Hong Kong

Friday, October 5th

The day started with breakfast in the "executive lounge" followed by a chat with the hotel tourist guides about what to see and do. We decided on a half day trip to the peak, Aberdeen and Stanley, both on the other side of Hong Kong island.

The weather had cleared up over night and visibility was excellent compared to yesterday. Apparently this is the best time to visit Kong Kong - lucky us! The view from the hotel room was now even better:

In the two hours we had before the tour started, we decided on a quick ferry trip over to Kowloon - about 15 minutes away:

We even got good seats on the very frequent, very cheap, and not so crowded ferry which leaves from just near the hotel:

The other side (Kowloon) was pretty similar to this side (Hong Kong island) but the view was quite different - ie. it was back towards our hotel, rather than away from it. However, there were still a lot of high rise buildings:

One of the good things about the half day tour was that it provided "priority" access to the fenicular railway that goes to the peak. There were crowds waiting for over an hour:

 But we were on board in less than 15 minutes. The view on the way up:

Was even more spectacular than from our hotel room. There were also views of the other (back) side of the island where we were about to visit:

The mini bus collected us at the top and we went down to Aberdeen, a "fishing" port on the other side of the island, which also has its share of high rise apartments. It also hosts the largest floating restaurant in the world (apparently) and backdrop to numerous movies. Unfortunately, nobody recommends it because it's become somewhat of a high priced tourist "trap" (apparently). Like all Chinese restaurants, its has a front:

And a back:

I wonder whether this is where they hang the ducks to dry?

During our brief boat trip of Aberdeen harbour we also saw lots of junks (by name as well as by nature):

Then on to Stanley and its markets - no photos, nothing special. But Stanley did appear to be a quiet haven from the bustle of downtown Hong Kong, and if we'd had more time we might have had a G&T or Campari in one of the bars beside the water:

Instead, we headed back into town, ended the tour, and just made it happy hour in the executive lounge (phew). A hunt for a chilli crab dinner ended with a rather nice Vietnamese dinner (!) and some soft shell crab in rice paper rolls instead! A classic Chinese meal will have to wait until tomorrow evening.