Sat 27th Nov – Hong Kong

We didn’t have a normal visit to Hong Kong as we did a tour so didn’t spend the whole time shopping like lots of people do! The weather was lovely and warm – about 24 degrees and clear and sunny – bliss. We docked at the Modern Terminal on Kowloon and our tour bus took us to the dock at Victoria Harbour for our harbour cruise. It was really interesting seeing all the skyscrapers – they’re all such interesting shapes.

We finished our cruise on Hong Kong Island and transferred to the Peak Tram. That was an experience as there were big queues and it was quite crowded. The ride up Victoria Peak is sooooooo steep and it only takes 7 minutes!  The views from the top are stunning – it’s amazing being that high! Apparently we were lucky to have a relatively clear day as the view is often obscured by fog.

We came down from the peak on our bus and drove to Stanley Market on the south end of the island passing some lovely views of the way. It sounds daft but I hadn’t thought about Hong Kong having beaches, but they’ve got some beautiful ones. Repulse Bay looked stunning. It’s definitely the rich area of the island tho – apartments area are an incredible amount per square meter. Stanley Market is a huge area of stalls selling all sorts of things. It was mostly tourist stuff so we resisted, but some of the tour came back with bags and bags full! The locals shop here as well as the tourists which is good.

We then headed over to Aberdeen Harbour and had lunch (huge again!) in the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. It’s incredibly ornate and very busy. Very good food again. It’s interesting that there has been a noticeable difference between the cuisines in the different city’s we’ve visited. After lunch we had a trip around the Aberdeen Harbour on a sampan. The fishing people living there are diminishing in number as more and more move to the land. Our guide said there are 20 women who have never touched foot on land as they’re above the age when compulsory education was bought in, and they never married which was the other time the boat people went ashore. Rosita said the government is planning to move them all ashore.

Our final call on the way home was to a jewellery factory. It was interesting to see the items being made and I bought a pretty silver necklace with scattered pearls on it.

We’ve really enjoyed Hong Kong and would love to come back and explore it more. Our departure was timed so we sailed through the harbour just as the light display was on which was amazing.