What is a SAR? China has two Special Administrative Regions, Hong Kong & Macao. Hong Kong was a former British colony and Macao a Portuguese one. Both moved to operate under the Chinese for defense and foreign affairs, but have autonomy in economic, legal and administrative areas. Both have their own immigration, currency and differing rules to internet access than what you will see on the Chinese mainland. English is widely spoken in Hong Kong.

I flew to Hong Kong from Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia with the national airline of Mongolia, MIAT. I have to say, MIAT was an outstanding airline, and it was a thoroughly enjoyable four hour flight down across China.

I have been to Hong Kong over 30 years ago. Back then I flew into the Kai Tak Airport, it was known as Kai Tak Heart Attack because of how close you got to the building skyscrapers. The video brought it all back. A new airport opened in 1998, and they are currently building another terminal. When I landed this time I did think the airport looked dated, and I thought the same for much of the MRT underground system. That said, everything was efficient and not expensive, so I made my way easily.

Hong Kong has two sides, Hong Kong Island and Kowloon. I decided to stay on Hong Kong Island this time, as I stayed on Kowloon all those years ago. It’s all connected by ferries, MRT or underground roads, so there are many ways to get around. The MRT, bus and Star Ferry are the easiest solutions I found for a tourist.

After dropping my bags at my hotel I headed out to travel by bus to Stanley. I’d had a recommendation for this market seaside town. It’s 30 minutes on a scenic bus ride down the coast. This is not somewhere I’d even heard of before.

Within 5 minutes of entering the Stanley Market I’d nearly destroyed one of the market stalls. I caught a display with my backpack as I navigated the tight alleyways. The display rocked, but thankfully didn’t fall. I shouted my apologies, but hot footed out of the market. I don’t think the market stall owner was too happy. I made my way to see the harbor of this seaside town on the southern end of Hong Kong Island coast and immediately understood why this is a popular destination with a mediterranean vibe.

I was given the tip to sit on the left hand side of the bus on the way back to central Hong Kong. The views are terrific I was reliably informed. They were right!

After heading back on the bus ride to the Central Station on Hong Kong Island I then started the walk up to Victoria Peak. There are several ways to get up to the top of the 1811 feet above sea level to the peak that provides great views of Hong Kong Harbor. You can catch the iconic tram, go by Bus #15, take a taxi or hike up, as I did. It does take over 1 hour, but it is very do-able and you catch good views along the way. Last time I was here I went via the Peak Tram.

Once you get to the top there is a Sky Terrace 428 built in 1997. This wasn’t here the last time I was in Hong Kong, so I went up to see what the view was like from this vantage point. My recommendation to you, don’t bother. You can get the same view from a few feet lower down for free. Another frustrating thing with the Sky Terrace is the viewpoint hoggery. What is viewpoint ‘hoggery’? It is when some gets in the prime viewpoint to take photos, but refuses to move to allow others an opportunity. I found it so frustrating. I was tempted to throw people over the side!

I did get some good photos, eventually.

Hong Kong By Night from Victoria Peak

The next day I went on a day trip to Macao (SAR), or sometimes written Macau. I have a separate blog post for that day trip.

Once I returned to Hong Kong from Macao, I went to travel on the Star Ferry. These ferries have been serving Hong Kong since 1888. It takes about 10 minutes to travel the short distance from Hong Kong Island to Kowloon or in the other direction. They run all day. Prior to leaving for Hong Kong I was reminded to ensure I rode the top deck. There are two entrances to enter onto the ferry and it is the top deck that gives the better views. The cost of the ferry is less than $1 and the views are worth a million!

My last day in Hong Kong was set as I head for Lantau Island. To get there you have to use the MTR to the Tung Chung station. From there you take the short walk to the Ngong Ping 360 cable car. The cable car travels a total of 3.5 miles and takes 25 minutes to get there. It is one of the longest cable cars in the world.

I arrived mid-morning on a Tuesday and expected small queues but nothing major. That didn’t work out too well as there were 90-minute queues to get on to the cable car. I decided to stick with it to see what awaited at Lantau Island. That said, it was another indicator of just how hard Hong Kong is sometimes. There is no question that Hong Kong has a lot to offer, but there are so many people, so many tourists, that it takes the joy out of it at times.

I got to Lantau Island, but the amount of time I could stay was now restricted due to the fact that my flight was due to leave from Hong Kong in the early evening. I didn’t want to be stranded on Lantau Island as my plane set off. You can actually see the airport from Lantau Island, so maybe I could have at least watch it leave me behind!

There is a Big Buddha at the top of Lantau Island, all of 112 feet tall, it is a very impressive sight.

After a short visit I headed back to the cable car to head back down. It was not busy at this time of the day.
I got back down to the subway station and headed back to Hong Kong Island, catch some lunch and then off to the airport.

I did try to go to a British bar that was recommended to me called ‘The Globe’. I went the day before, but was turned away as they were about to host a private function, a bloody pub quiz. I wasn’t best pleased, but I decided to give them a second opportunity. I’m glad I did, the pub grub was tremendous, the beer likewise. Good way to round out the visit to Hong Kong.

As I set off to get back to the airport I got one last reminder that Hong Kong is not quite so hi-tech and update as one would might think it be. The taxis generally are old, but I found myself a new one. I was about to get going when I asked the polite question, ‘do you take credit cards’. In modern day Hong Kong, modern day city it was a bit of a silly question, or so I thought. Only for the taxi driver to respond, ‘No, cash only’. With all my local currency disposed of it seems I will be heading to the subway station on foot!

I knew the airport train did take credit cards, so once I was at the station I was good to go. Only the small matter of a EVA Airlines flight to Taiwan, a short time at the airport and then an onward 10-hour flight back to Seattle. It’s going to be a long trip home, and with the time difference I will be having a 39-hour Tuesday! Jet lag likely coming my way.