After hours..

..After paying my respects to the Saints in the Commemoration Hall of Po Fook Hill, I took the smart advice of only English-written note and went back down. Being experienced in emergency paying (tax and visits, not respects) discovering the mistake this time was quite a pleasant surprise. Learn something new every day.I much rather this, than being slapped with bill, heisting 30% of my wages, from Her Majesty Customs department. The only price I paid was some 150 steps climbed up with a heavy rucksack on the sunny afternoon.
Eh, if only life was this easy..
Leaving the hall and turning around I've spotted some little, wooden signs leading to the promise land.
Tiny porcelain figurines, which have fallen into neglect, waiting endlessly to be praised were a herald of closing the target. Golden, lifesize sculptures of Buddhas situated just contrary to them, were a definite route marker. One seemed to be showing the way and greeting visitors, while the other one - on the opposite side - contemplating something. The rightness of climbing up again, perhaps. Now the only obstacle would be the overextending, curved, odd 500 steps leading to the hill I just got down from. Tirelessly I've started the race uphill. It's always harder than it looks. Universal truth says, that no matter how small the steps are, You'll never find them matching your footsteps. Right?
As I knew the reward will be waiting for me above I didn't really care at that point. The only issue rambling through my mind was the timing. It was 5.15 pm. Signpost saying open until 5.30 wasn't very worrying- at least I'd see it, I thought. Besides, Buddhist Monks wouldn't mind a late-ish visit, would they?
Zonk. I mean maybe they would not mind at all, but no monks were present whatsoever. Civil clothes wearing workers only, in a great number of 2.
Welcoming gates took me inside the tiled garden with red Pagoda rising in the middle of it, at the exact time of closure. Two clicks of camera inside the main room and the roller blind has hit the ground. There's a actually more than 10000 of postures inside I've found out- number reaches over 12k to set the record straight.
Disconsolate of the visiting-termination-time I wanted at least couple of more photos around. Always the last one to leave - that's me.
Still, something has told me, that this wasn't all to the cloister and a little path of winding stairs in the opposite direction to the exit only reaffirmed my theory.
Not bothered about timeframe, I wanted to find out where does this path lead to.
To more figurines maybe? Of course it does. Each and every different, hand-made and telling a different story. And a great view over the town of Sha Tin in addition.
The only story, which sounded inevitably the same as every day was told by my watch.
The story of I Am Late As Always.
Well, they've shut down the blinds, while I was still there, aware of my presence so what could happen? Closing the whole compound without checking for visitors could happen most definitely it has turned out. Since barbed wire and fences aren't my best friends and so isn't steep, concrete slope at night I started looking for an alternative to spending a night under the stars.
Suddenly I was enlightened..by the light coming out of someone's torch, while trying to climb down. Old Cantonese man was much more friendly than some of those sculptures' faces but spoke as much English as I do Cantonese. All his babble was a complete rinky dink to me.
Smiles did all the talking. Concerned with the situation, he's made a saving phone call, which has uncovered the secret of the key to emergency exit, locked in the emergency cupboard, hidden behind the emergency Buddha.
He has happily let me out by the lesser known exit in no time.
My shutter was employed for the last time on that day, on the way down ,immortalizing Buddha no. 439 to my photo collection.
Those steps have directed me through the squatter area of a traditional Chinese housing at the foot of the hill, where big, white, dog-resembling animal, whose barking and approaching me distance was proportional to the tempo of my walk appeared. Although he also turned out to be very understanding and let me pass through his territory without any problems.
I wish more friendliness of this kind is going to be found along my journeys..
About what I'm about to find out in the near future.