Hong Kong;Sadly the hostel at 5 Man Fuk Road had no space for me and at the last minute I booked myself into a rather expensive hotel in order to guarantee a place to stay.The flight was fine- as many of you will have noticed I managed to get my Christmas cards written somewhere between Glasgow and London but afterweeks of going at 100mph in order to get away, I arrived in HK with my brain like mush and walked straight into the arms of the charlatans. A very charming man was offering 'good taxi service' and led me to a very upmarket vehicle with a very good looking tall Chinese driver.I tried to negotiate a price but they seemed unable to understand me or me them. It was only when I was dropped in the basement car park of the hotel rather than at the front door, that I realised something was not quite as it should have been- the fare was- well, I am not going to admit how much it was- more than three times what I should have paid at any rate- but it did get me smoothly and safely to the hotel which was at some distance from the airport- at the far end of Kowloon Harbour.Hong Kong is a very slick modern city dedicated to making and spending money- no-one at the hotel could believe I was not planning any shopping- my luggage was over the weight limit already and quite apart from not being able to afford the clothes, they are all made to fit the tiny Chinese women and not my ample frame. My first impression was of a very expensive place to hang out, rather like London but I soon discovered the cheaper version.I ate in cafes and restaurants frequented by Chinese where the only option was using chopsticks- I just copied the Chinese and slobbered it all in- I found that the star ferry cost about 20 pence to get across to the city centre in Hong Kong Island. I walked loads- the city centre is criss-crossed by covered walkways at various levels which keep you out of the sun and give you great views- the only problem is you tend to get rather lost in shopping malls trying to find a way out. My big adventure was to take the train to Lantau Island and take the most amazing cable car ride to Po Lin monastery way up in the mountains. I got off the train and suddenly saw the cable cars and rather stupidly thought- it is a cable car- I don't much like cable cars and the only one I had been in in recent years was the one in Christchurch which creeps up the hill just above the tree tops. I gave myself a good talking-to- after all I step onto an aeroplane which has no visible means of support without a moment's hesitation. Glad I didn't see just how far the cable car soared into the air or how many valleys it traversed. Amazingly I ended up in the same car as a young American woman who had been beside me on the flight from Heathrow. She was much more frightened of heights than I was and that actually helped. We swooped over the sea, took a bit of a turn and swooped over one valley then another and ended up way up in the mountains- I have no idea how high it was- about 3000 to 4000 feet I would think. It is difficult to show just how big the Buddha is- it is the largest seated Buddha in Asia. I trudged up the 300 or so steps up to the base of the Buddha but for me the real treat was the visit to the monastery which was in the woodland at the base.I had a vegetarian lunch in a big hall- cooked by the monks- it was delicious and enough food for four!! Wonderful spring rolls with grated mooli (I think that it what it is called- like a giant radish) with grated root ginger- I didn't care if the outer casing was made of wheat-though I think it was made of rice four it was so crisp- I was going to eat it anyway-difficult thing to do with chopsticks- but again I copied the locals. There was fried bean curd with chunks of celery peppers and courgettes- all amazingly tasty, and Pak Choi fried with the most amazing s***ake mushrooms- slippery in the chopsticks though!! All accompanied by huge pot of Chinese tea, saucepan of sticky rice and about 4 pints of mixed vegetable soup. When I left the cafeteria I could hear chanting and ended up sitting on the steps outside the temple listening to the monks chanting the 'service'. There were a fair number of Buddhists around who were taking part- some inside the temple- some on the steps outside. It was a most moving experience- I wanted to be able to take part but had no idea how to follow all the bows and prostrations never mind the chants presumably in Chinese. On the way down hill on the cable car I found I had completely lost my fear of it and was able to look over the edge and take lots of photos. There are 300 or so Buddhist monasteries in the hills around Po Lin- mostly all you could see was the tiny point of a roof above the trees.The other things I managed to do was to visit some of the Hong Kong parks and I thoroughly enjoyed a wander round the art gallery with all the delicate Chinese paintings and amazing calligraphy- but n the whole I was glad to move on.And the journey back to the airport- I found I could check in my luggage at the local train station and a 20 minute ride on a fast train had me there- all for the cost of £8!!