Getting a gentle introduction to East Asia. Okay, according to Andrew Hong Kong is a world away from China. Still, it's a whole new culture for me despite the prevalence of western toilets and English speakers. I've never been in a place where you can find deer fetuses on display in a shop window just down the street from our hotel.
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| Me on the sky-walkway near Soho |
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| Deer fetuses |
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| I was told pistol means penis in this case |
Seeing monkeys. Yes, we saw monkeys! Long-tailed macaques to be specific (plus a second macaque species). They are actually the descendents of released pets, so as an ecologist I know I'm supposed to cluck my tongue and shake my head...but whatever, we saw MONKEYS UP CLOSE!
Hiking to Lion Rock. The monkeys were living near the trailhead to Lion Rock, an uphill, couple hour long hike. It was overcast, so our views weren't that great, but I appreciated how the hike literally kicked my ass (and legs). Flat running sure is different than hilly hiking, and I've been doing much more of the former than the latter.
Lamma Island. I loved this part of Hong Kong! This outlying island is so small that there are no real roads, just foot/bike paths. The ferry left us off in this cute, village-like area with lots of fun little shops and cafes. The main "road" soon led us up through shrubland-forests and down along mostly empty beaches, all with beautiful views overlooking the ocean.
We reached the other side of the island at lunchtime, and fortuitously, this side consists of a pier of half a dozen fresh seafood, dim-sum restaurants, all clamoring for our business. Which brings me to another highlight...
Food. We had a lovely lunch of squid, king prawns, scallops, fried rice, greens, beer, and tea while overlooking the water.
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| All the restaurants had these live seafood displays. |
I love trying new and diverse foods, but unfortunately the main way my jet lag manifested itself was a complete lack of appetite at dinner time (followed by a ravenous craving for a buffet at 6 am). Still, even though I wasn't hungry, I still made sure I tasted everything, especially when Andrew's co-worker took us out for an authentic Hong Kong dinner that included pigeon, crab, garlic scallops, chicken, and more.
Victoria Peak. We took one of Hong Kong's famous double-decker buses up to Victoria Peak and waited for the sunset to get these shots. Then, we took the tram back down, which felt like a slow roller coaster (because of the steepness) cruising through a forested city - quite weird, actually. Unfortunately, I couldn't get any good pictures of the tram ride.
5.7 km ride in a glass-bottomed cable car. I think Disney World was the last time I rode in a cable car (which must've been a while ago because the cable cars there closed in the 90s or something). This cable car ride was by far the longest (30 min), highest (really high), and kind of scariest (did I mention the glass bottom? over open water and foggy forests?) I've ever been on. These photos don't really capture the essence of the experience, but you kind of get a sense of it.
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| The black thing is my shoe on the glass-bottomed floor. |
The cable car drops you off at Ngong Ping village where the main attraction is Big Buddha. Big Buddha was OK, but nothing too special, especially compared to the cable cars.
We did some other stuff, too, like Stanley Market and having a drink at the top of the Ritz-Carlton, but those are the highlights from my (less than) 5 days in HK (I know, such a short trip for traveling so many time zones)! I'd love to go back, but I'd also love to see China, if we can swing it!
