Getting There.

I’ve always wanted to see Hong Kong.  It began with USA networks Kung Fu Theatre and ends with Anthony Bourdain’s excursions there; I guess it actually ends with my trip there.  Bourdain is one of my favorites people to read, watch and follow.  He brought me to some places I would have never gone or ever eaten at.  He moved me to tears on occasion and always inspired me to ask questions and to be involved with the food I was eating. Let’s face it, he wasn’t an ordinary guy either.   His insight was special, he had a great way of being able to capture a single moment in time, deliver it, then move on.  I miss him.

We arrived in Hong Kong at about 6 pm.  This was a side trip from Thailand in July of 2018.  Quick flight.  There are several options when getting from the airport to the city.  The whole place is a city!  We were staying in Kowloon which is across the bay from Hong Kong island.  There is a train that connects with the subway but we opted for a taxi.  They are comfortable and color coded as to where they can go.  I think ours was red, dropping us off at our hotel right across the street from a subway station.  We took the train on our way back to the airport.

The first thing I noticed about this part of the world was that it is really hot and humid.  I’m accustomed to the heat in Thailand but for some reason Hong Kong felt more oppressive.  Luckily I have a great selection of shirts from Patagonia that help with the heat and still look good but breathe well and are appropriate for most occasions.

We checked into our hotel and relaxed for a few minutes comparing the room to others.  It was good size, clean, included breakfast and the location was perfect.  We walked out into the steamy evening, and I mean steamy, to a dim sum place right across the street.  This place ended being my safe spot during the trip.  The food was good, waitresses were somewhat polite, I had no idea what they were saying; I just checked the boxes of what I wanted (there were pictures on the little menu)  and enjoyed.  The food was always really hot, burned my mouth a few times on soup dumplings.

 

The place was usually packed and after our third or fourth visit the staff were happy to see us.  Probably because we tipped.  I figure when in doubt just tip. People like tips.

Directly across from the main entrance to the Kowloon Shangri-La.

After our feast we retired for the evening ready to enjoy a good night sleep into seeing a massive city we knew very little about the next morning.

The Peak

I was up early trying to plan for our day.  I got some ideas by the time we went down for breakfast and we discussed what we wanted to do.

 

Over a fantastic breakfast buffet at the hotel we decided that we’d walk from the hotel to The Star Ferry and go from there.  The walk in the morning was quite pleasant with Hong Kong residents exercising along the sidewalks.  It seems that the streets in Kowloon don’t crowd until later in the morning.  Buying a ticket is really easy for the ferry.  Its quite cheap as well.  There are vending machines as you walk into the port.  We sat on the upper deck and enjoyed the trip into Hong Kong.

The walk from the ferry terminal to The Peak Tram was interesting.  We walked virtually inside for most of the way or under cover, weaving through malls, overpasses and other raised structures above the bustling city.  There were a lot of people out and about for a Sunday morning.  I couldn’t help but notice that there were virtually no men anywhere to be seen.  The masses were headed in the same direction as we were and as we passed by the entrance to the Peak Tram we came to a Catholic Church just up the hill from it.  It looks like many of the Philippine residents make their way here on Sundays.  We finally figured out we had gone to far and entered the tram area.

There is a nice little museum here that you may have a few minutes to look around at.  It does get crowded in here and it’s really hot so be prepared for that.  There is jostling for position in the line as well as in the tram so if you are uncomfortable with those scenarios like I am I usually just tend to stand and thats exactly what I did on the tram to the peak.

It is a steep incline to the top.  There are other options, like walking, but we opted for the full crowd experience over the full sweat soaked experience.  When you arrive you work your way through a maze of stores and restaurants to get outside on top of the peak.  There is even a Bubba Gump Shrimp place in there if your craving the American Cuisine.  We skipped all of this and the views up there are incredible, just be careful not to get hit with an out of control selfie stick.