Day 22: Top of the Mountain and Festival of Lights

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Woke up that morning with a strange feeling in my head. It wasn't quite a headache but close enough. I woke up at 8AM and I was up even thought I only had 5 hours of sleep. I was glad of this because I still had a full day ahead of me. My group from last night was still sleeping so I grabbed breakfast with a Spanish lady, Cristina. I was short on cash so she was good enough to front me some cash for breakfast until I got some money from the ATM. It took a few banks before I found one that took my bank card. I was feeling bad for the amount time it took because Cristina was on her way back to London where she works. Finally I got some money from a Citibank and after a hug goodbye with Cristina I was off to Mount Victoria, my first stop.

I took the train to where the tram line goes up Mount Victoria but I saw the Bank of China building was nearby and I remembered Ian saying yesterday that tourists were allowed to go up to the 43rd floor free of charge. I went into the building and asked the reception lady if I could go up. I showed them my passport to confirm I was a tourist. The view from the 43rd floor is nice and you have a good view of Hong Kong Harbour.

After I got down from the tower I headed to the tram stop for Mount Victoria. The way up to Mount Victoria uses an old tram line that has been running since the late 19th century. It took me 20 minutes to buy a ticket and the tram ride up took another 10 minutes. FYI once the tram stops you have quickly fight your way to a seat. The view from the top of the mountain was impressive and there is a nice shopping center at the top and a park that you can walk around. I ate a lunch of noodles in the mall. At this point it started to rain so I got off the mountain and waited another 45 minutes for a tram ride down. Once I got off the mountain I was planning on taking the ferry to the walk of fame but with it raining I decided against it and went back to the hostel. After drying off I decided to grab some sleep before heading out again. With the limited amount of sleep I had the night before I slept easily. I woke up an hour or two later and when I stepped out of my room I saw Vera who was one of my drinking buddies from last night. Her hair was all wet so I didn't recognize her right away. She had slept in late and had gone up to see the giant Buddha and had gotten caught in the rain. The giant Buddha is a bad place to be caught in the rain because there is no cover once you are on the steps. Vera and I made plans to meet at the ferry terminal later on. For now I was on my way to the Temple Night Market which is a large market across the river from my location.

I took the subway to the Temple Market stop and it was 10 - 15 minute walk to get to the market itself. The market is huge and sells basically you can want. All the prices are negotiable and if you don't like negotiating than just hesitate when they tell you the price and they will lower the price. I stocked up on some cheap electronics and wandered around for a bit just window shopping. Soon enough it was time for me to head to the Ferry terminal. I met Vera at the clock tower just across from the ferry terminal building and we walked along the boardwalk for awhile towards the Star Walk. Which is the Hong Kong equivalent of the Hollywood walk of fame. We were planning on being back in position for the nightly light show. Now Hong Kong is a large city full of millions of people and what were the odds that we run into Ian from last night on the boardwalk. Ian had gone to meet a friend that day and we didn't have his number so it was just coincidence we ran into each other. Anyway the 3 of us went to see the Bruce Lee statue and after some customary pictures we made our way back to a spot where we could see the light show. I was not sure what to expect but with everything else in Hong Kong I was expecting a big show. The show was good with coordinated lights across some of the skyscrapers but I was honestly expecting some big show and was a bit disappointed.

After the light show we took the ferry back across the river and towards our hostel. After some looking around we opted for a traditional Hong Kong restaurant. I had some squid while Ian had a San Miguel beer which was suggested by a San Miguel beer spokesmodel. It was a small place and I was surprised they had spokesmodels there. After dinner we debated whether to go to a bar but after our late night last night we decided just to grab some beers at the hostel.

We went back to the hostel and we bought some Tsingtao beers from the hostel reception and went back to our rooms upstairs. Vera and Ian are in a different room from me and I will say their room is much nicer than mine with a better layout. We drank Tsingtao beer and chatted in their room. I met another Vera who was from the Netherlands and was another nice lady. She gave me some advise on massages and I opted to get the foot massage rather than a full body massage which seemed too invasive. After drinking and talking into the night I said my goodbyes and went back to my room to sleep. Tomorrow would be my last day and my adventure would be over.

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Photos

Bruce Lee
Bruce Lee Statue on star walk