Hong Kong - A Flying Visit
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Gryphon II was locked up and we left her in the secure marina at Port Dickson. As we made our way to Kuala Lumpur airport we felt very aware of the ill-fated MH370 which took off from here only a week or so earlier, this is the number one issue in all the newspapers and TV news programmes here. We took a flight to Hong Kong en route to visit Peter in China. We had booked a backpacker hostel close to the centre of HK island which turned out to be a bit like a cell but it was clean and comfortable with all we needed for our touristy 3 nights. HK did not disappoint. It is a place that never seems to sleep with the hustle and bustle of any big city but all crammed into the small space between mountain and sea.
As you can tell from this view, visibility was poor on our first day but whether from pollution or from other haze we could not work out…. a bit of both I expect. We had experienced some bad smog in KL caused largely by wood smoke from farmers clearing their land. On a few days when the smog was at its height they had shut schools. In HK the air was much clearer on the subsequent days. It’s hardly surprising that pollution is a problem. Some of the streets are more like canyons between the residential blocks and the towering office blocks of the city centre. They are filled with people, cars, noisy buses, taxis and the quaint but rather greener trams. The sedate way to travel, very enjoyable and took us back lots of years.
One can always find a taxi in Hong Kong but it helps to grasp the one way system.
Morning in HK, the paraphernalia adorning the older apartment blocks is an assortment of air-con units.
Pedestrian walkways span the commercial centre high above the traffic giving a bird’s eye view. One can wander through the bottom of the tower blocks which connect with the walkways and the Bank of China gives access to the 47th floor providing and aerial view of the city.
Thankfully the locals do like their green spaces and we spent a few hours in a small urban park which was beautifully landscaped with plenty to see. In fact we were only using the park as a route to the botanical gardens but ended up staying for 4 or 5 hours.
Selfie
The small lake is full of carp, goldfish and terrapins.
This moving monument is to the doctors and medical staff who lost their lives helping to defeat the SARS outbreak 10 years ago. Sighted in a tranquil courtyard next to the Tai Chi garden all is peace here.
On a lighter note there was a good bird aviary within the main park…..
and a greenhouse with amongst other things some impressive orchids.
Outside the aviary, these charming little Chinese bulbuls loved the watery rocks below the park’s waterfalls.
In the evening we crossed on one of the old harbour ferries to the Kowloon side for a light show. Many of the taller buildings are set up with lights that can be synchronised. Actually the show was unnecessary as the lights were impressive enough without any expensive manipulation.
And finally the food – the food was great fun including this delicious dish of jellyfish (which we suspect came from Thailand) and cucumber - full of healthy collagen. Not slimy or very wobbly this was really good and we wonder where we could get it in UK.
So glad we came.
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