Hong Kong located in the South China Sea was founded in 221 BC (makes the mind boggle) and has a population of over 7 million people.
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| View coming into land |
By the time we reached Hong Kong, the last stop on our 2018 travels, we had already been away from home and living out of suitcases for 9 weeks. We had been averaging about 6km a day walking and sightseeing for the previous 3 weeks and thanks to the World Cup Soccer on each night, we were burning the candle at both ends. We thought the 11.5 hr flight from Frankfurt to Hong Kong would be the nail in the coffin for us, but amazingly, we revived like kids on Christmas morning as our plane came in to land and we saw the city of Hong Kong laid out below us. We arrived late in the afternoon, so by the time we arrived at our hotel about two hours later, we had time to check in, dump our suitcases, walk across the road for a Chinese meal amongst the locals, then head back to our room, shower and crash. Two friends who are regulars to Hong Kong recommended the Wharney Quang Dong Hotel in Lockhart Rd Wanchai to us, and we weren’t disappointed. We were surrounded by bars, cafes and restaurant, but best of all, the local subway station Wan Chai was 1/2 block up our street. Perfect.
My friend Meg (one of the regular visitors to Hong Kong) had given us several neatly typed pages of places to see: one page for each place, accompanied by clear directions for using public transport - subway, buses or ferries. She even provided us with Octopus cards, similar to the QLD Gocard and NSW Opal card, which made travel so easy. Another friend Eliza had also offered suggestions of places to visit, and we made the most of all suggestions.
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| Clean trains |
We were so impressed with the transport system on so many levels: the trains, ferries and buses were so, efficient, clean, punctual and frequent. Allowing no food or drink in the trains or on the platforms helped with keeping the trains clean. We rarely waited more than 2 minutes for a train to arrive, and according to their visitor travel information advertising, they had a 99.9% on time rating. We can vouch for the accuracy of that statement. The octopus cards eliminated the need to produce coins for each journey or to line up to get tickets. Transport was very cheap - I think it worked out to be 35 cents in Australian currency to get where we stayed in Wanchai (on the island) over to Kowloon (the mainland). Although Meg’s notes listed the exits to take when disembarking the trains (there were often anything from 4-8 exits at a stop), the signage was excellent, naming what main buildings or tourist sites were at each exit). Having signs in English as well as Chinese certainly made life a lot easier. If we stopped at any location to peruse a map, a friendly and helpful local would stop and ask if we needed help. Not a day went by that we didn’t comment on how fabulous the transport system was, how helpful people were, or just how much we were enjoying the experience of being there.
The first thing we did was jump on the Big Bus (hop on hop off bus). We got a 48 hour pass that included 4 return ferry tickets over to the mainland, a night bus tour, unlimited day bus rides plus the Tram up to The Peak. When we got off the bus at the Peak departure terminal, there were Big Bus staff waiting to usher us straight onto the tram - bypassing regular tourists who had to line up and wait. I would recommend anyone visiting Hong Kong as a tourist to check out the Big Bus.
The Peak Tram climbs up the highest mountain on Hong Kong Island and provides spectacular views over the city and Victoria Harbour. Today it is one of the most visited and photographed sites in Hong Kong, attracting around 7 million visitors a year. The Tram began operation in 1888 and was the first cable funicular in Asia - according to their website (thepeak.com.hk).
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| View over Victoria Harbour and Hong Kong - best I could do with the overcast sky |
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| Laser light show - pretty |
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| Street Markets Day/Night |
We couldn’t visit Hong Kong without checking out several markets - we dropped in on the Ladies Market, the Stanley Street markets and the Temple Street night markets. We picked up a few items - very few - and I expect the markets aren’t as wonderful as they once were in their heyday. If you were in the market for a handbag or sporting gear, you had no shortage of places to buy from. Fun for some...
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| Bette with me in Sai Kung |
Murray figured that as we had been to Sai Kung to the east of Kowloon, we needed to get back on the train and make our way to the end of the line to the west of Kowloon, a city called Tuen Mun. My trusty power bank for my iPhone had died after repeated good service, and so our visit to Tuen Mun (last stop on the purple line) seemed a good a place as any to buy a new one. I had done my research so I knew prices and power supply needs, and so it was a matter of visiting the various electronic stores and seeing what matched my requirements. What a find Tuen Mun turned out to be - one of the subway exits went directly into not one, but two huge shopping malls. We fortified ourselves with lunch at a Japanese restaurant, and then at the 4th electronic shop, we bought an improved version of my defunct power bank.
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| Nan Lian Gardens |
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| Chi Lin Nunnery |
Another way to escape the hubbub of the city was to visit the Nan Lian Gardens set out in 3.5 hectares on the mainland in the area of Diamond Hill. It is a Chinese Classical Garden - a peaceful area nestled among the skyscrapers. Across the road, accessed by a walkway above the highway, is the Chi Lin Nunnery, a large Buddhist temple built for Buddhist nuns. It is home to a stunning gold statue of Buddha, but cameras were not allowed. The building was ‘constructed entirely with cypress wood, without the use of any nails, and is currently the world’s largest hand-made wooden building’ (Wikipedia).
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| Nan Lian Gardens - tranquil gardens but note high rises at rear |
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| Macau |
On our last full day we decided to jump on the ferry and visit Macau. Once again we were impressed with the efficient transport system with the fast ferry only taking one hour to get us to Macau. You needed a passport to get there, and security was no different to the airports. Leaving Hong Kong the passport control had a special line for seniors over 65 years of age so we got through fairly quickly, but sadly it wasn't the same for returning, so there were long lines to contend with.
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| St Paul's |
We were told by a friend who we had had dinner with the night before, to take one of the free buses from the ferry terminal to one of the casinos, and then get a taxi to the ruins of St Paul’s Church - a UNESCO World Heritage Site of a 17th century Portuguese church, and one of Macau’s best known landmarks (Wikipedia). However, a local tourist operator had a different idea...
The local tourist operator came up to us as we disembarked, and brandishing a map of Macau, he bombarded us with hard to understand English. Before we knew it we were in a private car seeing the sights of Macau. At the end of our agreed 3 hours, the driver requested us to pay HK$700 per person - we insisted we were quoted HK$70 per person. We were locked in the car, and I was starting to panic. Fortunately we had our map where the tourist chap had written the quote on. We paid HK$140 plus a tip and boarded the ferry leaving the tour operator with his hands in the air. What a scam they are running there...not for the faint hearted!
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| One of the many casinos in Macau |
Sadly we didn’t make it to Lantau Island to catch the cable car and see one of the largest seated Buddha’s. We had already been to the Peak and seen the view over the harbour on a relatively clear day, and we had seen the impressive gold buddha at the Nan Lian Gardens, so we didn’t need to be disappointed with a diminished view thanks to low lying cloud, not to mention the several hour queue to line up for the cable car!
At the end of the trip Murray showed symptoms of the man flu, so his private nurse dosed him up and saw him through the 9.5 hour Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Sydney. He was very relieved to arrive in Ballina, put his suitcase in the corner of the room, have a shower and fall into bed. And so endeth this entry...
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