The big trip this year starts in Hong Kong. We leave just before Christmas via London with a night flight. By the time we arrive it’s evening at the other side of the world. At the airport we experience the Chinese efficiency. In less than an hour we collected our bags, set us up with a sim-card and are on the Airport Express train. This is the fastest way to get to the city. In about half an hour we are in Kowloon station, from where we take the shuttle bus to the hotel (included in the price of 150 HK dollar, one way for 2 persons). We are to tired to explore that night, but the city’s skyline is beatiful from our side of the Victoria Harbour.
The next day we start our trip for real. The subway is well organized and quite cheap. We buy an Opal card and are on our way to Sham Shui Po. This is a neighbourhoud north of Kowloon, more authentic, with some streetart and must-sees. Of course we are early birds, so the must-sees are not open yet (like Apliu Street).
We experience this neighbourhood as yes, must see, but there is a lot of poverty behind the walls.
More down south, towards the harbour, we visit the Goldfish market and the bird market. And since we are in the East, we cannot miss the many temples. We visit the Tin Hau Tempel, just across the Jade Market. From there it’s a small walk to the Kowloon Park. Today is Christmas Day and we notice gatherings of small groups, mostly young women. We guess they are Filipina’s working in Hong Kong as au pair or as cleaning lady, enjoying a day off. It’s quite a sight!
From the park we walk along the Harbour and take the famous Star Ferry to the city side of Hong Kong. We find the Midlevel Escalators, which only go up. We grab something to eat and go back down to Hollywood Road. One more tempel for today: the Man Mo tempel. This has been a busy day!
Unfortunately it will stick to this. We both get sick and are not able to go any further than the promenade in front of the hotel …
On our last day we take a small walk in the area around the hotel, Whampoa. Tourists don’t really come here, so we get some unusual pics of Hong Kong!
Must do hotel: Kerry Hotel Hongkong
Up next: down under!
see the full album on flickr (more pictures coming soon)