My first night in Hong Kong was not the best. After I went to bed I found it hard to get to sleep, the rooms are really hot so I had to have the air conditioning on which is really noisy and the door doesn’t fit in the doorway properly, there is a big gap where the hall light shines through. It wasn’t the best nights sleep and I was awake at 7am so I got up and showered.
My plan was to go on the big bus tour first of all to get my bearings but when I asked at the desk I was told that I needed to book this tour (I know that’s not true) anyway the woman was pretty useless so I left and decided to work it out myself. It was 20 degrees already and it was only 9.30am! I walked to the end of the road to the promenade and followed it to the ferry as I figured there would be a big bus stop there, and there was. I paid for a 48 hour pass which included a trip across to Hong Kong Island on the ferry, a trip up on the peak tram (also on my list of things to see today) so I started with that.
I got on the first bus and it just happened to take me to the peak as it’s first stop. The Peak is the highest point on the island and the peak tram takes you up the 396m to get to peak tower. Peak tower is a seven floor tower of shops and restaurants with an observation deck at the top where you can see a 360 degree view of Victoria harbour, the city and the beaches. There is also a terrace that opens out into a courtyard with more restaurants and a gallery. It was quite an overcast day but still very warm, it reached 29 degrees at lunch time and had 73% humidity. The views were amazing and I enjoyed a lime and ginger sorbet ice cream on the terrace just gazing out across Hong Kong, now this is what Saturday afternoons are made for!
When I had finished taking in the scenery I headed back down on the tram and jumped on the next tour bus. The full tour lasted an hour and I got off at the ferry to go back to Kowloon. By this point it was 4pm so I stopped in the first cafe I found on my way back to the hostel for a very late lunch.
I got back to the hostel and I was quizzed by the lady that had been on reception to see if I had found the tour, I showed her my big bus tour leaflet and she said she had never heard of this tour so I am glad I went to find it on my own because I don’t know what she was trying to book me on earlier that day!
It’s now 8pm and I’m pretty tired so it will be an early night for me ready for my extremely early start tomorrow!
All the photos are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/69851917@N06/sets/72157629717850425/
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