Our friend Dagmar suggested we do a walk on Lamma Island. It is the closest island to Hong Kong Island. We were able to see huge chimneys on the island from Dagmar's apartment. Hong Kong uses so much electricity and the small power station on the island seemed inadequate to provide for all their needs. We discovered later that most electricity in HK comes from nuclear plants in China. Lights are on all the time and advertising billboards are lit up everywhere and not many obvious signs of solar panels.
We are getting expert at finding our way around the trains and find them very comfortable. Our hotel is not far from the ferry piers so we decided to walk the route today. Huge trucks from China park outside the hotel and dump boxes of goods on the street while men with metal trolleys wait for their assignments and load up heading off to different business to delivery their goods. So many people smoke here it is so noticeable after the diminishing numbers who do in NZ.
The streets are very clean and tidy in Hong Kong and there were signs to warn that bait had been laid for rodents. Rubbish bins are found on many street corners with smoking trays on top for butts.
Hong Kong is a great place for rules. There are so many signs telling you what to do and what not to do all the time. Then there are signs telling you not to challenge the rules! It seems to keep people in order.
We chose to take the boat to Sok Kwu Wan at the centre of the island as it had not as many sailings as the main community at Yung Shue Wan. It took 25 minutes and there were very few westerners. The island is popular for alternative lifestylers but it was not obvious to us during our walk.
At Sok Kwu Wan the path passed between the kitchen and restaurant tables. Fresh seafood was swimming in glass tanks waiting for the lunchtime crowd. Several places were shut up and others were being renovated. In no time we had walked through the six or seven eating areas and onto the Family Trail. A few dogs wandered along the beach front unaccompanied but luckily took no notice of us.There were a couple of dag latrines: brick edged sandpits along the trail but the grass growing in them seemed to show that they too were ignored.
The fish farms are joined together with blue barrels and colourful flags show the wind direction.
The trail was a well used concrete path and well signed. A few small communities were off the trail. A pineapple seller set up a stall at the peak of the trail. The gnarled and twisted roots of the fig (ficus) trees found small cracks in the concrete trail walls and managed to keep the huge trees growing. We passed a small honey farm but no one was about.We didn't see any bees but lots of butterflies. We could hear lots of birds but didn't see them either.
The power station looked very quiet too with piles of coal stacked nearby but no smoke in the chimneys. In the distance was a wind turbine towering at 71 metres above the ground.
The end community of Yung Shue Wang was buzzing with Asian tourists. The beach was looked over by paid life guards. A worker was moving sand from the beach front to the shade of the trees on the edge. A huge shark net attached to buoys bobbed up and down in the waves.
The town is pretty crowded and compact with lots of souvenir shops restaurants and bike hire places. Boats leave half hourly from here so it was not too long before we could head back to HK.
We had eaten a lot of fruit but were ready for some fresh salads so headed to Marks and Spencers for a ready made chicken salad to take back to the hotel to eat on our last night in HK.
The next day we were early for breakfast and onto the train. The trains had hardly any people as many businesses open around 9 while others open at 11 and shut at 11. We went to the airport express terminal where we were able to cash in our Octopus card and buy a discounted ticket to the airport. HK airport must be the easiest airport to get to and go through any where in the world. Efficiency plus as you travel by driverless trains between places.
Next stop Almaty Kazakhstan.
We are getting expert at finding our way around the trains and find them very comfortable. Our hotel is not far from the ferry piers so we decided to walk the route today. Huge trucks from China park outside the hotel and dump boxes of goods on the street while men with metal trolleys wait for their assignments and load up heading off to different business to delivery their goods. So many people smoke here it is so noticeable after the diminishing numbers who do in NZ.
The streets are very clean and tidy in Hong Kong and there were signs to warn that bait had been laid for rodents. Rubbish bins are found on many street corners with smoking trays on top for butts.
Hong Kong is a great place for rules. There are so many signs telling you what to do and what not to do all the time. Then there are signs telling you not to challenge the rules! It seems to keep people in order.
We chose to take the boat to Sok Kwu Wan at the centre of the island as it had not as many sailings as the main community at Yung Shue Wan. It took 25 minutes and there were very few westerners. The island is popular for alternative lifestylers but it was not obvious to us during our walk.
At Sok Kwu Wan the path passed between the kitchen and restaurant tables. Fresh seafood was swimming in glass tanks waiting for the lunchtime crowd. Several places were shut up and others were being renovated. In no time we had walked through the six or seven eating areas and onto the Family Trail. A few dogs wandered along the beach front unaccompanied but luckily took no notice of us.There were a couple of dag latrines: brick edged sandpits along the trail but the grass growing in them seemed to show that they too were ignored.
The fish farms are joined together with blue barrels and colourful flags show the wind direction.
The trail was a well used concrete path and well signed. A few small communities were off the trail. A pineapple seller set up a stall at the peak of the trail. The gnarled and twisted roots of the fig (ficus) trees found small cracks in the concrete trail walls and managed to keep the huge trees growing. We passed a small honey farm but no one was about.We didn't see any bees but lots of butterflies. We could hear lots of birds but didn't see them either.
The power station looked very quiet too with piles of coal stacked nearby but no smoke in the chimneys. In the distance was a wind turbine towering at 71 metres above the ground.
The end community of Yung Shue Wang was buzzing with Asian tourists. The beach was looked over by paid life guards. A worker was moving sand from the beach front to the shade of the trees on the edge. A huge shark net attached to buoys bobbed up and down in the waves.
The town is pretty crowded and compact with lots of souvenir shops restaurants and bike hire places. Boats leave half hourly from here so it was not too long before we could head back to HK.
We had eaten a lot of fruit but were ready for some fresh salads so headed to Marks and Spencers for a ready made chicken salad to take back to the hotel to eat on our last night in HK.
The next day we were early for breakfast and onto the train. The trains had hardly any people as many businesses open around 9 while others open at 11 and shut at 11. We went to the airport express terminal where we were able to cash in our Octopus card and buy a discounted ticket to the airport. HK airport must be the easiest airport to get to and go through any where in the world. Efficiency plus as you travel by driverless trains between places.
Next stop Almaty Kazakhstan.
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