Category: holidays

From central Hong Kong to Wan Chai, you can easily get from one place to the other through the botanical gardens and then Hong Kong park. Both were very beautiful and an unexpected way to get around. I was surprised to find that the gardens and zoo were free.

Lemurs

Birds

The monkeys were having quite a bit of fun.

The flowers were quite beautifully arranged through the areas.

On the way to Hong Kong park I saw an interesting religious site.

Hong Kong park seems to be a popular place for weddings.

Walking through Wan Chai we passed through Times Square. There is high end shops here and like other areas was decorated for Christmas.

The street in front of our guest house had Marvin the Martian props for people to enjoy.

We were glad to get such a large walk in (at least 10 miles or 16 km) and we saw the sun rise over Hong Kong! Soon we will checkout of the guest house and will be in the last part of our adventure before we take the train back to Guangzhou!

The morning of the 26th, Becca and I took an uber to the peak tram terminus. The peak tram takes people from the bottom of the peak in Central to the mall and observation deck at the terminus. From there you can walk further to the peak. I have been on the tram before. At the outsude of the terminus.

We walked the road to the botanical gardens. This area is like an oasis in a very busy city.

We took paths around the peak from the gardens.

We finally found the highest point we could go. There are towers in restricted areas in the highest points.

On the way down we found the governor’s walk which was our favorite. It was more like a first path.

Trees grow around walls.

We also saw lithe streams and falls.

It was a great way to see the sights of Hong Kong. We used maps to find our way down the rest of the way, eventually passing the start of the peak tram and ending through the botanical gardens and Hong Kong park. We realized we were not too far away from our guest house and we walked back. See the next posts for those images!

On the second day in Hong Kong (Christmas day), we checked out of our first guest house which was very convenient in location for the previous days activities, and headed towards the ferry to go across to Hong Kong Island from Kowloon. The hike we had planned are on the island and staying in a new place allows for us to explore a new area. I had met Daniel, an expat for 30 years in Hong Kong, at a cute little coffee shop and he showed the way to the ferry. Very informative about Hong Kong over the years and persoectives of global life. Good thing he pointed out Elvis, I might have missed that!

The ferry ride was short and we were only a short walk away from the next guest house.

https://youtu.be/j9x7QAnXI24

After charging phones, we took an uber to start the hike at dragon back. What on the map looked like the trail actually ended. We met others on the trail who had done the same thing. We decide to pick up a trail across the road (Hong Kong trail). It went down by the water and around a little village.

It eventually climbed back up (quite a good leg workout), and meet up with the Dragons Back trail. It was getting late in the afternoon and we were sure we would not finish the whole thing so we went up part of the way and made sure we were at a peak before coming back to the road as there was a bus stop there. Beautiful!

On the way back on the trail, we saw the other couple who eventually found the start of the Hong Kong trail just to the right of where we were. Oh well. We still saw some great sights and met wonderful people. This seems to be an expat place to be!

After the bus ride back, it was time to explore a bit more! The plan for the 26th is to hike Victoria Peak, the highest point on Hong Kong Island.

Merry Christmas and happy holidays everyone! I hope you are centenary with family or friends. So glad my kids are able to be here with me!

It may not be where you are but it is already Christmas here in Hong Kong.

We stared the day with a walk along the water. It is really quiet considering how chaotic it was last night.

I did not think about places closing here for Christmas. We found something to eat at 7 eleven until places open.

Peacefully chilling in the hotel room until places open.

This room is in a guest house. Very clean and no frills. 3 beds close together and a small bathroom with no defined shower space. You shower in the small open area in front of the toilet and sink. That is the end you hold to shower fixed up on the wall.

Funny. For one night it is fine and it was central to everything we wanted to see. Today we are planning to take the ferry across to the island and go to our next hotel. I actually like staying in unconventional places from time to time. Interesting way to meet people and see different things.