Beginning to feel like home
Trip Start
Aug 24, 2008
1
26
129
Trip End
Jul 07, 2009
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Hong Kong,
China
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
Back in Hong Kong we visited Shek-O, a beach at the south of Hong Kong Island. The tram ride took way longer than expected so we got there and were hungry, so we went for lunch at a Thai restaurant on the beach where I had some delicious deep-fried squid. We spent the afternoon messing around on the beach and David buried me and decided to practice his judo on me. It was a nice relaxing day and we got some beautiful views of the outlying islands and beaches when we were on the bus.
The following day I had to pick up my passport and then we had to organise our Chinese and Vietnamese visas, which took most of the day and most of our money. It was over 100 pounds for a Chinese visa and we are only travelling through for 2 days!
At the weekend we headed over to Lantau Island. The ferry took about an hour and we found ourselves on a pretty beach. We took the bus through the hills to Ngong Ping, a village at the top. We walked along the Wisdom path where we say prayers written on tree trunks and beautiful views out to sea. We had some lunch and then climbed up to the giant Buddha. We looked around Po-Lin Monastery which was very pretty because there were flowers everywhere and then took the cable car back down again. This gave us an aerial view of the airport, which was pretty impressive. We had dinner at Discovery Bay and then headed back to the city. It was nice to be in the countryside for a change.
On Sunday we went dolphin watching to see Hong Kong's famous pink dolphins. We saw 10 dolphins following a fishing boat and leaping about in the waves, including one that jumped completely out of the water. I think it is sad that they are under threat by land reclamation and pollution, and nobody seems to care. I bought a pink dolphin keyring and then David and I went back to Kowloon to watch a Kung Fu demonstration, which was a bit amateurish. In the evening we went down to the goldfish market where we had a delicious BBQ pork bun and I bought a new diary, having filled mine with tales of our travels.
On Monday we booked our tickets to Vietnam and got charged 20 pounds commission for the privilege, despite the fact that there is nowhere else to book the tickets and it is impossible to turn up without booking. Grrr! We then took the ferry over to Lamma island where we snacked on chicken wings and then walked from one side of the island to the other, through the forests and with great views of the beaches. We had a delicious seafood dinner by the sea with the moon reflecting in the water and the waves lapping on the beach. I had mussels and David had prawns. Yummy!
Yesterday we went to Ocean Park to see the dolphins leaping about and the sealions doing tricks. It was all very impressive but I couldn't help feeling they should be in the wild. We went on some rollercoasters and ate ice cream and had lots of fun. In the evening we ate hotpot which was delicious!
Today I have spent a lot of time updating the site after having little or no internet for almost a month. Tomorrow we are taking the train to Vietnam.
Comments
Hmm
Mostly I shall consider buying this small island. It will make an excellent annex to my kingdom!