Hong Kong: Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery

I arrived in Hong Kong on a Saturday night and, after hurrying to get through security, finally got to hug my sister after 7 months apart. In some ways it has felt like 7 months because I miss my family so much. But in other ways, like how easily we fell back into step with each other, it feels like no time has passed. She has always been the person I can be most myself with though, so it comes as no surprise that even 7,000 miles away from our hometown I felt comfortable immediately.

She’s currently a student in Hong Kong so the plan was that I would stay in a hostel with some of my other english teacher friends from Korea the first 3 days and then the last 4 days at her apartment. That first night we pretty much just relaxed and waited for my friends to arrive from Korea.

So it wasn’t until the next day after sleeping in a while, that we really got started seeing Hong Kong. And the very first place we went ended up being possibly my favorite of the whole trip.

 

 

We set of in the morning after grabbing breakfast and a coffee and headed over to the Sha Tin area to see Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery. While it was initially a little tricky for us figure out how to get from the bus stop to the monastery, we just followed the flow of other tourists and eventually ended up at the entrance.

 

 

 

 

The walk up to the monastery is this rather steep winding path lined with golden buddha statues each with a unique pose. The steepness combined with the fact that it was roughly a billion degrees and 100% humidity made it a bit difficult. I’m not sure if I have ever sweat more in my entire life.

 

 

 

 

 

After pausing by this little money friend for a moment to catch our breath, we finally reached the monastery at the top. The view was amazing. The sky was so big and so blue and the ornate red and gold buildings contrasted beautifully.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I don’t know why I was so surprised by the blueness of the sky, maybe because Korea is so often grey, but I could hardly stop taking pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

If possible it was even hotter at the top so we didn’t hang around too long before heading back down.

 

 

 

10,000 Buddhas Monastery is estimated to actually have more than 10,000 different statues on its premise. But regardless of how impressive that sounds, the buildings and the walk up to the top are worth it.

I loved the sculptures different poses from silly to thoughtful. And buildings surrounding the courtyard at the monastery were incredible in their own right.

This was just the first stop in a very very busy day. But I had a lot of pictures from it so I figured I’d give 10,000 Buddhas its own post. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them!

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