A day out in Hong Kong - and the Races too

After a fairly boring, tiring and typically uneventful journey from Heathrow we arrived in Hong Kong for the first time and more or less went straight to bed. However I did find time for a quick pint in the hotel bar which claims to be "The most upbeat and chic bar in town". I can't vouch for that yet but give me a few days!

So, off to explore. We took the free hotel shuttle bus down to the waterfront, crossed our fingers that my Clydesdale Bank card got us some cash (it did) then jumped on to a ferry to explore one of the Outlying Islands - Lantau Island. 45 minutes and $13 Hong Kong dollars (about the same as an Edinburgh bus fare) saw us arrive in Mui Wo. Whilst a world away from the skyscrapers of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon i.e. we were getting to see the "real" China, we were slightly disillusioned when the first thing we saw as we left the ferry terminal was the ubiquitous big golden M!

Emboldened by her success thus far with public transport Sandra decided to jump on a local bus. Initially heading towards the bus going to the Big Buddha and the Po Lin Monastery she did a quick about turn when she discovered it was a Trappist Monastery i.e she wouldn't be allowed to speak - just not Sandra at all! So instead it was off on the Number 1 bus (exact fares only - Edinburgh buses again) to the fishing village of Tai O where Sandra took my picture.

Tai O was fascinating although far from beautiful - a ramshackle jumble of houses including many examples of the old Chinese stilt houses built over water which have now largely disappeared. Dozens of small stalls selling fish in almost all its guises - mainly unidentifiable and, to Western eyes and stomachs, not particularly appealing - especially the fermented shrimp paste!

We then re-traced our steps back to the hotel as this was Race Night. The Cosmopolitan Hotel is right next to the Happy Valley Race Course and The Hong Kong Jockey Club and from our room on the 21st floor we have a panoramic view of the whole course. The night-time scene is incredible and very atmospheric with the floodlit green of the course totally surrounded and loomed-over by scores of skyscrapers. The picture below, taken from our bedroom, does not do the scene justice.

Anyway, enough for today, we are thinking of exploring the tram system tomorrow which looks as if it was based on the Edinburgh trams - not the current nonsense but the trams of my youth in the 1950's. Sandra seems to think that there is a tram which goes up to The Peak - I'll find out tomorrow if she is right.