Camel's in the House

It was during the days of pandemic lockdown when I chanced upon the Yeung Hau temple on the fringes of the sleepy fishing village of Tai O on Lantau Island. Wandering along cramped back lanes, in between weathered wooden houses on stilts with roofs of corrugated metal, I emerged rather unexpectedly into the open of a sheltered bay. An unassuming temple sat quietly under wide blue skies, surrounded by the rolling sea and green hills. If not for the colourful pennants, flapping merrily in the breeze atop 15-foot poles, I wouldn’t have noticed the building at all. Its ash gray walls and dark tiled roof were that unremarkable. But I’m glad I didn’t miss it, because then I’d have missed out on meeting Camel.