The journey to Po Lin Monastery is something of an experience, driving as you do through Lantau National Park. The position of the Big Buddha is such that it appears teasingly between hills at various points along the route, and then when it suddenly appears in all it's glory on the horizon there is a combined intake of breath from all the tourists on the bus, and a simultaneous raising of eyes and tutting from locals who have seen it a million times and wonder what all the fuss is about. The bus stops in a circular area near the base of the monastery, at the edge of which is a turnstile leading to hundreds of steep steps up to the base of the statue. In the center of this circular area is a raised platform with seating for those too shattered to do anything other than fall over after climbing all the way up and then all the way back down again. Access to the Buddha itself is free of charge, but for sixty Hong Kong Dollars you can also access the exhibition halls at it's base and are supplied with a vegetarian meal during your visit.

The first thing which amazes people when they visit the Buddha is how old it is. Ask the average tourist who hasn't done too much research and they'll guess that it must be ancient, but in fact construction of the Tian Tan Buddha only started in 1990 and wasn't completed until 1993, something which never ceases to blow people's minds - somehow, the idea that construction could be undertaken on such a vast scale for no monetary gain seems alien to people today, so they automatically categorise it along with ancient construction projects such as the pyramids. Tell people when the Tian Tan Buddha was built and they probably won't believe you.

Two hundred and sixty-eight steps lead up to the base of the statue, several landings giving you a chance to catch your breath on the way up. At the top you can walk around the base (and there's a bizarre choice of words if ever I saw one) where eight smaller statues depict the gods, and then if you've paid the entrance fee they allow you inside the base to where I'm told you can inspect an ornate carved bell designed to ring 108 times a day - but as sixty Hong Kong Dollars was a bit steep for us given the length of the trip ahead and our budget, we had to reluctantly give this a miss.

Po Lin Monastery itself, should you still be alive to explore it having walked up and down the 268 steps of the Buddha, is just as spectacular as you might expect from the Far East after reading about Wat Tham in Phuket and the temples in Bangkok. This time, however, there were sour faced old ladies on hand to shriek at us incoherently should we look as though we might be contemplating using a camera within the confines of the temple. That's not allowed you see, no siree bob! Take as many photos outside as you like, but take a photo inside and it's shrieking banshee time - not a pleasant experience, especially as the signs which are supposed to tell you this are written in such bad English that you couldn't possibly know you were doing anything wrong prior to being wailed at. Oh, and plenty of finger wagging. I almost forgot about the finger wagging.

Outside the entrance was a giant cauldron inscribed to mark the handover of Hong Kong to the Chinese in 1997. Nearby, locals were lighting handfuls of incense sticks and planting them in smaller cauldrons, and inside the first building - Welto Temple - monastery tourists were shuffling respectfully past massive Buddhist statues protected behind glass. Beyond this first temple, a giant open courtyard was lined with trees in imminent danger of being set alight by more blazing cauldrons, and a pond and seats to one side offered a nice resting place to look up at the imposing form of the Big Buddha behind us. Steps led up from the courtyard to the entrance to the much larger and far more elaborate Hall of the Great Hero, a much more imposing and beautifully crafted temple than Welto with the traditional double-roof design. Dragon statues adorned each side of the entrance, and Eloise and I were able to walk around an external balcony and admire the temple from all sides before entering. Inside, the main room was dominated by statues of the past, present and future Buddhas, and this time there were many local people praying and sitting silently around the room. We all shuffled in silently through one side of the hall, made our way through looking the statues over with suitable amounts of awe, and shuffled out the other.

About Simon and Burfords Travels:

Simon Burford is a UK based travel writer. He will be re-publishing his travel blogs, chapters from his books and other miscellaneous rantings on these pages over the coming weeks and months, and the entry on this page may not necessarily reflect todays date.