After my three weeks of independent and solo travel in mainland China I was really looking forward to Hong Kong. From the moment I arrived everything was so much easier and less stressful. Mainland China had been hard work and Hong Kong provided much needed respite.
My journey was relatively easy, a quick flight from Shanghai and I was soon making my way through the airport terminal to the MTR train station. My hotel was in the Wan Chai area of Hong Kong Island, I believe I got one train over to the island and then changed lines to go a few more stops to Wan Chai. It was a very easy system to negotiate and I was checked in and ready to start exploring in no time. I had about five days in Hong Kong and at the start I wondered how on earth I would pack everything in that I wanted to do, although in the event I was able to quite comfortably.
On my first day, I started by taking the famous Peak Tram (a funicular railway) up to the top of Victoria Peak. There was quite a long queue when I arrived but it moved quickly and was well worth the wait. The tram ride up the extremely steep slope lasts eight minutes and was quite an experience, even more so going back down. The Peak is large enough for a long walk at the top and the views over the harbour were amazing, I bought some post cards at the top and enjoyed a coffee whilst I wrote them out.
Whilst I decided to stay on Hong Kong Island, many holiday makers choose to be based in Kowloon across the strait. I went over on the underground train one evening and found it to be far more crowded than Hong Kong Island and perhaps more down market. I didn’t want to stay over here for a long time and I mainly went over to enjoy looking back at the Hong Kong skyline and to get some great photos. There is a light show every night as well, but you need to arrive quite early to get a good spot. I took the Star Ferry back which was another opportunity to enjoy the view of Hong Kong island.
Another day I went to Lamma Island, there are ferries to either end of the island and I took the one to the quiet end as I heard there was an interesting walk across the island which would finish near the other busier ferry terminal. With hindsight I would recommend taking the ferry to and from the busy end of the island! The walk took hours, it was really hot, no shade, but the biggest issue I had, particularly as I was by myself, was that the route was not well signed at all and it was unnerving to see so few people along the way. Perhaps if I had not done this by myself I would have enjoyed it more. I was certainly happy to arrive at civilisation at the other end of the island and remember ordering some very large and tasty prawns in a restaurant overlooking the sea.
Another island excursion was to Lantau Island, the main attraction here is the hill with big Buddha at the top.
I had an enjoyable half day at Ocean Park, which is kind of an amusement park but not on the scale of say Alton Towers or indeed anything close. The park is on two levels and you take a cable car from one to another, it is quite a long cable car ride, very high and I was quite frightened at stages especially as I was the only person in my car. There are a couple of pandas in the park, which were nice to see although they don’t do much.
On my final day I took the ferry to Macau (passport required). When I arrived I decided to take the bus rather than a taxi but I got on a bus going the wrong direction, as in away from the town centre and areas that might be of interest to a visitor. The bus driver did not speak English, he was very rude and aggressive and was not interested in trying to help me even with the assistance of my map and signage. Neither were any of the other passengers. A group of school boys grabbed my map and started passing it down the bus and started to laugh and point at me in a very horrid manner.
To cut a long story short, eventually I managed to find my way into the central district. The town centre was a slight improvement on what I had seen so far of this miserable and ugly island, but the earlier experience put me off the whole place and I soon took a taxi back to the ferry port and went back to Hong Kong Island. I loathed Macau and will never step foot there again, not for all the tea in China.
Besides these excursions I also enjoyed simply wandering the many shopping malls, both on Kowloon and especially on Hong Kong island. And one afternoon I decided to take the double decker tram and travel the length of HK island and back and just enjoy the sights.
My days in Hong Kong up and it was back to the airport, next stop Vietnam.
From journal Four months in Asia