Hong Kong: Glitz and glamour
Trip Start
Jul 11, 2006
1
12
32
Trip End
Jun 28, 2007
Hong Kong,
Hong Kong
Monday, September 11, 2006
A view from the longest escalator in the world
. I got the bus at 7.30am, so I didn't have to wait around long. It was very quiet and I ended up stretching out across the back row for a few hours, catching up on some sleep, before arriving at the border. As always in China, there was chaos at customs; super long queues and forms to fill in, but it didn't take long before I made my way through. On the other side, quite possibly the best bus I have ever been on was waiting to take us to the HK customs just down the road. When we arrived I felt like I was in a different world; the signs had English, the staff were friendly, the place was clean, there were signs for no spitting or smoking, and there were orderly queues which took a few minutes to pass through. HK is the first place on my travels so far that I didn't need a visa for! And being a British EU citizen, we get a 180 day stamp in our passport, whereas most other people only get 90 (Oh the benefits of a UK passport...). So back on the super luxury bus, with full leather reclining seats, for the quick ride into HK city.I missed the stop where I needed to get off (the driver was Chinese and didn't speak English so I couldn't ask), but I jumped on the tube, after using an ATM to get some money, to where i needed to be. I found my way to the hostel, 13th floor of some dodgy tower block and checked in. Normally after so much travelling I'd catch up on some sleep, but the hostel was so shoddy I thought I may as well head out and grab some food. Some girls I met there gave me their map as they were leaving, so I headed out in search of food and a new hostel. Th girls pointed me in the direction of a food court place, where they served pretty good food so i ended up in there. Afterwards I headed off in search of a youth hostel I seen in my book, but when I got there it was a dam hotel charging Y600/night, I got it completely wrong. Ah well, looks like I cant have good accommodation everywhere
Across the river from the Star Ferry
. I sorted out my bus to Yangshou next, $250HK (about 16 quid) from the border to Yangshou which wasn't too bad. That evening I made my way down to the water front and took the famous Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island where I was going to head up to Victoria Peak to checkout HK by night. The city was absolutely amazing at night; there are dozens of huge skyscrapers all glistening with lights and the view from the ferry was fantastic (check the pictures). I wasn't prepared for the breathtaking view from the viewing tower overlooking the whole district. I took the Peak Tram up the peak, which pulls you up the super steep hill (well over 45 degrees) and headed on to the viewing tower rof terrace to overlook the city. You have to check out the pix for yourself, it was amazing! HK food was expensive, compared to the rest of China, so I decided to go to a cheap eat on the way back to the hostel, McDonald's! Beer was expensive too, 9 times the cost of that in China, so I didn't bother indulging.The following day I got up early and headed over to Lantau Island by ferry to see the World's biggest outdoor sitting Buddha. Lantau Island was beautiful; lush greenery, golden sandy beaches, and very mountainous. I took the public bus up to the Buddha, which was an experience in itself. Weaving up the mountains, and zooming through the lush forests, the bus seemed like it was glued to the road
Big Buddha from the side
. After about 30 mins the bus rolled into the village and I made my way up the steps to see the Buddha. It was OK, but nothing spectacular, neither was the attached temple, although it was better than the tourist trap temples I visited on the cruise. I wandered around for a little while then ended up getting the bus back to the dock, but the ferry wasn't for a while so I ordered some noodle soup from a little restaurant on the water front, followed by a McDonald's shake for desert...When I got back to my hostel guess who was there, the girls again! I had left a day earlier then them and we randomly ended up in the same hostel! Nuts. That evening I headed out with the girls; we took the Peak Tram up to the viewing point which I didn't mind doing again as the view so was spectacular. We hoped to see the fantastic light show that takes place every night across the harbour, but it wasn't that good (we later found out that it's not a very good place to see it). Not too disheartened, we took the Pek Tram back down and caught a little wooden tram down into the Causeway Bay area of the Island, in hope of finding some cheap food. We walked aimlessly for a while without success and ended up in McDonald's! Good old trusty McDonald's!
Hong Kong has the longest escalator in the World (over 800m long), so the next day I went in search of it over on Hong Kong Island
Big Buddha on Lantau Island
. I had the impression it was in one of the tube stations (For the record, HK has the most amazing tub network; all the trains are new, very clean, AC, and have LED sign boards that tell you exactly where you're headed. The best bit has to be the open ended carriages! The carriages have no doors at either end meaning you can see down all of the carriages! It looks cool!), so I headed over to Central tube station was looked around for a while, before realising it wasn't in there at all. The escalator takes you up from the Central area to the Mid Levels which I eventually found. I had the impression it was going to be one 800m long escalator, but it wasn't at all. It was simply a load of smaller ones connected together by pathways under a roof. It was fun to ride it I guess, as it passed through the So-Ho area where all the bars are. It only goes one way at a time; down for the morning rush hour, up afterwards, so once I was up there, it was a long walk back down. I decided to just carry on upwards and head for the peak tower yet again, but this time is was during the day. It was a super steep climb but it only took around 30 mins, and the views on the walk up were stunning. Right in the centre of the city the path climbs up through lush vegetation, quite surreal as when you look through the trees you can see huge skyscrapers!I spent a while at the top before heading on back down, which was more tiring than the walk up! It was incredibly steep and it killed my quads, so by the time I was getting to the bottom my legs felt like jelly. On the way down I passed the Hong Kong Botanical Gardens and Zoo, it was free so I spent a little while checking it out
That evening I headed down to the Temple Street market with a guy from my hostel. We had a wander around tourist stuff, he shouted me some food (and later a shake from McDonald's, Cheers Blue!) and then we headed on to check out the Mon Kok area where there are other markets of sorts
Cruise ship docked up in Kowloon
.I'd run low on cash so I didn't want to spend much the following day. I decided to check out the Space Museum, but as luck would have it, it doesn't open on Tuesdays! I decided to scope out the train station for my train that evening, so that I wouldn't end up being late. On my way I stumbled upon the Science Museum, so I went in (student discount of course). I spent a few hours walking around the exhibits and witnessed the biggest 'energy machine' in the World in action. Basically it was a huge set of pathways that balls run along from the top of the building to the bottom, making noises on the way, demonstrating how potential energy gets converted to kinetic energy, then sound....hmmm, I'm sure there are many more out there...
Afterwards I grabbed some food, splashing out in the food court again (I ended up taking some more money out of the ATM to pay for my train ticket to Shenzhan), went back to my hostel to collect my bag and headed for the train station.
My time in Hong Kong was short and sweet, but it was an amazing experience. It was like having China back in the UK. The signs were English, lots of people spoke English, they drove on the left and it was miles away from dirt, grime, spitting, and frustration of China. HK had a really good feel to it and it's one place I'm sure I'll head back to; it has everything from the best shopping in the world, to tranquil beaches on tropical islands.
Back to Chin, back to the dirt, the spitting and the lack of English, but it's a challenge and an adventure!
Next Stop, Yangshou, backpackers hangout apparently...
Comments
fab
hey looks mega cool - especially the combination of dream beaches/nature and a metropole. well will see next week if scotland cant measure up to this. take care
fabulous!
hey mate - great entry (i'm going to take a bunch of advice from there when i'm in hong kong!!) and FABULOUS photos. can't wait to see it all for myself. cheers for keeping this updated.