Hong Kong

We left early in the morning and made our way across town to go on the famous peak tram, which takes you all the way up Victoria peak so you can enjoy views of the entire city. Much to our dismay when we arrived at the tram station, it was closed for maintenence! We were both a bit upset as we have been looking forward to going on it for ages. Either way we ended up getting a bus up the peak, which provided the same result but wasn't half as exciting as the tram would have been! The views once we got to the top were fantastic, and it was a lovely clear day by HK standards, so we stayed up there for a while!

After that we got a bus back down the hill and went to have a look at St John's Cathedral (it was really weird to see it surrounded by Sky Scrapers, Statue Square and the HSBC building!). Hong Kong is a brilliant place to walk around, just very tiring as the distances are huge! After that we went up the mid level escalators, which are in the middle of town and mean that people dont have to walk up a hill with their own feet - god forbid! Instead they installed escalators in the middle of the street so you dont have to waste any energy, so lazy of them! They go down in the morning and evening for rush hour, and up for the rest of the day. At the top of the escalators is the Man Mo Temple, which is the oldest building in Hong Kong, and had the coolest incense sticks we have ever seen!

After that we went back to the Harbour and walked around the Hong Kong Conference and Exhibition Centre, which is a series of huge rooms in a modern bulding right on the Harbout Front, there were various fashion and business shows going on at the time! Outside the HKCEC is the Golden Bauhinia, which is the symbol of HK. That evening we went to a really funny restaurant, which was themed on toilets! I know it sounds gross, but it was the funniest meal ever. You sit on a toilet and eat your meal off a sink which is covered in glass! Then you order your drinks, which come in mini urinals and your meal which comes in sinks, baths or toilet shaped dishes! Good fun!

The following day we got a boat to Lantau, which is one of the nearby islands. Once we arrived we got a bus to the other side of the island and climbed the many steps all the way up to the Big Buddha which sits right on top of the peak. The view from the top was very impressive, as Lantau is completly untouched in comparison to HK! After that we got a cable car all the way back down the valley, which was fantastic! We got to go right past the airport as well, which Chris enjoyed greatly! After that, we got the bus (still not the tram, sigh) back up Victoria Peak to watch the view at sunset and midnight, needless to say it's very pretty indeed.

Today we had a relatively relaxed day and went to see some museums in HK, as we have so much time here! We found out that the museums are only free on Wednesdays as well, so it was well timed on our part! We went to the Science and History museum, the latter being far more interesting. We are having a fantastic time in HK and plan to visit Macau tomorrow before we leave the day after!

We hope everyone is well,
Lots of Love,
Chris and Alex xxx

After a long journey to Hong Kong and not much sleep, we had to get up early the next day to go and sort out our application for our Chinese visa, which we submitted and will collect on Monday morning. After that we spent the rest of the day researching Russian visas and trains, which we managed to get nearly sorted and we are going on Monday to get that request rolling. We need to stay in HK for at least a week whilst we wait for both those visas to come back through, luckily in the mean time there is plenty to keep us entertained!

On our first evening here we started off by visiting the 'Avenue of the Start' - Hong Kong's attempt at Los Angeles' 'Walk of Fame', except with film stars from Hong Kong obviously (the most famous being Jackie Chan and Bruce Lei of course)! After that we went to watch the Symphony of Lights, which is a spectacle like no other! According to the Guiness Book of Records, its the worlds largest permanent light show! It was fantastic! Basically there are a series of lights which are projected on the buildings themselves, to loud music. It was really good and hundreds of people turn up every night to watch it!

The following day we thought we would start gently and investigate the shopping malls, which we did. Chris managed to last a couple of hours and then we bottled out as it was heaving because it was a Saturday. We deduced that there are far too many designer labels here, and the whole of HK shops on a Saturday!

Today we went to see the south side of HK Island, Stanley and Aberdeen inparticular. We got the tube across to HK island (we're staying in Kowloon on the north shore) and then a bus from there took us around the bays. Stanley is a really cute little town clinging onto the side of another hill, it has retained some of its colonial feel as HK relocated some of the buildings from HK Island to make way for bigger better skyscrapers, which was nice of them. We walked around Stanley market for a bit and then along the coast. After that we got back on the bus and went to Aberdeen which is back along the road, and has the famous floating restaurant complex. Really pretty area and a lot quieter than the HK island everyone knows! Once we had finished with the south of HK, we made our way back to HK proper by hopping on one of the original trams that still ply the north shore of HK Island!

We have various things planned for the next few days, so stay tuned for the next section in a few days time!

Hope you are all well,
Lots of Love,
Chris and Alex xxx