Hong Kong

Hong Kong is such an amazing and beautiful city! I wish we'd had more time there – that's really the only problem with this trip – you get a taste of all these wonderful places, and it just leaves you wanting more! It's a shame that the weather didn't cooperate better too – we docked on the Kowloon side, and you almost couldn't see across the harbour, there was so much fog! It made everything feel kind of dreamlike and surreal. Our first stop on the tour was to have been at Victoria Peak so we could look down on the city, but in deference to the fog they juggled our itinerary for the day and our first stop was just a quick hop along the pier where we boarded a junk for a cruise of the harbour. Though we really couldn't see much through the fog, it was really nice to be out on the water, and I certainly got some interesting pictures of the city through the mist! We cruised for about an hour, enjoying the fresh air and watching the many interesting boats sailing around us. We then made our way on the beautiful twisting roads to Stanley Market where we were able to get some great deals and buy a lot of presents and souvenirs – that is if we can bring ourselves to part with anything that we bought! Our next stop took us back to the waterfront where we boarded a 10 person sampan (a small wooden boat with a curved bamboo roof) for a tour of the floating village of Aberdeen. Our boatman was a real character. With his clean-shaven head and long scraggily beard he looked like the villain from an Asian action movie! As we glided along among the houseboats, fishing boats, luxury yachts and floating fish market he yelled out the points of interest in a high-pitched, unintelligible voice, all the while puffing on his cigarette and swigging rice wine from a clear glass bottle. As we neared the end of our trip he abruptly asked, “You like tour?” When we all agreed that we'd enjoyed ourselves, he whipped out a plastic container, plunked it down on the floor in front of him and pointed into it saying, “Tip. Tip.” Most of us obliged! Eventually he dropped us off at a very large ornately decorated floating restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious lunch of Dim-Sum and Cantonese style dishes such as sweet and sour pork, deep fried squid, egg foo yung stuffed with crab, fried rice and two types of noodles, all washed down with numerous cups of green tea. Our next stop was a jewellery factory. We were ushered into a small room full of chairs where a tall, thin young man gave us the whirlwind explanation of how jewellery is made. We've never heard anyone talk that quickly – our heads were spinning by the time he'd finished! We were then herded down a long narrow hallway to a set of glass doors which led into the showrooms. After working us up into a state of eager anticipation, our young man threw open the doors with great ceremony, letting us loose in a huge room with counter after counter displaying gold and silver jewellery adorned with gemstones, pearls and jade. I found the most beautiful ruby ring that was shaped like a flower and I ALMOST gave in to temptation and purchased it. The shop assistants were very eager to make the sale, and by the time I managed to pull myself away they had already lowered the price by $350.00 and a promise to go lower. There is still so much trip left that I just couldn't justify the expense, but I'm a little regretful that I stayed strong! At last the air cleared and we were able to make the drive up Victoria Peak. As we drove up the narrow, winding mountain road traversing switchback after switchback, we left the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong behind and entered a world of lush tropical vegetation, steep mossy mountainsides, gentle breezes and peaceful vistas. Unfortunately we were not able to go all the way to the old colonial residential area at the top of Victoria Peak, but stopped at a small modern commercial area 500 feet further down the mountain. We took a pleasant stroll along a cobblestone walkway past artists and street vendors selling their wares, to a lookout point where we enjoyed a panoramic view of Hong Kong city and the harbour down below. After ample time for photo taking we boarded a 200 person funicular for the steep and exciting ride back down the mountain where we found our bus waiting to take us back to the ship. As we sailed out of Hong Kong Harbour the fog closed in again, obliterating the city from our view. A fitting end to a wonderful day!