Day 3 Hong Kong Trip

Day 3 Hong Kong Trip
We have packed so much into today! We went out to the New Territories to take in rural Hong Kong – actually there is quite a bit – but most of it is lush mountainside and forest. Our first port of call was a monastery up in the mountains – normally it is very quiet but August is what the Chinese call ‘Ghost Month’ when they worship their ancestors and family who have passed away. Ghoulish story for you here! Because there is so little burial land in HK most people are cremated, but if you are wealthy they bury you for 7 years (it costs £100,000.00 – yep!) after 7 years they dig you up – wash your bones and give them back to the family! So once a year in August the family goes to the monastery to wash the bones – or burn paper money for you in Heaven. They make quite an event of it – everyone was having bar b q’s and leaving food on gravesides to share with the dead.
We went up to the border with Mainland China – went past a Peoples Liberation Army Base that used to be the old RAF Base when the British oversaw HK. Went on to an old village up in the hills – well they say old! Built in the 1960’s – slums really – one room and they cook out in the street. There is nothing ‘Old’ in HK – the Government tore everything old down to make way for new high rise flats – even the temples and monasteries are new made to look old.
I can’t get over the amount of skyscrapers here – thousands - most 50 floors high with families sharing just one small apartment, there are 7 million people living in HK. That’s nearly twice the population of New Zealand!
We finished with a meal in a traditional Chinese restaurant on the outskirts of HK – good food but full of geriatric locals who thought we were the floor show when we first walked in. When everyone had finished eating a band suddenly appeared and it turned into a ‘Tea Dance’ and Karaoke. All the old dears jumped up and started to do the Tango! And fighting each other for the Karaoke mike! We left before Nigel started to think about doing his Frank Sinatra impression!
We were going out to Lama Island tonight but we were all absolutely bushed - its so hot and humid that it just drains you – and the last thing we all wanted to do was have a 5 course banquet. So the boys went off to buy a new camera while I enjoyed the view and air conditioning from our hotel room and admire my new ‘handbags’ and silk cushions!

Day 2 28th August 2009

Leaving the hotel this morning from the air conditioned lobby was like walking into a blast furnace – its been 35* and humid as h*ll here today. This morning we jumped on the famous HK Star Ferry for a tour around the harbour, taking in Kowloon and Hong Kong Island and the passing junks – not a bad place to bring a yacht for a looksee – only problem is the extortionate mooring fees at the HK Yacht Club!
This afternoon we went up to Victoria Peak for a view over HK harbour and the surrounding mountains followed by a visit to Aberdeen and the floating village and fishing community. We went on a sampan trip around the floating village – as you can see from the photo our sampan was driven by Fu Manchu – scary guy – with an even scarier accent. On our way up to Victoria Peak we passed Happy Valley racecourse – which is even bigger than I imagined – unfortunately (?) the horses are on their holidays so no racing. We ended the afternoon at Stanley Market where Nigel & Robb treated themselves to silk dressing gowns – as of yet I, can you believe it have resisted the urge to purchase anything (maybe it’s the heat?). The boys have also been eyeing up a new camera – so we have done the camera stores tonight. Even at 11pm at night the streets are still crowded with shoppers, the restaurants are soooo busy – it’s a bit like the deli counter at Waitrose – take a ticket and return in half an hour – which by then you’ve found somewhere better to eat!

We finished the evening by eating in all places a Japanese Restaurant (only place with a 15 minute wait folks!). The Chinese do like to make noise when they eat – I can only liken it to a Bernard Mathews turkey hut the week before Christmas and someone has told the inmates they’re in for a real treat! We sailed past the big floating Jumbo Restaurant today – it looks great in the tourist pictures but after seeing the back I think we made the best choice of eating over in Kowloon. Tomorrow night we have got a cruise out to Lama Island’s Seafood restaurant – it’ll take us an hour to get there – hope its not too rough on the way back – not usually sea sick – but a dodgy Chinese might just tip the scales!

Day 1 Hong Kong Trip

Day 1 27th August 2009

Our flight to Hong Kong saw us flying East over Budapest and onwards to mainland China via Moscow flying into the rising sun. The landscape changed dramatically as we ventured further east, from the urbanised European countries to the vast wilderness of mainland China. We flew over the Yellow River and looked down onto the terraces of what we took to be rice/paddy fields beneath us.

As we flew out over the South China Sea and down towards Kong Hong we looked out onto the outlying islands, with the fast ferries shipping people and containers from pillar to post. As we landed at the airport we were taken back by the landscape surrounding the airport, all around are mountains with hundreds of skyscrapers nestling at their feet. It isn’t until you are on the ground that you start to appreciate the vastness of the area and the millions of people that live in this small area.

We are staying at the Salisbury Hotel right next door to the ultra swish Peninsular Hotel (James Bond’s hotel) with their green Rolls Royce’s lined up outside. The view from out hotel room took our breath away! We have a corner room which looks out onto the entire bay, taking in all of Hong Kong Island. During the day this is quite an impressive sight but takes on a whole new persona at night time – changing into a neon decked light show once the sun goes down. At 8pm every night there’s a laser show from the top of the buildings all to the sound of music.

Once we had got over the initial tiredness of the flight we took ourselves off for a walk along Nathan Road – a shopaholics delight – full of neon and the obligatory dodgy watch sales men! Who by the way are every 15 yards or so – ‘Pssst – want to by a ‘Happy Watch Sir – Happy Handbag Lady?’