Hong Kong Looooong Day!

Oh my aching feet! Hit the ground running at 8 this morning and walked the few blocks down to the Peninsula Hotel - Hong Kong’s oldest, most famous, most expensive and most visited by rich people - Hotel! Quite reminiscent of the Empress in Victoria, we had a poke around, chanced taking some stairs up to the second level and scooted out before we got kicked out 😂😂! This place has a fleet of Rolls Royces and a helicopter for picking up guests at the airport, as well as a yacht for the use of said guests (at a nominal fee, I’m sure!). We left there for a Starbucks coffee and brekky, then headed up Nathan Street, which is also called the “golden mile of shopping” here in Hong Kong. Unfortunately, most of the shops don’t open till 11am, there were a few open that we peeked into, most far beyond our price range (especially the $HK 510,800 diamond earrings - only around $89,700 CAD 😳).

We walked from there to the ferry landing and headed over to Hong Kong Island again. Jumped on the Big Bus and hopped off at Repulse Bay where we had driven through yesterday but wanted to have a better look. Took a walk along the beach and ogled some of the beautiful resorts and apartments. There are some interesting park areas there too with Chinese statues and busts of various Buddhist gods and goddesses, as well as lots of seaside restaurants. We jumped back on the bus and got off again in an area called Aberdeen where we boarded a Sampan boat for a cruise past the Jumbo Floating Restaurant and through the little harbour and Houseboat Village. After that, we walked along the waterfront in Aberdeen and into the busy town centre - tons more apartment buildings, and many with laundry hanging on the balconies!! Had a bite to eat and headed back to catch the bus again. So many interesting sights to see along the way, including a little ramshackle shanty town which was one of the first settlements on Hong Kong Island, dating back to 1700’s.

We got back to Central, which is the downtown area of the Island, walked around for a while, then took the bus up to the Peak Tram, a funicular which climbs the mountain up to Victoria Peak for spectacular 360 degree views over all of Hong Kong. We went up in daylight to enjoy the sunshine views, and had dinner in one of the restaurants up there so we could stay till dark and experience the lights of the city at night - pretty amazing! The Peak is almost a little town in itself, with numerous stores, restaurants and tourist attractions (the Jelly Belly store being my fave! 😂😂). After taking lots of photos and filling our faces, we took the tram back down, walked to the ferry landing for our little harbour cruise back to Kowloon, and returned to our hotel with sore legs and feet after clocking 16.3 kms today! Up early tomorrow for the next leg of our journey - stay tuned! 😊Read more