Hong Kong Day 2

Star Ferry Terminal in Kowloon

We went to sleep overlooking the glittering light display of Hong Kong buildings but awoke to find them shrouded in fog. Rats! This was the day we had planned to go up Victoria Peak and view the city from above. We dallied in the hotel for a bit after a magnificent breakfast, hoping the fog would lift, and set out in late morning to make the best of a misty day. We decided to go on the third bus tour first, so crossed over on the Star Ferry to the tour start point on Hong Kong Island. This tour took us through the 1.9 km long Aberdeen Tunnel which links the north and south parts of the island.

Repulse Bay

Aberdeen Harbour

Once through the tunnel we found that the sun was out on this side of the island. We headed to the south east coast, past Ocean Park (water-themed fun park), Deep Water Bay, Repulse Bay (where the British repulsed Chinese pirates) to Stanley where, as well as a lovely beach, there is a popular market. These are where the rich Hong Kong residents have houses, Repulse Bay in particular. Luxury apartment blocks sprawl up the wooded hillsides, looking down on golden sandy beaches. The bus stopped at both Repulse and Stanley, allowing people to hop off to explore and then hop back on a later bus, but, as we were planning to fit in a Sampan ride, a harbour boat trip and a trip up to the Peak, we hadn't time to do that as well.

Boarding the Sampan

After Stanley, the bus retraced its route back to Ocean Park and then headed west to Aberdeen. The harbour at Aberdeen is where the boat people live and scenes from here have been used in many films, including James Bond. What struck us first was the high density of huge skyscrapers surrounding the harbour. Not the shiny, business towers of central HK but huge, thin residential blocks. John was particularly fascinated by these buildings. We disembarked from the bus here to take our sampan ride. A no-nonsense, non English-speaking, Chinese woman  marshalled us from bus stop to Sampan and helped us aboard. This gaily decorated craft was captained by an amiable, non English speaking Chinese man who took us on a tour of the harbour, pointing out the sights by means of gestures and somewhat incomprehensible comments.

Kowloon viewed from the boat

Strangely, this boat ride was one of the highlights of our visit. It was full of contrasts:  the famous Jumbo floating restaurant (also featuring in many films) with its beautiful Chinese decoration on the public side, housing the restaurants and bars, and scruffy, utilitarian kitchen block built out the back; sleek motor cruisers contrasting with rusty, working fishing boats; cramped houseboats overlooked by ranks of tower blocks. Little boats were buzzing everywhere, ferrying people to the floating restaurant, moving goods from here to there and going about their business, whatever that was.

After the Sampan ride we hopped back on the next bus and returned to the Ferry Terminal in HK city and went on the Harbour Boat trip. This one hour trip took us on a circular tour of the Victoria Harbour from which we were able to view the buildings of HK city and Kowloon from the water. The mist had descended again by this time, however, so views were a bit hazy particularly over Hong Kong island.

View from the Peak over a misty city

Next we took the public bus from the Ferry Terminal up to the start of the Peak Tram and then rode the tram up to Victoria Peak. This tram is a Hong Kong favourite. First opened in 1888, the tram is cable operated, a bit like the one in Wellington. From the top we had a misty view of the city and harbour below. While not as clear as it might have been, it was still a magnificent view. We wandered around for a bit and then watched as the sun set and all the buildings lit up, getting increasingly brighter as the darkness fell. We shared this experience with large numbers of other tourists, since this is another Hong Kong favourite.

Evening view from the Peak

Then it was back down on the tram and bus and then our last trip across the harbour on the Star Ferry. Just missed seeing the Symphony of Lights from the ferry but saw a bit of it from the shore as we were waiting for the ferry and noticed the absence of the lasers this evening. We guess this must have been due to the mist which would have dispersed the laser light too much. Had dinner outdoors in a lively bar/restaurant in a neon-lit square not far from the hotel. Then back to our hotel for our last view of the skyline of Hong Kong.

Star Ferry

Hotel Icon - our room was on the 20th floor