Hong Kong
Trip Start
Oct 08, 2006
1
14
Trip End
Feb 23, 2007
Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Friday, February 16, 2007
The following day we got up early and checked out the New Year Market which was huge. There were huge flower markets inside and loads of stalls pretty much selling the same New Year good luck charms as each other. Kat and me tried deep fried ice cream which was interesting and I braved a bottle of bamboo juice which actually wasn't that bad. After buying loads of cheap crap off the stalls we decided to go up Victoria Peak to watch the sunset and take in the view of Hong Kong lit up at night. We took the tram up which is so steep you felt like you were looking at the buildings at a 45 degree angle. The view from the top was pretty impressive, it was still pretty smoggy but we were lucky enough to get a clear view looking out over the river.
The next day we spent the morning celebrating the New Year Chinese style. We went to a huge temple in Kowloon which was one of the highlights of my trip. Everyone was carrying incense with them to lie down in front of their God. We decided to follow what everyone else was doing and lit our own to put down. After about half and hour in there I couldn't see a thing cos my eyes were stinging so much, people around us were actually wearing goggles so that their eyes wouldn't water.
After we had visited the temple we went to see the famous wishing tree in the New Territories. This tree was huge and in a bad way, it had lost quite a few of its branches the yr before due to the amount of wishes people had hung on it. I was kinda disappointed cos I was expecting to see this huge tree covered in wishes instead it was butt naked! We still got to write our wish though and visit a much smaller temple near by that was a bit more basic than the one we had just been too. In the evening we saw the New Year Parade which ended up to be a big disappointment as I couldn't see a thing, it sounded good though from where I was standing.
We also visited the Big Buddha, another highlight to the trip. We took the sky rail up which I swear lasted for an hour, it took us so high in to the hills and in to the thick smog we couldn't see a thing until we reached the top and saw the Big Buddha sitting proudly. When we climbed the hundreds of stairs to the top it was pretty impressive, and was crawling with tourists, Chinese tourists, I think we were still the only white faces I'd seen for days! In the afternoon we checked out a small fishing village where all the houses were on stilts! The market was amazing, so many dried bits of fish I couldn't even identify what part or what fish it came from. Totally wrong of course, I just couldn't believe they ate it! We took a small boat out along the river and saw pink dolphins jumping out of the water, and got a better view of the houses on stilts. Then in the evening we managed to get a better seat this time and watch the fireworks display.
Our last few days in Hong Kong were spent wandering around the Ladies Market and the themed streets that only sold trainers or electronics and even goldfish! It was a lot of fun and I dint want it to end. I could've spent another week in Hong Kong but I don't think I could ever get used to that smell!
