We took off to discover Hong Kong for long weekend which is a 2.5 hour flight....not so bad.
There is a LOT of dried seafood and really dried everything from what I can see.
Not sure what the one on the left is.
A typical street.
Our Air bnb place which was a girl's apartment and so small compared to Western standards. It was really interesting to live in a small place. It's amazing that Hong Kong has such a high population density located in a small area and has yet preserved the nature. We decided to stay on Hong Kong Island to be close to the hub of transportation.
This is basically the whole apartment.
The public transportation is incredibly well organized, affordable and really helped that they many locations written in english. We hopped on a bus to get to a hiking destination.
We planned of hiking the "Parkview to Stanley" hike which was 8km and they say 2.5-3 hours. Our instructions were pretty good: "Take number 6 bus from Exchange Square and get off near the Shell station at the top of Wong Nai Chung Gap Road". Step 1: Find the bus...done!
The bus wound up the mountain with giving us some dramatic views of nature vs city.
The map
With the help of a young Chinese girl who was running the trail we made it to the trail. She actually showed us a shortcut which avoided walking up a paved road which was super.
I began in flip flops which was fine because it was mostly a cement path. However, I decided running shoes might be a better choice in the long run. This was our first "peak" called Violet Hill.
Well marked trails.
"The Parkview" in where we started but our detour took us away from walking right beside it. Looking back it was shocking to see how immense it was. We meet two British Airways pilots who told us that it was actually a full community. They were excitedly telling us that a new BA route to Vancouver will give them some time on the West Coast.
Incredible views.
One of the Tai Tam reservoirs.
The bridge over the reservoir spillway.
Spillway spilling off the hill.
This was also the beginning of the 1000 steps up to the next peak. "You must be fit" is what we heard. "What doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." is what we went with. This is where we met the pilots and we had some fun leapfrogging each other and having rest/chatting breaks.
We came down here....
To go up here.
Looking back on what we just hiked.
I think this is Repulse Bay.
Our destination...the beach on the left.
Mid hike
Parts of the hike crossed the terrain where the Japanese fought in 1941 and it was incredible to look at the undergrowth and imaging pushing through it.
The hike ends randomly at Stanley Gap road at the entrance to Tai Tam Country Park and directly above Ma Hang prison which was interesting to look at from above.
Hopped on a bus to Stanley, at a great lunch and relaxed on the beach. So, we swam a bit with plastic bags but we are pretty sure the water was clean.
Day 2 took us to Victoria Peak and Sai Kung (as recommended by two Chinese sisters hiking).
Again we got on No. 6 bus but this time took the dizzying trip up to the top of the famous Victoria Peak. All of the busses are narrow and are double deckers so when you sit on the second level you feel as if you might topple over into oblivion.
View on the way up.
We took the 3.5 km walk around the Peak.....very nice but we both had tired legs from the day before.
Amazing that they build so straight up and close together.
Day 2, Phase 2...off to Sai Kung by underground. We were actually aiming for Big Wave Bay but didn't quite make it since it was late in the day and we became interested in the goings on of Sai Kung. To give you an idea, it's the town above Ho Chung.
We took the MTR to a minibus and like magic we are dropped off in Sai Kung.
It's on the water and this sign was great...I guess there must be a lot of weddings and fit elderly people.
We landed the evening before a huge dragon boat competition so there was a buzz in the air and a few dragon boat teams and their boats. It would have been fun to see.
So many dogs here....and not street dogs. This one and it's partner were out for a swim with their swim rings which was pretty funny.
We had heard of fisherman's wharf but we were not ready for this
People were leaning over the side and when we joined in we saw what it was all about. The catches of the day are sold directly from the boats. Fish and money are exchanged via a net.
The net.
The dried fish stands folded out into mid air!
...and then there was the random western festival that reminded me a bit of Ayer's Cliff Fair on the Saturday night.
Random western bar.
Hoped on another bus back. Just to show how easy it is to get around. They use an "Octopus" card which gives you cut rates and you just swipe and go. This is where it all started, hence the "Opus" (Octopus) card in Montreal and the Oyster card in London.
We were soooooo hungry and ended up in Soho Hong Kong in our hiking clothes needing a shower and turning the corner saw a bit of home. We didn't actually eat there because we needed to get closer to the apartment since we were afraid we might fall asleep. We ate amazing Indian food for the second night in a row....and was well worth it.
