Thursday, April 1, 2010

Hong Kong by day...

Hong Kong is one of those cities that make you go wow! From the enormous skyscrapers to the millions of double-decker buses, the mix between the old and the new, wild jungle and spectacular views it really is a feast for the senses!

Not knowing really what to expect I was totally blown away by the sheer enormity of some of the buildings! I’m pretty sure I’ve come home with a permanent crick in my neck from constantly looking up!

Highlights:

The Peak Tram – an old school cable car that whizzes you up about as high as you can go in Hong Kong to reveal the most spectacular views across the city! It was the perfect place to get a different perspective of the island and to see just how much of it is still covered in wild jungle! It’s not for the faint hearted though as getting to top is harrowing enough but getting down is even worse given you have to come down seated backwards! The gradient is so steep that if you were sitting forward you would fly right off your seat... it’s also goes surprisingly fast so it felt a little too much like a rollercoaster for my liking!

The Rugby 7’s – Nathan is going to do a separate blog on this but it was totally worth coming to Hong Kong for! It was awesome being in a crowd of 40,000 all cheering for different teams but all there to have a good time! Fun times all round!

Stanley Bay – This is definitely where you would want to live in Hong Kong if you had the money! It’s hard to believe you’re even still in Hong Kong when you’re standing around the other side of the island to the city on beautiful white sand beaches, where the pace is a million times slower and there is open space for miles! The market over there was also pretty awesome – as were the cafes on every corner and the amazing supermarket we spent ages wandering in!
Giant Bronze Buddha – Giant doesn’t even begin to describe how enormous this thing was! It was bigger than gigantic! On a regular day there is an amazing 6km gondola that takes you out to it, complete with glass bottoms and unbeatable views (so we’re told) - however we were unlucky enough to encounter the windiest day in the history of Hong Kong (ok maybe not but it was pretty damn windy!) so the gondola wasn’t running. Instead we had to catch a bus with a million other tourists in town for the rugby over the most twisty-turny roads I have ever been on! But... despite the ridiculously windy day and the thousands of steps to get up close to it, the Buddha was incredible! I have no idea how high is stands but it sure was huge! There was also a really interesting monastery there which we enjoyed spending time looking around and comparing to the temples and shrines we have seen here in Japan. We loved all the bright colours and intricate artwork that it was shrouded in floor to ceiling.

We did so many other amazing things too and like usual took hundreds of photos but seriously loved every minute of it!

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