From Hong Kong, with Love

Indre Glazauskaite explains why Hong Kong deserves at least a second visit.

I don’t like coming back to places I’ve visited. There are just so many places to go, so much to see on our Earth. But Hong Kong is a different story. I went there two years ago in February. It really impressed me and I felt I needed to come back, just when it was warmer; to explore places I wasn’t able to because of misty weather.

So I came back. And it was warmer. A lot warmer: 32ºC and 100% humidity. You feel like tomato in a greenhouse. Especially when air-conditioning in trains and indoors in generally is so high, you need to put your cardigan on not to freeze. It’s crazy, but that’s just how it goes.

I was to spend two weeks in this land of contrasts, which prompted the same question from almost everyone I spoke to about my trip – what will you do for so long in Hong Kong? Oh, there is plenty to do. “Fragrant Harbour” has everything you could wish for: impressive architecture, wonderful nature, culture, posh and cheap shopping spots, fancy nightlife, tranquil temples, great food – you name it.

My main aim was to explore Hong Kong’s nature, and at least this time visibility was good, which was exactly what I needed. But not at first; a day after arrival it started to rain. Pour, to be precise. For a week. Great, I started to see my dream of hiking and surfing being washed away.

Still, if life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, right? So I went to museums – history, science and space. Funny thing – I was mistaken for being British in the Museum of History after I helped a school girl who was trying to find out when Hong Kong’s sovereignty passed to China.

I spent the rest of the day exploring the other museums. If you want to feel like you’re in a different world, go to the Space Museum. The museum’s large dome is a cinema with a 360-degree screen. Watching a short movie about solar eclipses on a screen that surrounds you is a pretty interesting experience!

In the intervals between rain I went to the bird and flower markets. These unique places really make you feel like a local: choosing flowers, birds, cages or food for them, including live worms or grasshoppers, possibly even pick out something for lunch if you’re hungry (I wasn’t). One of most interesting hobbies of elderly Hong Kongers is caged bird watching. Men hang their cages somewhere, sit and… watch them. Exciting! But maybe there’s great wisdom to be found there. We, westerners would not understand this, I’m sure.

Another fun outing to get a sense of what it’s like to live in Hong Kong is to visit temples. Yes, they are busy and  full of inconsiderate tourists who take selfies in front of people who are praying, but if you wait for crowds to disappear you can grasp the serenity of the place; exotic scents mix with the sound of boxes of wooden fortune sticks being shaken for prayer. Perfectly maintained gardens with ponds, waterfalls and relaxing music help you forget you are in the middle of a concrete jungle.

Perhaps because of my temple visits, the weather improved and the next day we set out to discover that hiking in the heat is not the easiest thing. With my heart pounding as if it were at a drum’n’bass concert, we managed to reach a couple of peaks. One of the most spectacular hikes in Hong Kong is the Dragon’s Back. After breathtaking views and hundreds of photos you are rewarded with a beach and the chance for a swim; God, how great it was to jump into that water.

Next day, next adventure. We headed to Lantau Island, home of Tian Tan Buddha, also known as the Big Buddha. People told me that it is impressive, at 34 metres tall, it should be. But I didn’t see it. I wasn’t very happy when I found out that you reach it by cable car, high, high up in the air. Not being a big fan of heights, I looked at it in pictures, agreed that it indeed looked beautiful and carried on with my life. If, unlike me, you are a fan of extremes, you definitely need to take a crystal cable car cabin and enjoy the view, or scream.

So we continued exploring, but via an air conditioned coach taking us to Tai O fishing village. And what a nice ride that was – up the hill, round and round, past green hills and white sand beaches. Perfect. Next on the menu was hiking to reach Infinity Pool – a water reservoir in the middle of jungle forest – not well-known to tourists I assume because we were alone. Totally alone, even local people hid from the sun or hid under sun-umbrellas. I realised that a hat might have been a good idea, but it was too late for that. After a while we were joined by a very friendly, if unusually large, butterfly. At least someone was interested in these crazy ladies. I felt crazy hiking in that heat, but again the view was breathtaking: the waterfall and reservoir, in the midst of the jungle.

The next day we headed to Sai Kung, a town on Sai Kung peninsula east of Hong Kong for surfing lessons. After one hour in a bus and 45 minutes walking in the middle of nowhere we reached the school only to discover that we had missed an email from them telling us not to come because there are no waves. As I was starting to turn into the Hulk, a very friendly Aussie surfing instructor suggested to try standup paddle-boarding. It was great – another check in my “water sports to try” list.

After the real jungle it was time to check out the concrete jungle, and I knew the perfect place. Lan Kwai Fong, a nightlife hotspot in central Hong Kong known simply as LKF to the locals, is where expats, tourists and all other temporary residents go out. LKF is a cacophony of sounds, bars, people and entertainment options. Imagine Leicester square on Saturday night, just bigger and without police. Interesting to see once, but not so interesting to revisit, so I chose to rise above it and visit some rooftop bars. If you’re lucky and the sky is clear, it is possible to see pretty much all Hong Kong from the highest bar in the world, which is located on 118 floor.

Talking about views, my other aim was to take a nice picture of Hong Kong from Victoria Peak. Two years ago, on my last visit, I was very unlucky, seeing only fog instead of skyscrapers. This time I was determined not to be beaten – so I went to Victoria Peak three times.

The first time I took the Victoria tram, which is fun, but quite expensive comparing with alternative options and you need to queue for a long time with all the tourists. A better way is to take a bus from central Hong Kong. It will take around 45 minutes, but the views are great, if you are not afraid of going round and up the hill on a narrow road. Victoria Peak is a really amazing place. Looking back on the city, it makes you wonder how it was even possible to build so many skyscrapers in such a small area. After an hour or so gazing into the horizon and recalling all holiday adventures I felt my mission was done; picture taken, I was ready to say goodbye, I was ready to fly 9641 km back to London.

On my night bus to airport I couldn’t stop wondering if this was the last time I’d visit this amazing place. I hope not.

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