Enjoyable 360 tour (Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car (Hong Kong, China))

Member Name: AK_1988

Product:	Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car (Hong Kong, China)
Date:	14/08/09 (54 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great views, not in the busy city

Disadvantages: Expensive

This tourist attraction is easily accessed from Hong Kong's MTR Tung Chung Station. From here it is a short and flat walk to the cable car terminal. Here you can get your ticket from fairly pleasant English speaking staff. There are a variety of ticket options available, children, adult and seniors both singles and returns, I thought the ticket where quite step. You can pay more to go on one of their new glass floor gondolas, if you think the 360 degree panoramas on offer will not satisfy your desire for views. There are also attraction guides available in a variety of languages.

I arrived early and did not have to queue long to be placed on a gondola. Each gondola was cleaned by a member of staff before people where allowed to board. This might have been due to the recent outbreak of swine flu, but even still I thought it was a nice feature. Once on the gondola, it follows a 5.7km route, taking in some of Hong Kong greatest landscapes. Primarily, you leave the cable car terminal and cross over Tung Chung Bay over to Hong Kong International Airport. From here you cross the Bay once again and head across to Lantau North Country Park, as you rise you get a great photo opportunity of the manmade airport island, and with it being such a busy airport on a clear day you will more than likely see a few take offs and landings. After a while travelling over the beautiful Lantau North Country Park you will get your first glimpse of the Tian Tan Buddha Statue. The rest of the ride then takes in the rest of the park before arriving at Ngong Ping Cable Car Terminal. As you finish your ride there is an opportunity to get a rollercoaster like photograph taken from your gondola...yes you cannot escape any money making schemes, even here away from the bright lights of Central Hong Kong.

Then as you leave the car, you will be funnelled into the Ngong Ping 360 Souvenir Shops, most of the stuff is pretty tacky and if you are staying in Hong Kong you can probably get most of it for a 10th from the street markets. From here you can walk around Ngong Ping Village, visit the huge Tian Tan Buddha and visit the Po Lin Monastery.

Once you have finished your sightseeing, you can go back down on the gondola if you have bought a return ticket. Otherwise, you can walk down if your super fit and think you can handle heat up into the 100F and humidity well above 80% or you can take a bus down. The bus route in total takes about an hour, but it allows you to see many areas of Hong Kong that are far less densely populated and off the tourist trails.

Ngong Ping 360 is open 10am to 6pm on normal days and 9am to 6.30pm on weedends and special days. More information can be found at: www.np360.com.hk.

Summary: Ngong Ping Cable Car Hong Kong