Hong Kong City Break

Three days of sweltering!

Recommended days	3
Budget	££
Difficulty	Easy

A Hong Kong city break seems to be a very common stop over destination now. We booked ours as part of a trip with Trailfinders and it was an excellent introduction to the region. We didn’t have anything we especially wanted to see there so it was a relatively chilled break for us too. Although not in the temperature sense!

Being both super efficient and expecting everyone else to be useless we arrived at the airport 3 hours before take off and then went straight through check in and security within 20 minutes of dropping the car off. We then had a rather boring 2.5 hours in the departure lounge, there are only so many times you can do a circuit of the same shops and not buy anything.

Boarding was quick though and the plane took off on time although being cattle class it was pretty much impossible to get any sleep and the turbulence was a lot worse than normal. On the plus side I did get to watch 3 films that I wouldn’t normally have watched.

Our Accomodation

We landed in Hong Kong at 7:05 which was just after midnight UK time, hence being shattered. The temperature was 27 degrees already so it was nice to get into an air conditioned car for our transfer to the hotel, spoiled little westerners that we are!

Check in at the Harbour Grand in Kowloon was great, the woman (Queenie!) was really helpful and friendly and got us a room even though normal check in was 3PM.

The room was just amazing, superb views of Honk Kong Island and a lovely chaise to sit on whilst viewing said views. But who has time for sitting?! We were going to have breakfast at the hotel but at £40 each we decided to skip that! In the interests of trying native culture we headed straight for Starbucks!

Kowloon

We walked along the prom drinking in the view, which I must admit lost it’s appeal after 20 minutes in the steadily increasing heat but we eventually arrived at the Star Ferry terminal and crossed from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island.

We wandered around the island for a bit, I hadn’t realised how hilly the whole area was and everything without a building on it has a tree on it. I still managed a better signal than I get in Bristol though! Anyway, we perambulated for a while and then got the bus (yes, bus!!) to The Peak.

The Peak

The ride was actually good as we got to see a lot of the areas we wouldn’t have walked through, the crowding and room sizes here really is amazing, you can see why the parks are all busy.

At the peak we headed to the viewing area. Its all very commercial but not surprising really as it is such a great tourist trap. We paid our $50HK to get onto the topmost platform and the views really were worth it. Everyone else thought so too …..

We then took the tram back to the centre which was a bit silly as we were sat facing uphill but going downhill. An interesting experience! We walked back to the ferry via various small parks and a shopping mall – everywhere we have been so far has been cash only so we burned through my initial stock very quickly and had to find an ATM.

We crossed back to Kowloon, had lunch and then slowly walked back to our hotel (33 degrees now) along the waterfront. We did pause to watch a heron try and swallow a huge fish but after several attempts it got away. There were also several junks in the harbour now, doing tourist trips I guess. Back to the hotel for 15:30, a welcome shower, AC and a snooze!

We went out again in the evening for a coffee and a walk along the prom. It was still beautifully warm at 9PM and it was nice to see so many families and couples out, the lack of private space makes them a lot more social than we are, or certainly more social than me anyway!

The other thing I am surprised at is the smell! The whole waterfront reeks of rotting rubbish! It was still nice to go for a walk though and look at the lights reflected in the water as the ferries zipped back and forth.

Although I should have been shattered my body is of course stupid, so I woke up at 5 and decided to watch the sunrise. The promenade was reasonably busy even at that time, joggers, people out for their morning walk, tai chi – very nice to see. The sunrise was pretty much obscured by clouds but it was a very nice and relaxing amble and people watching time. Back to the room for 7 so we could head out for breakfast.

Lantau Island Tour

The driver collected us at 8 in the lobby, a good start. Sadly it went downhill from there. I thought it was a private tour but the bus drove around and collected 3 other couples, eventually ending up at the ferry terminal at 9.30.

Lantau Island Tour: Tai O Fishing Village

We could have left the hotel at 9 and walked there! The ferry was very pleasant (I slept most of the way) and arrived at Lantau Island after about 45 minutes. First stop (excluding a photo stop of a beach in the South China Sea) was Tai O Fishing Village.

Described in the brochure as “a quaint fishing village where the houses are built on stilts” is a masterpiece of marketing. I was expecting Maldives style huts on slender bamboo poles over the sea. Instead they were solid wooden beams embedded in the mud and supporting breeze block or concrete houses. In no way were they photogenic.

We also visited the ‘market’ – this was actually a single dusty sun baked street selling dried fish, tea and hats and it still took 90 minutes to traverse the 100 or so metres! Slower than an advance on the Somme! We thankfully reached the coach eventually and headed on to a proper stop, the Lantau Bhudda.

Lantau Island Tour: Lantau Bhudda

This is the second biggest seated bronze Bhudda or something, in Asia or maybe China but possibly the world. It was big. For some reason the lady was excited that she had got permission to drive us to the top of the hill and park behind it rather than walking up the steps from the normal car park. 4 of us then pissed her off by going down the steps so we could walk up and appreciate it properly. This was a very scenic area, bronze statues, mist shrouded hills and a monastery on the hillside too.

We then drove down the hill for the obligatory lunch stop. This was actually quite nice, a vegetarian meal served in the monastery, but 40 minutes was allowed for the meal compared to 20 for the Bhudda. Priorities!

Lantau Island Tour: Po Lin Monastery

After lunch we had some free time to walk around the Po Lin Monastery and grounds before waiting for the people who had spent 40 minutes eating lunch and then wanted to get their photos and sod the rest of us sat on the bus waiting. Bloody Germans!

The drive back to the hotel took a while but I dozed through most of it which was excellent! Back to our room for a welcome cuppa and freshen up followed by another doze. We couldn’t watch the sunset due to cloud so we took the shuttle bus into Kowloon and had a wander around. Even at 10PM the shops were all open and busy. Deb found a street stall selling deep fried cows eyes and boiled fish bladder on a stick or something similar. I went to McD’s 😛

The next morning, what a surprise, awake at 5 bloody thirty again! Got dressed and went out for a walk until 7 ish, already very warm! I guess that’s why all the locals are out early and late as it’s the coolest part of the day and leave the stupidly hot times for the foreigners.

I came back and Deb was still asleep so I changed into gym stuff for a visit there – excellent gym and the rooftop pool overlooks the harbour, very pleasant.

We then packed for the next leg of our trip, Tokyo. Hong Kong was the kind of place you’re glad you’ve been to but probably wouldn’t revisit. Our Hong Kong city break was a fascinating experience and incredibly busy and it also made you realise how pathetically behind the times the West is. The sheer scale of the industry here and speed of development makes Europe seem like a medieval backwater.

2018