HongKong Friday 21st February

Posted byvwhitesidePosted inUncategorized

All 14 of us set off for a guided tour of HongKong Island

The public areas of our hotel are quite grand.
This is the university building which was occupied by the student protest.
The other side of it is still cordoned off.
Our hotel is on the Kowloon Peninsula. We were heading for the tunnel to take us to Hong Kong Island.
Once there we drove to the Peak Tram to take us up to Victoria Peak.
It runs from Garden Road Admiralty to Victoria Peak.
It is a funicular railway built in 1888 to take visitors to the highest peak on the island.
This gives an idea of the angle of travel: really, really steep!
There were stunning views on the way up.
Victoria Peak offers the best views of Hong Kong.
Look closely at the narrow, coiled cable below the red. This is the cable by which 120 passengers were pulled the whole way up.
I was glad Daniel didn’t point it out until we were at the top.
I’ve put this in to illustrate the effect of coronavirus on tourism here. It means we don’t have to queue for anything but it is disastrous for the Hong Kong economy.

During the day a young Hong Kong man beamed and called out “Welcome” to us. Later another beamed and gave us the thumbs up. I think they were delighted that some tourists have actually come to HongKong.

Victoria Peak
A few photos of the views.
Our coach was waiting at the top of the Peak. The drive back down was challenging for our driver.
Next stop was a fishing village called Aberdeen for a Sampan tour of the harbour.
The harbour was packed with a variety of different types of vessels.
Fishermen have to stay in port for 3 months of the year to preserve fish stocks.
Floating restaurant
Many families clearly live on their boats. Some even have mini gardens on the top.
Most of the sleek, modern boats were mothballed.
We drove next to Stanley Bay and Stanley Markets.
We didn’t bother with the markets but stuck to the bay.
We found a lovely supermarket and bought bread, cheese and mini cucumbers.
We enjoyed our picnic by the water with the usual Ginger Beer.
After returning to the Kowloon Peninsula and our hotel we joined Valerie and Martin in a delightful cafe serving delicious cakes.
Later 8 of us agreed to meet up for a walk along the Avenue of the Stars and go for a meal before the 8pm Symphony of light show.
This is part of the walkway, complete with lifts. from the piazza outside our hotel to the waterfront.
It is a lovely walk along the promenade.
Ann Marie and Heather, your Nathans have their own special road here in Hong Kong!
We all walked to the Victoria Dockside
And to the very upmarket shopping mall beside the promenade.
It took a while to find the restaurant we were heading for.
We were allowed in
Once our temperatures had been taken.
The meal was excellent.
The restaurant was empty when we arrived but a couple of other groups arrived a bit later.
We moved on to the viewing platform near the clock tower in time for the “Symphony of Light”
Lovely reflections on the harbour water.
The show used the existing lighting on many of the buildings over the water along with laser projections over the bay.
It was well coordinated with the music but nowhere near the standard of the Singapore sound and light show
We all walked back along the promenade after a lovely evening.
Then enjoyed a drink in the hotel bar. For some reason Happy Hour seemed to have stretched; we were all brought second drinks without asking.

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