Ni Hao! What a day! I experienced everything from pouring rain to brooding sunshine and swirling mist and this in cozy, sticky 31°C with loooots of humidity. Add to this endless walks up and down. Well, if anyone wants to lose some weight, I guess that would be a way to do it. Jokes aside, now back to the adventures.
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Po Lin fishing villageHaving made it to Hong Kong airport, I was swept off to the bus station in Tung Chung, armed with my new octopus card (which, by the way, is like the London Oyster card but with the added bonus that it is possible to pay nearly everywhere with it, be it any public transport or groceries stores and restaurants), and up the hill with the Ngon Ping Village and monastery.
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360° ExperienceSince I landed at 6am and arrived at 8, there was not much going on except some dancing fog. Made for good pictures and whenever there are no tourists, that´s absolutely fine by me. While stray dogs lay lazily stretching their paws and busy monastery workers with bamboo hats were sweeping the streets, I was busy roaming and exploring.
Kinda make me feel like Lara Croft in my improvised outfit (when I exited the airport I walked straight into a wall of heat and had to take as many clothes off as was decent).
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Po Lin MonasterySince the fog didn’t seem to mind staying for quite some time, I ventured forth into the quiet fisher village down in Tai O and what do you know, the sun came out and shone its brightest. Not too great for me, though, since in the joy of leaving behind my backpack in the hostel, I had forgotten my sunscreen.
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So I kept to the sheltered smaller backstreets with their smell of scampi and dried sea creatures dangling from the shop shelves. Afterwards, I enjoyed a fresh breeze during a boat tour along the coastline.
I was gliding through the water with white (actually they looked pink to me) dolphins and gazing at the town on wooden stilts, also known as the Venice of Hong Kong. There were some pretty crazy constructions and a dead cat floating along. Weird.
Tai O Fishing VillageThus encouraged, I strolled through the tourist village and – following the crowd – found myself in a cable car of the 360° experience slowly gliding through the hillside and suddenly standing in Tung Chung. I thought 360° meant a round trip but apparently not.
So I made the best out of the situation and visited the nearest shopping mall. Don`t be alarmed, I didn’t buy anything apart from food.
(Plus, I wouldn’t have been able to afford it anyway with this Chinese trend of hunting for costly designer brands and I had to make up for another bus ticket).
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Tian Tian BuddhaBack up again, I was pretty much dehydrated. I couldn`t drink as much as fast as I sweat it out again because the sun had followed me and I had to climb all the stairs up to the giant Buddha. It was worth it!
Then I finally made my way back to the hostel to refresh myself and stock up on water supplies for the next day. By the way, the hostel is situated at the start of a picturesque jungle in which you can sometimes walk alongside feral but nice dogs, cows and buffalos.
Cows on Lantau IslandBuy the full book on Amazon – it includes my Australia travel (mis)adventures as well!
Kaddi says
Das sieht nach sehr tollen ersten Eindrücken aus! Das Bild mit der Katze ist ja toll. :) Ist auf dem Bild neben dem Schmetterling das Hostel zu sehen? ;)
Annemarie Strehl says
Dankeschön. Nein, mein Hostel ist nicht zu sehen. Da gabs nix Schönes.^^ Aber es war um die Ecke.
Noreen Laguerta says
Our family composed of 4 adults are bound to Hong kong this June. My plan is to go straight to Ngong Pin from Airport with our luggages as we are planning to spend the night at TST, which is more practical/cheaper, to go to Ngong Pin from airport by Bus or by taxi? How about our luggages
Annemarie says
Hi Noreen, thanks for getting in touch. Public transport is definitely cheaper. You can take the Airport Express to Hong Kong Station and then walk for 7 minutes to central station and get the metro to Tsim Sha Tsui station. I realise that this might be a hassle when travelling with a family, so a good alternative is the direct bus A20 towards Hung Hom Station. With this, you’ll arrive at Nathan Road. But then you still need to get to your hotel. So I would recommend contacting a few airport pick up services to compare prices because that option is the most hassle free.