Day 28 Hong Kong

Those people who see me at work may remember the red and black rucksack which accompanies me on my train journeys and produces from within  scribbled notes on school self evaluation  and the latest guidance from Ofsted. This rucksack now has a new function. It is our Far East travel companion and holds cameras, currency and fold up pac a macs. The pac a  macs were tightly rolled up unused until yesterday.

Our ship was too big to be allowed in the central Victoria harbour in Hong Kong so we awoke in the morning to find ourselves berthed in yet another container port. The ship had organised a regular and free shuttle coach service to take passengers into the town. Not wishing, or needing, to take part in another Princess tour, Chris and I started our DIY day by catching the shuttle.  As we walked off the ship a deluge of rain dropped unexpectedly from the cloudy sky and we frantically delved in the rucksack for our waterproofs. We finally climbed on the coach in rainwear, much to the envy of the other drenched passengers. ‘They’re well prepared’ I heard an American say. ‘Not well prepared, just English’ I retorted.

The rain soon passed and, by the time we had boarded the ‘Star Ferry’ to take us from the mainland Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, the weather was dry, although the tops of the numerous skyscrapers and hilltop peaks were immersed in cloud.

Chris and I chose to take the ‘Big Bus’, Hong Kong’s equivalent of the Ho Ho, and our £30 (not cheap) tickets  included the Star Ferry and Victoria Peak tram. Bearing in mind the uncertain weather, this proved to be a wise choice. As with all the locations so far visited, I loved Hong Kong and would like to revisit, though it is maybe not my very favourite venue so far. It is still very British in many respects. However, the residents (though not the traffic) move at constant high speed. It is far noisier than any British city, and dominated by the somewhat claustrophobic density of record breaking tower blocks.

 Opportunities for unlimited  designer shopping were everywhere, interspersed with local health and food outlets. Sadly our wallets did not stretch to a new Armani wardrobe, but we did manage to order a local ‘Hong Kong’ lunch, helped somewhat by the perfect English spoken by the staff!  

It was very refreshing to be in a place where we felt confident to travel independently.

We now have 2 days at sea before we disembark in Shanghai and Chris gets his long awaited ride on the high speed maglev train.

So for any cruisers interested, I will try to do a mini-review of the ship tomorrow.