A Last Day in Hong Kong

So in an attempt to pack as much in as possible we set the alarm for 7am. Up, finally packed and in for breakfast before 8am. Th weather was overcast but not wet so we rashly packed our waterproofs, deposited our cases and headed out for another star ferry ride. From the Ferry we wandered through the commuters to find the bus to Stanley, we dropped in the tourism office to pick up a new map (the last one having become papier mache) and the guide helpfully told us to get the 260 express bus rather than the standard service which I recall as a) long and b) hair-raising. Not that the 260 was necessarily going to be better on the latter count - we got the front seats on the top deck and they had seatbelts - no other seats did, and there was a notice suggesting we should wear them.

The bus ride was great, fabulous views over Repulse Bay and into the mega-mansions that occasionally dotted the hillsides. the road is narrow and rollercoaster-like and very quick - about 30 mins. When we arrived in Stanley the sun was shining and the sea was a turquoise colour. We wandered around the promenade and admired the views, took photos, ate ice-cream (which I heartlessly sent Dad to buy) and generally enjoyed ourselves. A quick walk through the market, which is smaller than Temple Street but mostly has the same stuff, and we thought we could head back - and we got the front seat again :-). No photos - if the bus was moving then it was too rocky to photograph and if we were at a bus stop something was always blocking the view.

The bus ride did give fabulous views of Hong Kong. There was a very promising looking graveyard right by the exit from the Aberdeen tunnel, absolutely packed and very, very tightly packed. Some of the architecture is spectacular but it is often right next door to something that looks pretty squalid. I don't know quite where HK sits on the list of economically divided cities but I would suspect is must be one of the most. Maseratis in WanChai and coffin apartments by the docks..

We got back to Central and I offered Dad the choice of another trip to Wong Tai Sin or a ride on the world's longest escalators... So we rode the escalators to to the top.. All 25 minutes of it, again fabulous looks at tiny alleys, expensive apartments, and bamboo scaffolding. Then we walked down the steep streets back to Des Voeux Road, past the Sun Yat Sen museum... Didn't look very busy and the smallest hardware shop I have ever seen. It was about the size of a telephone box and stuffed with taps, hoses, piping, fans....

Back at Central we walked to the MTR and caught it back to the hotel to pick up our cases. We then trundled back to the in-town check-in to deposit our stuff. Armed with boarding passes and lounge tickets we dived back on to the MTR to go out to NingPo and Big BuddhaRead more