After spending a day in Korea and a week in Guangzhou, China, Alex and I headed to Hong Kong to see the sights. After a quick train ride and some customs/quarantine procedures, we arrived in downtown Hong Kong and grabbed a cab. The whole right drive thing is always interesting at first.
Anxious to begin my exploration, I hit the pavement and stumbled across countless cool neighborhoods and markets in the heart of the city.
An example of one of the many brothels one comes across in Hong Kong.
Then I headed back to the hotel room to crash, not a bad view from our little window.
Definitely not the most spacious room I had ever stayed in, but it did the trick. The bathroom was literally part of the tiny bedroom.
The most beautiful urban part of Hong Kong is Hong Kong Island, as seen from Kowloon (mainland Hong Kong) across the Victoria harbor. Hong Kong is very unique in that it's a huge city built on islands and surrounded my mountains.
For about 15 cents, we hopped on a ferry to take us to the Island.
The traffic on the island is pretty bad, so almost all foot traffic has been diverted to the second level of every building with breezeways connecting all the buildings. All the office buildings have retail space on the second floor to accommodate people walking and shopping without having to ever cross a street.
Lots of amazing architecture and people.
Alex and I wanted a bird's eye view of the city so we headed to a tram that takes you up into the mountains just behind the city.
It was a little misty up there, but you could still make out a chunk of downtown.
As it grew dark, we headed back down the mountain to see the daily light show put on by a number of skyscrapers downtown. With over 40 buildings participating each night, it's the largest permanent light show in the world.
The next day Alex stayed in the hotel to nurse his ankle while I headed to Lantau Island to check out more mountains and some small fishing towns.
They have a 360 degree gondola that takes you high up into the mountains to see a giant buddha statue and the Po Pin Monastery.
There is a small museum Inside the huge statue.
Then I headed to the monastery.
Hong Kong, part 2, coming shortly.
Anxious to begin my exploration, I hit the pavement and stumbled across countless cool neighborhoods and markets in the heart of the city.
An example of one of the many brothels one comes across in Hong Kong.
Then I headed back to the hotel room to crash, not a bad view from our little window.
Definitely not the most spacious room I had ever stayed in, but it did the trick. The bathroom was literally part of the tiny bedroom.
The most beautiful urban part of Hong Kong is Hong Kong Island, as seen from Kowloon (mainland Hong Kong) across the Victoria harbor. Hong Kong is very unique in that it's a huge city built on islands and surrounded my mountains.
For about 15 cents, we hopped on a ferry to take us to the Island.
The traffic on the island is pretty bad, so almost all foot traffic has been diverted to the second level of every building with breezeways connecting all the buildings. All the office buildings have retail space on the second floor to accommodate people walking and shopping without having to ever cross a street.
Lots of amazing architecture and people.
Alex and I wanted a bird's eye view of the city so we headed to a tram that takes you up into the mountains just behind the city.
It was a little misty up there, but you could still make out a chunk of downtown.
As it grew dark, we headed back down the mountain to see the daily light show put on by a number of skyscrapers downtown. With over 40 buildings participating each night, it's the largest permanent light show in the world.
The next day Alex stayed in the hotel to nurse his ankle while I headed to Lantau Island to check out more mountains and some small fishing towns.
They have a 360 degree gondola that takes you high up into the mountains to see a giant buddha statue and the Po Pin Monastery.
There is a small museum Inside the huge statue.
Then I headed to the monastery.
Hong Kong, part 2, coming shortly.
