The flight from Dubai to Hong Kong lasted 7 hours. The plane was half empty and I had two seats for myself so I hoped that I would be able to sleep during the flight, but at the end I managed to sleep only 2 hours, because the flight attendants were serving dinner and then also breakfast and they woke me up. I was worried because it was already the second night when I slept only a few hours and I had all day to visit Hong Kong. We landed at 5:35am on Monday November 18th, then I spent some time at the airport, there were many people waiting in the line at the border control so it was already after 7am when I passed it. I changed my clothes, I had bought Chinese clothes in the oriental shop Kokoro before I left Prague, but I didn't see anybody else in Hong Kong wearing traditional clothes. When I met Ernest he told me that this kind of clothes were worn only for celebrations there but I shouldn't jump ahead in my story.
I found a taxi which took me to the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car, but I got there before 8am and it was opening at 10am so I had nothing to do for 2 hours. I walked around a bit, I saw people on the street exercising tai chi, but it was a bit cold in the morning so I went to the big shopping center nearby. I found groceries, I was surprised to see dried fish and sea food there (I could smell it already before seeing it), I bought some bread with cheese and I went to shops with clothes. I got back to the cable car before 10am, but there were already too many people standing in the line. It took me around 45 minutes to buy a ticket for the crystal cabin, the return ticket costed 213 Hong Kong dollars (around 20 Eur). The journey in the crystal cabin was exciting because the bottom was made of glass, it was scary to look down and see trees and a river. There were around 6 or 8 people with me in the cabin, I met two girls from Philippines and after we reached the top we walked together to the Ngong Ping Village and then to the Buddha statue. There were many stairs and it was difficult to go up. When we got there it was already around noon, the weather was beautiful and warm, 25°C, we had a good view on the mountains surrounding the statue and also on the monastery. I took many photos and a video, here is the link: Buddha statue.
Then we walked to the Wisdom Path with wooden steels with carved Chinese signs. After we returned to the Ngong Ping Village where I ate fish balls and I had to go back to the cable car because I was supposed to meet Ernest (a friend of someone from CS). During the ride back the cabin was empty, I took some more photos, then I went to the metro station and I met Ernest at Tsim Sha Tsui promenade. While we walked to the Avenue of stars I admired the skyline of Hong Kong, thinking it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I regretted a bit for the rest of my trip that I didn't spend more time in Hong Kong because it was more much more beautiful than most of the places I visited afterwards (but Siem Reap in Cambodia was also a wonderful place). We took a ferry to the Hong Kong island, but two almost sleepless nights started to take their toll on me, I was becoming very tired and I felt pain in my legs and back. When we got out of the ferry I was shocked because I saw a young woman begging there, her face and ear looking badly burnt, but Ernest told me it was some kind of fungus that disfigured her face. Then we walked to the Hong Kong Park and after we took a narrow old-fashioned tram to the cable car which was supposed to take us to the peak, but there were so many people waiting in the line that we didn't have time to wait. It was already around the sunset and I was so exhausted that I almost couldn't walk, so we went to some small restaurant where Ernest ordered some vegetables and also a big plate of soup. It was almost the same soup which I used to eat sometimes in the Vietnamese market in Prague, with spice, meat, vegetables and noodles. After the dinner I pulled myself together a bit, we walked to the metro station and I had to return to the airport to catch my flight to Bangkok. I returned to Hong Kong again on the way back to Prague on December 1st, I visited Mong Kok, but I will describe it later in order to keep my posts in a chronological order.
I found a taxi which took me to the Ngong Ping 360 Cable Car, but I got there before 8am and it was opening at 10am so I had nothing to do for 2 hours. I walked around a bit, I saw people on the street exercising tai chi, but it was a bit cold in the morning so I went to the big shopping center nearby. I found groceries, I was surprised to see dried fish and sea food there (I could smell it already before seeing it), I bought some bread with cheese and I went to shops with clothes. I got back to the cable car before 10am, but there were already too many people standing in the line. It took me around 45 minutes to buy a ticket for the crystal cabin, the return ticket costed 213 Hong Kong dollars (around 20 Eur). The journey in the crystal cabin was exciting because the bottom was made of glass, it was scary to look down and see trees and a river. There were around 6 or 8 people with me in the cabin, I met two girls from Philippines and after we reached the top we walked together to the Ngong Ping Village and then to the Buddha statue. There were many stairs and it was difficult to go up. When we got there it was already around noon, the weather was beautiful and warm, 25°C, we had a good view on the mountains surrounding the statue and also on the monastery. I took many photos and a video, here is the link: Buddha statue.
Then we walked to the Wisdom Path with wooden steels with carved Chinese signs. After we returned to the Ngong Ping Village where I ate fish balls and I had to go back to the cable car because I was supposed to meet Ernest (a friend of someone from CS). During the ride back the cabin was empty, I took some more photos, then I went to the metro station and I met Ernest at Tsim Sha Tsui promenade. While we walked to the Avenue of stars I admired the skyline of Hong Kong, thinking it was one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. I regretted a bit for the rest of my trip that I didn't spend more time in Hong Kong because it was more much more beautiful than most of the places I visited afterwards (but Siem Reap in Cambodia was also a wonderful place). We took a ferry to the Hong Kong island, but two almost sleepless nights started to take their toll on me, I was becoming very tired and I felt pain in my legs and back. When we got out of the ferry I was shocked because I saw a young woman begging there, her face and ear looking badly burnt, but Ernest told me it was some kind of fungus that disfigured her face. Then we walked to the Hong Kong Park and after we took a narrow old-fashioned tram to the cable car which was supposed to take us to the peak, but there were so many people waiting in the line that we didn't have time to wait. It was already around the sunset and I was so exhausted that I almost couldn't walk, so we went to some small restaurant where Ernest ordered some vegetables and also a big plate of soup. It was almost the same soup which I used to eat sometimes in the Vietnamese market in Prague, with spice, meat, vegetables and noodles. After the dinner I pulled myself together a bit, we walked to the metro station and I had to return to the airport to catch my flight to Bangkok. I returned to Hong Kong again on the way back to Prague on December 1st, I visited Mong Kok, but I will describe it later in order to keep my posts in a chronological order.
No comments:
Post a Comment