Ames' Adventures: Hong Kong Weekend

When we came to China the embassy in Mexico would only issue us a dual entry visa. We wanted to use up the second of those entries before heading home next week so that we would be entitled to a multiple entry visa. For that reason we needed to exit China and Hong Kong is the closest destination that would allow us to do that. (Yes, we know that Hong Kong has been officially part of China for the past 16 years, but for visa purposes it qualified).

We decided to start with a Hop-on-Hop-Off bus tour, but it turned out the routes covered all the major areas we wanted to see and admissions to where we wanted to go, so it kept us busy.

It rained quite a bit, and when it wasn't raining it was incredibly humid - so that explains my flat hair.

Day 1 (really a half day)

The first route we took was around Kowloon, since this is the part of the city where our hotel was located. The name means 'nine dragons' in Cantonese. It is part of Hong Kong, but is a peninsula to the north of Hong Kong Island. The views below are looking across the harbour to Hong Kong Island.

With a population of over 2 million people in less than 47 square kilometers, Kowloon is one of the most densely populated places on the planet. And that doesn't count the thousands of tourists throughout the year. That requires a lot of stores, markets and businesses to support all those people, in addition to high rise housing.

You would think they had run out of space to build, but we saw a lot of construction

Hong Kong has a rich and interesting past so of course we had to find the history museum. It was a good time to hop off the bus since by then it had started to rain. On our way walking to the museum I noticed how well prepared these city workers were with the rain protection for their traditional hats. It turned out to be an excellent museum that we both enjoyed.

Back on the bus, we drove by some interesting landmarks such as the clock tower and a pretty Christian church. I'm sure part of its appeal was it not being a tall building, and having a small bit of land around it.

This harbour is a typhoon shelter that accommodates many boats when storms are approaching.

By this time dusk was approaching. We went for a walk along the harbour front but as you can tell from the second photo, it also started to rain pretty hard. Foolishly we hadn't taken rain gear so thank goodness for the bus-provided rain ponchos.

But it takes more than rain, darkness, and lack of tripod to stop me from taking pictures.

Day 2

Our first stop was the LDS temple in Kowloon. It was built in 1996, a year prior to Hong Kong being ceded back to China. It houses the typical temple facilities, as well as offices and a meetinghouse.

We crossed the harbour on Star Ferries, which are historical, as well as functional icons of Hong Kong.

Look Up....Way Up...(and I'll call Rusty). It's what Hong Kong is known for.

We took the cogwheel train up Victoria Peak. It is the highest point on the island but since the train doesn't go all the way to the top, we hiked another hour for even more spectacular views.

You can't really tell from this height, but those ships are large cargo ships waiting to enter the harbour, and they are only a portion of all the vessels anchored there.

Wait Brian...that's my pose!

Hong Kong is also famous for its shopping. Photos can't do justice to the throng of people out on the streets, nor can you appreciate the sounds and smells in the warm (and humid) night air. We did buy a couple of things, but no great bargains.

Day 3

This day's bus route took us to the south side of Hong Kong Island to some of the more 'remote' areas with less population - but it's all relative! There were some beautiful bays.

Ocean Park Bay

Stanley Bay

We did some shopping (in the rain) - no I didn't buy the hat.

Our bus tickets included a sampan ride around Aberdeen harbour. These boats were once the floating homes of many Chinese, and a few people still do live on the water, despite the government's recent encouragement to relocate to land.