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| Laser show over the harbor in Hong Kong |
Had the British naval officer who
planted the flag at the harbor of Hong Kong back in 1841 and proclaimed that it
was a “barren land with hardly a house upon it” been able to come back in 2013,
he would have been unable to comprehend what has happened there, particularly
in recent decades. After the British
established its legal control there in 1842 as a result of the Opium War with
China, the city thrived and was the Asian jewel for Britain until it was turned
over to China on July 1, 1997. However
it remains a Special Administrative Region for the People’s Republic of China
with more freedoms that other parts of China have.
Hong Kong actually includes 235
separate islands as well as mainland attached to China but Hong Kong itself and
Kowloon are the primary ones where most of the “action” is. They face each other across a narrow inlet
and the Star Ferry runs constant, quick and cheap service between the two. We are docked on Kowloon right next to the
Star Ferry and our stateroom looks directly across to the skyscrapers on Hong
Kong. Last year we faced the other
direction and had no interesting view at all.
Here, we have the best view since we had three days with a view of
Sydney Opera House at Circular Quay in 2009.
When it gets dark, the skyscrapers give a great view of the city
skyline.
Hong Kong is only 422 square
miles, but it’s a densely populated modern city. Because of its population and relatively
small land, the population expands up, not out.
Up means that the population goes up into hundreds of skyscrapers rather
than out into many individual homes and small apartments. Because we had done the basic Hong Kong shore
excursion last year, we decided to do one of the HOHO (“hop on, hop off”) tours.
We initially met friends, Bob and Nancy, and obtained our tickets for the bus
that would take us to the well-known Stanley market on the far side of Hong
Kong. We were given vouchers for a round
trip across from Kowloon to Hong Kong on the Star Ferry where we would get our
bus to several of the venues we wanted to visit. Although the skies were still very grey and
looked foggy and suggested rain, the weather forecast was for sun and in the
70s. We trusted the forecast and sat on the open top part of the bus for better
pictures.
The streets of Hong Kong wind
around the hills and give spectacular views of the waterfront. Nearly everywhere we looked, there were
apartment skyscrapers. We had heard last
year that few people have dogs because space is so limited and it’s difficult
to walk the dog or “put it out” up in the skyscrapers, so more people have
birds. Often men will walk their birds
in their cages and let the birds socialize while the men do as well. So instead of walking dogs, people will often
walk their birds in Hong Kong. Last year
we visited the Bird Market where not only birds were sold, but also fancy
cages, toys, bird food, and anything bird related.
Our first destination was Stanley
Market, a maze of stores with all kinds of clothing and souvenirs for sale off
narrow pathways. We had visited it on
our shore excursion last year but time was limited and we were on a
schedule. Furthermore, last year, we
visited it later in the day and it was extremely crowded. This time, we arrived early in the day and
had much better opportunity to browse.
Barb immediately found some clothing she liked, including an interesting
shirt with some dog designs. Since it
was March 11 and her dog, Molly’s birthday (12 years old), the purchase could
be justified in honor of Molly! As we
were looking for the bus stop to wait for the next “Big Bus” as the “Hop on,
Hop off” buses are known, we were discussing it with another couple who stood
there. They were Aussies and when the
man found out that we were on the Amsterdam, he asked if we were in Sydney in
mid-February. When we confirmed that we
were, he indicated he had guided our ship out of Darling Harbour as we
departed! Small world!
When the bus
arrived, we decided we would skip the sampan ride that was included in our
ticket as we had done it last year.
Rather, since the weather had improved, we decided to take a tram to
Victoria Peak where we could view the harbor and even catch a glimpse of our
ship. The weather had been so miserable
when we were here in 2012 that we had seen little from Victoria Peak. After our winding bus ride from Stanley
Market and marveling at the architectural achievements of the high rise
buildings as well as the ability to build roads around and through the hills,
we got to the bottom of the tram where we secured out tickets. With our amazing good fortune(!), as we
approached the waiting area¸ we were joined by what seemed to be hundreds of
little boys about the age of 9, all in white polo shirts from a Christian
school on a field trip to the top. Their
teachers had them squeeze together so the adults could get seats. I shared a bench seat with about four little
boys, even accidentally poking the little kid next to me in the head once with
my elbow! One of the boys in the row
ahead was wearing a “Route 66” baseball cap with route from Chicago to LA
designated. Naturally I had to take a
picture of his cap¸ pretending I was trying to take a picture out the
window. At the top, we were able to get
much better pictures than last year because of the heavy rain while we were
there; the rain and fog made it nearly impossible to get good pictures last
year.
Barb had hoped
to make a stop and see a rare panda but when we found that it was in a Theme
Park, we decided the cost of entering the theme park just to see the panda
wasn’t worth it. Additionally, Hong Kong
is home to the longest escalator in the world and that itself makes it a
tourist attraction. We had hoped to
stop, but the few stops we made plus the bus ride were making the time pass
faster than anticipated. So we went
through Central Hong Kong where most major businesses are located. Even there, the streets were steep, hilly,
and winding. Everywhere the skyscrapers
and apartments were evident. We finally
got back to the Star Ferry terminal on Hong Kong for our quick ride back to
Kowloon and our ship. On this short
ride, we were entertained by five Australian boys sitting in front of us. Some were carrying backpacks which suggested
they were Aussies if their accents didn’t already give it away. They were likely about 17 or 18 and whether 9
or 17 years old, it’s interesting, as former teachers, to observe that kids are
the same all over whether it be the US, Hong Kong, or Australia.
Our good
Australian friends Gerda and John had disembarked in the morning. They had taken advantage of a good sale on
the cruise from Sydney to Hong Kong which included air fare home. After our friends, Pam from New Lenox, and
Bill and Candy from near Atlanta had left in Sydney a year ago, John and Gerda
had been assigned our table so we were thrilled to have them back even for a
short time.
On our second
day, we had elected to do the only shore excursion of our three days in Hong
Kong, called Lantau by Skyrail. We had
considered doing it last year, but the skyrail was under renovation so since we
were coming again this year, we decided postpone that excursion. Our friend Al from near Phoenix did do it last
year because he wouldn’t be back again in 2013.
He had commented the excursion would have been good but weather was so
dismal, that he didn’t enjoy it as much as he might otherwise. Weather was cloudy, cold, and rainy at that
time. We had no such issues when we did
it and thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Lantau.
Lantau is one
of Hong Kong’s large islands and is very mountainous with a small population
within Hong Kong’s total of approximately 17 million people. As we drove across two large suspension
bridges to Lantau, we observed a combination of heavy industry with large
containers ready for shipping not far from heavily forested mountains. Most of the skyscrapers were constructed
after 1998. As we arrived at the Ngong
Ping 360 Skyrail, we saw long, long lines but we passed them by in a separate
line, saying that our tour had purchased group tickets that permitted it. We saw some friends from the ship standing in
the long line as they had come on their own.
We boarded the enclosed gondolas that held a maximum of eight people each
for our 25 minute ascent. From the low
terminal at the start, we had two other terminals each on a different mountain
before we reached the final terminal at Ngo Ping. We could look out to the Hong Kong
International Airport as well as other mountains and the trees and the Tung
Chung Bay below. One could walk up but it is considered to be a long, four hour
walk for the very physically fit, though I’m sure the scenery was
fantastic. Naturally the discussion
ensued about what if there is a breakdown of equipment and how it must have
been during construction but those kinds of conversations never work for
me. But happily we never had to deal
with the issue of breakdowns.
At the top of
Lantau, there is quite an organized little community with lots of modern
tourist shops (at high prices) and places to grab a quick snack. Our guide
rushed along as we tried to snap a few photos.
We were taken to the site of the Big Buddha, at 43 meters high, the
largest sitting Buddha in the world; he was sitting in all his splendor 256
steps above where we were. I decided to
walk at least partway up but out time was so limited, I went about halfway to
the top and came down. I still got some
good photos using the zoom before moving on.
I didn’t like to miss the monastery but again, time didn’t permit. That was the bad thing about doing the ship
tour. There never seems to be enough
time to do the things that are of significant interest. I talked with the friends who did the trip on
their own, and while they had a longer wait to get to the top, they were free
to take as long as they needed, so there are advantages and disadvantages to
tours versus independent travel. So,
after too short a time, down the cable car we came and traced our route back to
the ship.
With
time in the afternoon, we went off the ship directly to the largest mall in
Hong Kong to see if we could get some free internet as we saw many,
particularly crew, doing so. Once again,
as every time we had tried, there was no success. I decided to continue out into the area close
to the ship and walk down near the harbor.
As I walked, I was stopped by four schoolboys about 12 years old wanting
to have me questions for a survey. First
question was my name. When I said “Chuck”,
the boy was puzzled by that very unusual foreign name, so he consulted in
Chinese with his young colleagues. He came back and asked if I could please
spell that. Other questions included why
I was in Hong Kong, where I had been while in Hong Kong, my age category (I fit
quite nicely in the 46 and above category!), where I lived, and then he asked
me if I felt the quality of air in Hong Kong was good, average, or poor, to
which I told him “very poor” (on a day that the haze in the sky was a gray-yellow
and took away the otherwise bright blue sky.
He seemed a bit surprised that I called it “very poor”. Then he asked if I thought the quality of air
in Hong Kong was much better, about the same, or worse than where I lived, to
which I replied “much worse”. Maybe some
are realizing that air quality does pose a risk in Hong Kong. While he interviewed, his friends snapped
pictures of me. I thought I was the one
who was supposed to be taking pictures.
At the end, he asked if a girl who was with him could ask the questions,
but I told them answering the questions for one survey was enough. They thanked me and said good-bye. That was far from the end of the story, as at
least six other groups of children about the same age asked me as I walked
along, if I would answer their questions. (Why would they pick on me? Would you think I looked like a tourist with
my white skin and carrying my camera?) I
told each group that I had already answered the questions and they all politely
thanked me and some wished me a good trip.
At
dinner new friends that were originally assigned to our table Leida and Herman
from British Columbia came back. They boarded in Sydney and are on until Cape
Town. Their seating involved a mixup and
after one night, they were sent to a table that needed a third and fourth
person. Their dinner partners had left
in Hong Kong as had our friends, Gerda and John¸ so both they and we were
without tablemates. So we arranged to
have them join us. After dinner, we had
invited Florida friends, Sally and Ange to join us in watching the nightly
laser show of the Hong Kong waterfront skyscrapers. They came up and joined us on our verandah
for the brief but spectacular light show.
At 9:30 I went for the Hong Kong Culture show. It was the same group as last year and every
bit as outstanding, but Barb decided to stay in the stateroom and deal with her
nagging respiratory issues.
Our
third and final day in Hong Kong was more relaxed. We purposely had no major plans, deciding
instead to stay around the ship. There
is a huge mall connected to the cruise ship terminal and then right outside the
mall are other upscale shops. I had
found a nice Chinese crafts store within a very short distance from the ship
and I showed Barb where it was. We spent
some time browsing there, went back for a quick lunch, then I went out again,
partly to explore a bit but also to use up my last Hong Kong dollars.
We
did enjoy Hong Kong much more this year, primarily because we had no rain and
temperatures were very pleasant (mid 70s) unlike last year with the cold rain
and totally gray skies. However, we were
much more aware of the significant air pollution here. This was the fifth morning (two last year and
three this year) that the skies were overcast in the morning. All three days, the sun came out but views
were reduced because of the haze from pollution. Wednesday, our third day, seemed to be the
worst so the sunny skies were really white rather than blue. We really enjoy the Asian countries we visit,
but I’m not sure it will be wise for us to travel in Asia anymore unless a
major effort is made to reduce the pollution.
It severely affects Barb’s respiratory issues; it happened last year and
she had her cough until the end of June.
Now it has set in earlier and poses a major problem at night. She says other than the cough, she feels fine
but it does sap the
energy. After two busy days and a
relaxed one, it was time to move on to our next port of call.
CT
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