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Asia » Hong Kong » Kowloon
December 9th 2005
Published: January 4th 2006
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Am behind with my blog again... ;0) This is a quick update on the stopover in Hong Kong that I had on the way back to NZ from the UK.

Now I know I was here in autumn but I still expected HK to be hot. When I've previously been to SE Asia in 'autumn' or 'winter' it's been hot (by my fair skinned english standards anyway), so I imagined HK would be the same. I was rather suprised then (and pleased I'd packed my fleece!) when I arrived to find locals wearing thick winter coats like I'd wear in the UK! Apparently it had been really hot a few days before, but for the three days I was there the temperature averaged about 14oC... really not what I was expecting!!

I also thought HK would be a lot smaller than it was. Guess I should have read the guide book a bit more before I arrived ;0) I always pictured HK just as HK Island and a small 'bit' on the mainland.... rather than the 200-plus islands and total area of 1100sqkm that it is. OK so maybe not huge but there was more than enough to keep me occupied for the time I was there... and if the weather had been better there would have been lots more exploring of the outlying islands and mainland areas to do. With a population of over 7million people here I was also quite suprised by how many green areas there were and how you didn't have to feel crowded by other people. One of the most relaxing parts was walking along the water front promenade... apart from being hassled by numerous guys wanting to tell me how lucky I was and read my fortune (for a small fee obviously) there were great views across the water and time to be spent watching the water traffic speeding/crawling along.

The history of HK is really quite interesting... as I found during the several hours spent at the History Musuem :0) The other thing that I learnt there and at the Art Museum is just how much detail they give on every item! My god you'd be in there for weeks if you read it all! Whilst the Portugese arrived and established a trading colony at Macau in 1557, archeaological remains show that settlement of the area dates back some 6 thousand years. The first written record of the area came in the 13th Century and the British finally made an appearance and were granted permission to trade from Canton (now Guangzhou in China) in the early 18th Century. All trade had to go through a select group of Chinese traders and was restrictive in that foreigners had to pay for Chinese tea and silk in silver but the Chinese wanted little of what the Westerners had to offer...until the emergence of the illegal opium trade. Several opium wars later, between the Chinese and British/Western fleet, and the territory was ceded to the British... to be returned to the Chinese in 1987.

On my last day the weather cleared a little so I took the ferry from Kowloon across to HK Island and then the funicular up to the top of Victoria Peak where I walked the hour long loop track. Whilst the day was still a little overcast there were still some amazing views to be had from the top - on one side out to small green islands and on the other back to the built up area of Kowloon.

I had some great Indian food here too (not a big fan of Chinese food) and even better these were restaurants where the entire menu was vegetarian!! Ah i was in heaven! Other observations about HK - I had expected to see more westerners, but maybe that's because I wasn't here in peak season. Also, this was a good place to be a single person (never thought I'd say that!)!! If you were a couple or a 'large' person you seriously would have needed a room upgrade. I'd read that hotel rooms here were small but I hadn't really expected my 'standard' room to be quite so bijou compact!!! They also really take to the festive spirit here. I'd been in London late enough to see the Xmas lights on Regent Street but this was something else - wondering round the shopping malls and promenades, Christmas tunes seemed to be played on a continuous loop! And as to shopping.... well, I'm sure you could easily bankrupt yourself here but alas I was already over my baggage allowance for the filight ;0)

The next update will be our Xmas and New Year adventures to Golden Bay and the Marlborough Sounds...


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