The last chapter of China: Hong Kong

18.8.2010 | Day 18 | 11 601 km | Hong Kong, China

To be honest, I didn’t know much about Hong Kong, except that it is a small area with millions of people living there - and that all my childhood miniature cars were made there. One cool thing about not knowing anything about a place you go is, that you can then be very positively surprised. And that is just what happened!

Even the smallest shop has a
huge sign over the streets

Hong Kong is a beautiful place. Our hostel was located in the heart of Kowloon peninsula and no matter which way you headed, the city was just full of life. Dozens and dozens of different restaurants and all kinds of stores from electronics to pet stores and back to hardware stores. It’s a city that is what it is because of the very limited space to build; Everything has had to be built into a very small area.

But yet even though Kowloon’s density is one of the world’s largest, it works amazingly well. Well, traffic jams are to be expected, but even buses have been designed to transit people how it’s the most efficient, by using double-deckers. One of the strangest thing for a city like this is still, that the subway costs are huge compared to the mainland China. One single ticket costs 100-500% more, which keeps some of the people out of the system.

The true beauty of Hong Kong is still outside Kowloon. We visited two different sights, The Peak and Ngong Ping. The first one was located at the center of Hong Kong island, where a 100 year old tram track took us to see the city from the heights. The tram ride itself was fantastic, but as we looked down to the city from The Peak tower, it revealed how much mankind can actually build to a small area. The latter sightseeing tour took us to see the world’s tallest, outdoor bronze Buddha statue in a cable car with a glass floor from sea level up to more than 500 meters. Ngong Ping showed us areas of Hong Kong that have been left how they are always been; Fantastic scenery with mountains raising up from the seas. This was so unexpected after the busy city, that it almost took my breath away.

These sights caught us by a total surprise

The visit to Hong Kong was absolutely worth it, even though it was meant to be just a “transport city” for Macau and Hanoi, Vietnam. Even though I have seen the major sights of this city, I really wouldn’t mind to come again sometime in the future!

Now, we’ll change into a lower gear and start a different part of the journey. A flight to Hanoi, Vietnam and then we have time to see Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Thailand with no schedules made for the next month. It will be interesting to see what happens along the way…