Our grand trip has started, with a flight from Sydney to Hong Kong. That was uneventful, mercifully shorter than the 14 hours flights across the Pacific that we have become used to. The MTR train trip into Kowloon from the airport is a lesson on how Sydney should run its train network. Clean, fast, efficient, frequent service, precision arrival at each station platform - everything that CityRail is not. Ticketing was confusing however - the much lauded Hong Kong Octopus Card is not all it's cracked up to be, but only because information available on what ticket is most appropriate is incomplete and doesn't answer obvious questions. For example, we found that the special tourist pass which covers trips to and from the airport and (we thought) unlimited 3 day travel actually does not cover bus travel at all, and you have to top it up for that. The unlimited travel is only on the subway system.
Our hotel is in the Nathan Rd area of Tsim Sha Tsui, and arriving at 7:30pm on a Saturday night was a great way to thrust us into the excitement of modern Asia. The first thing we noticed (apart from the endless touts trying to sell us shirts, suits, bags etc), compared with previous visits to Hong Kong, was how clean the city is - obviously great attention has been paid to enforcing anti-littering, and there is little or no graffiti. There are few cigarette butts around and not many people are smoking - how delightful! Smoking is totally banned in many outdoor areas.
We visited Stanley and its famous Sunday markets today, using buses to get there and back (which is when we discovered that our Octopus cards were devoid of bus money!). The thrill of rides on the top deck of Hong Kong buses are always a highlight of a Hong Kong visit. One has to admire the skill of the drivers negotiating the narrow, hilly, windy & crowded streets, and the views of the island are superb, although it's all but impossible to take good photos. At Stanley, I recognised a restaurant I had been taken to by friends on a previous visit. The photo is taken at the Stanley seafront, in a no-smoking outdoor zone. Not everyone could read the signs, though!
We also bused up to the Peak on Hong Kong Island. What a fantastic structure they have built up there since we were both here last. The view back to Kowloon was amazing, as it has always been, but it was quite hazy, maybe too much air pollution. And it was monumentally crowded. Sunday is possibly not a good day to visit the Peak. We decided to walk down rather than catch another bus or queue up for the tram. The walk was a great experience and we're glad we did it. There were very few other walkers.
Today was also the Philippino maids' day off. So the city, and every recreation area that we looked at, from the Peak, to Stanley, Repulse Bay, Deep Water Bay, and Central, is packed with them relaxing with their friends, and incredible sight.
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