Today was a great day for us in Hong Kong! We saw some amazing sites and had a wonderful time. Click Laura’s picture for the photo album.

I woke up about 3:00 a.m. and just got up and started working on the computer. I wanted to stay up so I’d be tired enough this evening to sleep through the night (It worked!) Laura got up a few hours later because she is sleeping better than I am. We got up and went down to the breakfast buffet. She had some fruit, frosted flakes, and a muffin, while I dined on scrambled eggs, bacon, fruit, raw salmon, oat meal, and dim sum. It was very tasty, and that ended up being the last time we would eat until dinner.

Stop one on our grand adventure today was to ride the cable car up the side of the mountain, just a few minutes from the hotel. It only cost $10 bucks for both of us and the ride ended up being even more fun that we thought it would be. It was about 10 minutes up and 10 minutes back down. The views were amazing and the entire airport could be seen, along with the hotels, condos, and mountains. Those condos, by the way, are about 50 stories high!

We stopped in a shopping center style building to use the restroom. I asked an employee where one was and he had no idea what I had said. I then remembered that on maps, the word toilet was used, so I asked him where a toilet was, and that did the trick. We headed into one and I found two urinals that literally had less than one inch between them. I’m glad I was the only one using them. Then I went to wash my hands and found that there was water, but no soap or towels! A man came out of his stall and proceeded to “wash up” with only water. I had to leave when I saw him starting to rinse off his face and use his hands to bring water to his mouth to rinse and drink! Laura faired worse, because when she came out, she said she would hold it until we found somewhere else. Not only was there no soap or towels, there was no toilet paper anywhere! No where in the stall was there a place to hang it. She found out later in another bathroom, that some toilet paper is hanging outside the stalls. Hmmm. Better grab you enough, I suppose.

Then we bought train tickets, and once again headed into town. We got off at the Jordan stop and walked the fifteen minute hike to the Hong Kong History Museum. There was a sign outside that said: “Free on Wednesdays.” Awesome — can’t beat that! We got to see lots of the culture and also enjoy some of the air conditioning. One of my friends told me that the sun hasn’t been out for almost two weeks, but it has been nice and sunny ever since we arrived — God is good. Sunny and humid, I might add. Some of the pictures of me will look like someone threw a bucket of water on me. Well, they didn’t, I am just suffering the injustice of a lack of evaporation . . .

After the museum, we hiked, and hiked and hiked our way through people and traffic to the Star Ferry that was going to take us on a 10 minute ride to the Island of Hong Kong. It cost Laura and I a combined $12 dollars Hong Kong – or $1.54 U.S. to ride the ferry. I must say I do hate these high prices! (Kidding — our money is traveling as far as we have!) For those confused about being in Hong Kong and then traveling on a ferry to see more Hong Kong, your confusion is understandable. Hong Kong is really a group of islands and peninsulas. Looking at a map here, you can see that there are several parts to it, all connected by either train or ferry. Kowloon is the main part of HK that is connected to mainland China, and HK island is the island just South of Kowloon where most of the tall buildings are that are seen on post cards. The airport is on Lantau island, off to the west of HK about 10 minutes. All of it, though, is Hong Kong.

After the ferry, we more or less wandered for an hour, hot, thirsty, and hungry. We wanted to be at the top of Victoria Peak during the dusk hours, so we had to plan out where we had to go to make that happen. We saw a bunch of shops and street vendors, and I was checking the prices on a few electronics and camera stuff; my wonderful bride, being ever patient while I did so. We decided to eat something and stopped into an air conditioned restaurant. I asked if they had English menus and the hosted said yes. It was nice, and we sat in a booth that had large windows that overlooked the street below (we were one story up). I opened the menu and that is when the trouble started: Ox tongue, eel, shark, most of it raw, and plenty of other things I didn’t recognize! They brought us tea and that is when I offered to pay for the tea, because we would have to leave. They graciously declined and we headed out.

Sweating and tired, we couldn’t find the Peak Tram that would take us to the top of Victoria Peak. It turns out our map was wrong! We paid $2 U.S. and caught a cab who took us to the tram. The tram is a cable car like vehicle that is towed up to the top of the peak via a huge cable. We hoped it wouldn’t snap on our journey. Once at the top, we saw what all the rave was about: A breath-taking view of the city that only pictures can describe. We hung out on the ledge a while and then ate at one of the few places that looked affordable: Bubba Gump’s. It was good food: I got a burger and Laura had onion rings and a salad. Coming back down the tram, we could still see the amazing sights of the city at night.

We found our way back to the central station and headed for home. All in all, it was an amazing day! Lots of sweating and lots of walking, but now we know a little more about where things are and how cheap the ferries and cabs are. If there is much walking to do again, I’m opening my wallet!

I only wonder what tomorrow can bring? We’ll see!

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