Travel Photos of the Day

Lantau Island has several tourist attractions, including Hong Kong Disneyland and many spiritual sites. Does this travel photo of the day pique your interest? Check out this excerpt from Realtraveler beth in asia’s blog:

“Lantau Island is the largest of all Hong Kong’s islands. It is twice the size of Hong Kong island (the island I live on). The international airport on its northeastern coast, built in 1998, has not greatly changed the rural quiet village life here. You can take the MTR (subway) to get to the island from Central district, or you can take a ferry from Central. We took the ferry and then a bus to the Pon Lin Monastery (about a 40 minute bus ride).

The Po Lin (”precious lotus”) Monastery is well known for its “Big Buddha”, Lantau’s number-one attraction. It claims to be Asia’s largest seated outdoor Buddha. How many other 85-foot, 250-ton bronze buddha’s are out there that are not seated? That’s what I want to know. The statue was built at the end of the 1980s and has turned this peaceful religious retreat into a tourist attraction (another book says it was finished in 1993). It took 3 years to build the statue and more than HK$60 million (almost $8 million US). It is a 268 step walk up to the big Buddha. The statue is encircled by a platform with 6 bronze bodhisattva statues, offering gifts to the Buddha. There is quite a nice view from up there, overlooking other islands and the South China Sea. To the left of the main temple are large dining rooms where your can enjoy a large vegetarian meal at the monastery for just a few dollars (US). We dined, then took a stroll through the gardens and temples.” (more…)

Plan your own trip to Lantau with these useful links:

Lantau Island Travel Guide
Lantau Travel Blogs
Things to do in Lantau
Hong Kong Travel Guide
China Travel Guide

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Venice has been long known as one of the most beautiful and romantic of all the cities in Italy. From the stunning St. Mark’s Basilica to the gently flowing Grand Canals, one of the greatest pleasures in this historic city is a simple stroll. No matter which way you look, inevitably something all at once pleasant and exciting will be sure to catch your eye, whether it be art or architecture. In Venice, even a simple side street can be packed with one-of-a-kind ambiance that will stick in your memory long after you have gone home. Check out what RealTravelers Trace & Simon had to say about this unforgettable destination in their recent travel blog, “Ahh Venice!”:

“From the minute you arrive in Venice you realise that this is somewhere unlike anywhere else in the world and very special. After the train journey from the Cinque Terra via Pisa and Florence we staggered out of Venice train station and ‘wham!’ you are instantly transported to another world. The station opens out straight onto the Grand Canal and instead of roads and cars and bikes you are looking at water, boats (lots) and gondolas. The buildings are all colourful and really old and very very beautiful. You are immediately in another world and it’s amazing…the guide book says that Venice is one of the few cities where it a pleasure to get lost and this is very true. We decided from day one that we wanted to spend many hours simply wandering around exploring canals and alleyways and ‘discovering’ hidden treasures and that is exactly what we did. The wandering is helped by the fact that Venice has probably the most expensive public transport on earth. The ‘average’ water taxi fare is 110 Euro.

So right from the off we allowed ourselves to drift around and get lost by following our noses down alleyways and over bridges. Every corner turned could revealed another beautiful piazza or stunning church with incredible frescoes and sculptures inside. And this is the amazing thing about Venice. It is criticized for not showing off it’s wealth of art very well and the the galleries are definitely not the best but there is a reason for this. All the best art is still in the churches and the real art IS Venice itself. Because it can’t expand anywhere there has been hardly any new development so all the building are centuries old and full of amazing architecture and art. So they don’t need galleries you just walk around and there it is.” (more…)

To plan your own trip to this beautiful destination, check out these resources:

Venice Travel Guide
Italy Travel Guide
Venice Travel Blogs
Venice Travel Photos
Official Homepage of St. Mark’s Basilica

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