Hong Kong
Hong Kong was the final stop on our holiday in China, and the point at which we said goodbye to Ann, our guide around China. From here on we were on our own. By the time we landed in Hong Kong it was already dark. The first thing that strikes you as you come into the city from the airport is how tall all the buildings are. Land is in short supply here, so the only way is up. The buildings all look very pretty lit up at night.
We spent pretty much the whole of the first day exploring Central and Causeway Bay on Hong Kong island. We started off with the peak. We took the tram up, which was very steep, much steeper than San Francisco. I can see now why they needed to build this to help the commuters who live on the mid-levels. The view from the top was quite spectacular.
It’s a shame it was so hazy, but apparently clear days in Hong Kong are getting rarer these days due to all of the pollution. After having lunch at the peak we headed back down on the tram and went for a wonder around the business district.
We then hopped on a tram back to Causeway Bay and spent the rest of the afternoon shopping.
On our second day in Hong Kong we both had major hangovers, due to getting completly bladdered the night before. It was also quite hot outside, so we decided to take shelter in one of Hong Kong’s many air conditioned shopping malls and do yet more shopping. For this we took the ferry accross the bay to Kowloon, where they conveniently have an absolutely massive shopping mall right next to the ferry terminal.
We were in that place until about lunchtime, I bought a new iPod (a shiny black video one no less). After lunch we got over our hangovers sufficiently enough to brave the outside world. So we hopped in a taxi to go to Hong Kong history museum. They had an interesting exhibition on the modern history of Hong Kong, from it’s beginnings as a trading outpost in the 19th century. After wandering around the exhibition for a bit we decided it was time for a bit more shopping, so we headed for Temple Street market.
After the market we got the ferry back over to Hong Kong Island and went out for dinner.
On our final day we had some spare time before we needed to head for the airport. We’d had enough of shopping so we decided to head out of the city. We jumped on a bus and went round the other side of Hong Kong Island to a town called Stanley. It was quite pleasant, almost felt like a small English seaside town. We had fish and chips for lunch, and had a wonder around the market. After that we headed back round the island to catch our transfer to the airport.