protected not only from themselves but from everything else as well.  Parents don’t seem to fear every possible problem or injury that could befall their children.  It’s not that they don’t care about their kids, in fact they seem to dote on them.  They just have a different view of the world.  Something that would amaze the average American, but which is commonplace here is taking one’s children everywhere on the family scooter.  Often riding 4 to a scooter with adult, child, adult, child all sandwiched together on the seat zipping down the street oblivious to the cars, bikes, scooters and trucks darting around them in some sort of intricate ballet.

Oh yes, I had heard that traffic signs and lights here were merely suggestions, but today I observed it first-hand.  If the light is red and you’re waiting to make a left turn and no one is on the cross street, well, hey, isn’t that the perfect time to make your turn, instead of waiting for a break in oncoming traffic when your light is green?  And if you need to pass a slower vehicle and there is a clear space on the other side of the road, isn’t that the perfect place to do so?  And trust me, that clear space needn’t be all that large.

We eventually came to the area of the ancient temple and were lucky enough to find a parking lot with empty spaces for only $100 N.T.   That is 100 new Taiwan dollars; roughly the equivalent of $3.30 American.  A steal considering the lack of parking in the area.  At first we weren’t sure where we should pay the fee, but as Brian started to back the car into a space a woman came running out of somewhere to collect the money and put a slip under the wiper blade showing that we had paid.

This woman was so covered up that virtually all I could see of her were her eyes.  She had a large hat to shade her face, a scarf that covered her mouth and nose, a long-sleeved blouse into which the scarf was tucked, gloves, long pants and socks and shoes.  Brian explained to me that here the people value pale skin.  Skin that has apparently never seen the sun.  They think the American obsession with tanning is just plain weird.  To the Taiwanese pale, untanned skin is the sign of someone with a higher education and job.  Someone who has never had to labor in the fields under a hot sun.   So no matter how hot and humid the day, when they go out in the sun they are covered head to toe.  They even have a sort of mitten than covers the hand grips and throttle and brakes on their scooter to keep their hands shielded from the sun while riding it.

But I think I was supposed to be going to the ancient temple.

From the parking lot we walked up a long shady street that was lined on both sides with shops selling various goods.  Along the edge of the sidewalk nearest the street there were more vendors selling goods from small carts and tables.  The majority of the people simply walked in the street.  And the street was crowded with people.  But the street was NOT closed to traffic, so from time-to-time a scooter or (less often) a car would attempt to make its way slowly (very, very slowly) through all those bodies, down the street, without actually running anyone over.  Personally, I would have taken a different route!

Eventually we made it to the temple and it was quite an involved affair.   Temples here are by their very nature involved affairs.  Every possible surface is covered with carvings, paintings, sculptured pieces, etc. etc.  More detail than the eye can take in. A whirling cacophony of color and texture over-laid with the smoke and smell of the hundreds of sticks of incense that are burned every day.  With this temple there was first the main building, then on either side a small alleyway leading to a courtyard with another building behind that.

oldest temple in Taiwan

mini shrine “apartment buildings”

The rear building was a two-story affair with staircases on either side sporting dragons intricately carved into the stone panels under the hand rails.  Upstairs were “Buddha mountains”, miniature apartment buildings (for lack of a better term) with hundreds of tiny glass-fronted rooms, each with a tiny Buddha and a light bulb inside, stacked one on top of the other in round or rectangular clusters, floor to ceiling.  On the front of most of the “rooms” were the names of temple patrons, for whom one of these tiny shrines had been dedicated in order to honor their support of the temple.   In other rooms were larger and more ornate cubicles, perhaps for patrons who had donated substantially more?   It’s hard to say, as all around there were people in various poses of prayer or meditation and others awaiting their turn to pray in front of one of these mini-shrines.   So these might have been dedicated to deceased ancestors.  Since I can’t translate any Chinese I’m just guessing here.

From there we continued on down the street to an old alley that was famed for the buildings along it that were original construction from 300 years ago that had been maintained in their original condition (except for the addition of electricity and running water).  The homes had exterior brick walls and access to the courtyards within was made via a small wooden gate in the wall.  The home then sat behind the miniature garden.   These were the homes of the well-to-do of their time, protected oases where they could be sheltered from the harsher world outside.   All the other buildings lining the alley shoulder to shoulder were businesses selling all sorts of goods from tourist schlock to finely carved wooden products, clothing and hand-painted fans and lanterns.  One store contained intricately detailed miniature furniture similar to what one might find in a little girl’s doll house, but far nicer and more expensive.   All of the doors and drawers on each piece had tiny metal pulls and handles and each opened and closed.  The price for a small wardrobe-style chest with two latticed cabinet doors on top and four tiny drawers, two on each side, on the bottom was about $50 US.  Far less than I would expect to find a similar piece in the states.

One of the more famous homes on this alley is the home of the half well.  It’s fame comes from the well built for the use of the homes inhabitants.  The well was built into the wall with half of the well inside the courtyard and half projecting through the wall so that the poor or thirsty could have ready access to fresh water.   The Wang family (who owned the home) were apparently known for the “virtue of generosity” among their neighbors.

Wang home – 300 yr old well and wall

Wang home viewed through gate

The alleys in this section of town are very narrow.  Some of them so narrow that the alleys are barely three feet wide.  Making it difficult to pass through these alleys by any manner aside from on foot.

narrow alley

Giant Buddha

From there we went to BaGwa Shan at ChangHua.  BaGwa Shan is the name of the mountain that is the home to a giant statue of the Buddha in the town of ChangHua.   This statue is four stories tall and hollow inside so that a visitor can climb through levels showing large dioramas of the life of Buddha.   They are all very stylized and full of magical beings and references to Buddha’s god-status. Even though he himself didn’t like the title being applied to him and constantly denied any such claim, his followers apparently aren’t having any of that.  So he is tempted by demons and spoken to and fed by magical animals (who then commit suicide so that they can be reincarnated as human beings of the most enlightened type).

The grounds are lovely and covered with all kinds of statuary.  Somewhere there was some flower in bloom that sent the most wonderful scent wafting on the breeze if you were lucky enough to be standing in the right spot.  I never could locate the source.  From the hilltop where the Buddha sits you can look out across the city until everything disappears into the mist. (Taiwan is very humid.  The sky is almost always white with all the moisture in the air.  It limits visibility because of its high level.)

beautiful roof in the city skyline

After we left ChangHua we returned home, stopping for a late lunch/early dinner at a local grocery/department store.  I had a meal of a small salmon steak, a good-sized piece of chicken than had  a spicy “crust”, possibly some light batter than was applied before it was fried, rice, bean sprouts, soup and tea for a little less than $3.50 US.   It was really quite good.  Food here is fairly inexpensive, very inexpensive compared to the prices I was paying in Japan.

Then we came back to Brian’s apartment for the night.