Monday, March 7, 2011

Hong Kong: City of Lights

  Day 61 at sea; March 7, 2011
Oh, my.  Like Sydney, Hong Kong is a beautiful port to sail into.  We have the primo dock as everything is so close.  There is a shopping center that you have to go through before you can even get to the street.  Mostly high end stores and it goes on forever—four levels.

We arrived at around 6 am. The city was a study in gray. Hazy mountains butting up against thousands of skyscrapers. A waterway separates us from the mainland and ferries shuttle people back and forth.

We have a tour this morning at 8 so after being enthralled with our arrival, we ate breakfast and ducked into our room to get ready.  The tour promised highlights of Hong Kong.  We expected cloudy skies and around 60 degree temps, but the sun came out and the weather was absolutely perfect.

Our tour guide, Richard, his business name is Chinese and very talkative. We learned much about the city and its pluses and minuses.  We went through a tunnel and through the city to a small harbor where we boarded Sampans for a trip through the harbor. We passed a lovely floating restaurant and hundreds of boats from junks to yachts and everything in between.  We learned that Hong Kong builds highrises because there is very little room for them to build because of the mountains.  So they go up. 7.7 million people live in Hong Kong, but because they don’t have strict immigration laws, the actual number is much higher. 

We were then taken into an industrial part of town where craftsmen designed and made jewelry, then left to browse for half an hour.  The jewelry was lovely but far beyond my budget.  How nice of them to also include a room full of costume jewelry with affordable prices.  I didn’t buy.  I am looking for a carved rose jade necklace. 

From there we went to Stanley Market. We bypassed the stalls and went to the harbor, which was lovely. A long boardwalk, a temple and a museum. We walked around and headed back to the shops and stalls.  One woman had a vast assortment of lovely women’s clothes, neatly displayed. I was temped to get something there, but we were only given an hour.  I may go back tomorrow.  Or I may just go to the ladies market and the jade market, which are closer to the ship. A long walk though.  I’ll take my time or take a taxi.

For the most part the city is very clean and unlike Manila you don’t see a lot of poor people in the streets. That doesn’t mean they are not there.  We are warned not to wear jewelry or carry bags containing anything we would not want to lose.  Also, some merchants have been known to substitute your purchase with a rock or charge your account more than once.  Never let your card out of sight. 

Our tour took us past beautiful coves and scenic view of their many beaches. Most of the beaches are protected from sharks by nets, but our tour guide said that people are still wary because a number of people were killed by sharks (6, I think) prior to using the nets. 

We arrived at our final adventure—a shopping mall near the top of Mt. Victoria were we used facilities, ate. Ron and I grabbed our usual Starbucks. It was a lovely mall and I’d have liked to shop there, but we were there to take a cable car down the mountain.  We started at the peak—above most of the skyscrapers and creaked our way down the mountain—backwards.  Going up, people sit facing forward.  A very steep incline or decline depending on your point of view.

Once the ride ended, we boarded the bus again and headed back to the ship. We ate and off we went to the mall at the pier.  I browsed the stores, cringing at the prices and wondering how they all stay in business. Ron went off to do his thing and we met up again at dinner.

As darkness settled over the city we were treated to the most colorful display of lights from the buildings downtown.  From 8 to 8:15 a spectacular light show complete with lasers and all manner of colorful lights entertained us.

Tomorrow we get to explore on our own.  I expect to do a fair amount of walking.

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