12/31/07

We’ve actually been home for a few days, but we thought we’d share a final email anyhow about the grand finale of our trip. From Phuket we traveled back to Singapore and on to Hong Kong.  HK is a fascinating blend of traditional Chinese ways and modern Western culture. It is bustling, bright and noisy, and the people are helpful, efficient and industrious.  Hong Kong is also plagued by perpetually smoggy skies, and polluted streets. The three of us have all been quite ill since we returned to Calgary which we attribute to inhaling carbon monoxide and other nasty things.

There are many ways of traveling and taking in day-to-day HK phenomena. We chose to get an unlimited pass to use the MTR (mass transit rail), HK’s fast and highly efficient subway system. This took us into the whole vast subterranean world of stations, turnstiles, escalators, passageways and underground malls where we watched the business-suited office workers and the uniformed school children going about their daily lives.

We stayed in Kowloon at the YMCA (pleasant accommodation next door to the famous luxurious Peninsula Hotel). We had a room with a harbour view from where we could watch the ferries, passenger liners and junks ply the waters. At night, businesses on both the Kowloon and Hong Kong sides of the harbour lit up their high rise buildings with spot lights, lasers and pyrotechnics. All around us were crowded neon-lit streets full of restaurants and a mind-boggling array of shops.  Hawkers on every corner offered “copy watches” and custom tailored suits.

Nearby were four major museums, the Hong Kong Museum of History, the Hong Kong Museum of Art with its sublime collection of Chinese art, and the Hong Kong Science and Space museums. Across Salisbury Road was the Tsimshatsui promenade where the “Avenue of Stars” showcases the Hong Kong film industry with the hand prints of movie stars. Further up the peninsula towards the New Territories was the Wong Tai Sin temple, and Chi Lin Nunnery, a gem of Chinese monastic architecture and a Zen-style garden oasis where pilgrims bring oranges and incense as they offer their prayers.

We crossed to Hong Kong Island with its dense forest of office towers, opulent shopping centres and high rise apartments. We took the steepest funicular tram in the world up Victoria Peak for an amazing 360° view of the vast metropolis. We wandered the historic sites including the Man Mo temple, St. John’s Cathedral, and “Cat Street” a narrow alley lined with antique and curio shops.

We took a lengthy MTR and bus ride to Lantau Island which gave us a different and valuable perspective of Hong Kong. When you see only the Central district thick with skyscrapers bearing the names of banks and international conglomerates it is hard to realize that three quarters of Hong Kong is actually rural land and wilderness, including 236 islands, and some surprising beaches. On Lantau we passed forests, hiking trails and quaint fishing villages and visited the Po Lin monastery, home of the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world. 

Although our visit was short (and tiring), we feel quite satisfied that we have richly experienced the distinctive nature of this charming, outrageous, over-the-top place.

- Carol, Erich and Jordan

Ps. We are still working on our website of our trip and will let you know when it is finished.