Hong kong
Trip Start
Jun 04, 2008
1
30
79
Trip End
Feb 20, 2009
Hong Kong,
China
Saturday, December 13, 2008
We dropped off our stuff, and walked around for an hour, amazed at the city's resemblance to Britain (who held it for 99 years). People drive on the left side of the street. There are double-decker red buses. The streets are clean. And everything is as much or more expensive that it would be at home in MN. We got up the next day, took the ferry over to Hong Kong Island. This was even nicer and flashier than Kowloon. We stumbled upon an outdoor, free, botanical garden and zoo, and spent some time there. It was beautiful, well manicured, large, and the animals lived in large luxury cages with plenty of indoor habitat. And it was a free city park. Unreal.
We headed for Victoria Peak later that evening. Despite the super-modern urban atmosphere, Lonely Planet stated that Hong Kong is actually 80% mountains and woods. I can believe that as the city is on basically one side of a mountainous island. We took the tram up to the peak, and spent the evening up there. It was a nice peak above the city, an oasis of green around the city, and had a spectacular view of the city on one side and the ocean on the other. I think you could see both sides of the island from Victoria Peak. There is a 5k loop trail that runs around the top of the peak, and Eric and I decided to hike it, despite the fact that it was already after dark. We always get caught in the dark, and now habitually carry flashlights. The trail, however, was very well lit and our flashlights were soon useless. The trail was not crowded, although every half mile or so we would see joggers or other walkers. Openings in the tree branches led to magnificent views of the city and the sea below. It was a very nice walk. When we returned to the peak, we rewarded ourselves with a bottle of wine and some fancy ice cream. We climbed to the actual peak, drank our wine, and just took in the view. Not a bad way to end the day.
We got up the next morning and headed towards Lantau Island, home of a very large bronze Buddha statue. We got to Lantau Island, passed Disneyland, and kept going until we got to the very last stop. We walked around a bit before heading to the cable car. This cable car extended way beyond where the eye could see, up the mountains, took a turn to the left, and just kept on going. The cable car ride was probably a half an hour long. From the car you can see the international airport, the cities below, the beaches, and then just mountains. Below the cable car lies a trial that must take hours to hike.
We got to the bronze Buddha and started walking around. The park that the Buddha is in could easily be entertaining for a day, although we only had a few hours. We climbed the stairs to the Buddha, read about its history, and I tried to give the Buddha a high-five. We went to the theater on the Peak and watched a movie about Buddha as well before we took the cable car back down the mountain. We headed back to Kowloon and walked down the Avenue of the Stars, which is a lot like the famous street in Hollywood. There are stars on the sidewalk, hand prints, statue movie sets, and a big statue of Bruce Lee. Strolling along the seaside Avenue of the Stars at night was a relaxing way to for our trip in Hong Kong to come to a close.
