Why Hong Kong and Macau? They are not our usual destinations which are more nature or history related however there are quite a few reasons - we have only one week of vacation and want an easy destination and after researching them a bit we find quite a few things to do in both Hong Kong and in Macau from a historical standpoint at least. In addition the plane ticket is quite cheap, the hotels plentiful and for once we won't need a car to get from point A to point B - so that is a new experience for us:). And we certainly enjoyed our Japan trip and want to see if that enjoyment can be replicated in this small slice of China.
The plane tickets we have bought connect in Los Angeles and we don't look forward to passing through the airport. Previous times we always had to exit the arrival terminal and go again through security to enter the international departure terminal which is not fun. To our surprise however that has changed - there is an interior passage between the terminals now (quite new) so we escape the whole rigmarole of passing through security twice and arrive way in advance in the international terminal to take our Cathay flight to Hong Kong. We were quite surprised at the length of the flight when we were researching it - 15 hours - however the flight goes easy with enough leg space and good entertainment options, very different from the US carriers.
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| Flying over the Rockies | Arriving in Los Angeles |
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| Hollywood sign in the distance | Leaving the US |
From the airport our plan is to take the Airport Express train to the last station in downtown Hong Kong. For this we have to do two things, get some local Hong Kong dollars and then pay two Octopus passes that can be used on all trains, buses and quite a few other places. The problem that we face is that the only place to exchange money is Travelex, never the best or even a good choice to exchange money but because it is already late on a Sunday evening we decide to exchange a small amount there, just enough to buy the Octopus cards and then look for other options to exchange money in the downtown area later. One interesting thing we learned about the Hong Kong money is that it is printed by 3 different banks with different looks so basically there are 3 types of banknotes of 100, 3 types of banknotes of 50 and so on. We also get a lot of information from the friendly tourist info center and then are on our way to the train.
Here we face a bigger problem - we cannot find a way to validate or to basically swipe the Octopus card and there is no info what to do - we enter the train and there is still nothing and we do not want to go without paying so we jump out and go to the customer service center which has quite a line. Luckily we remember we also have unlimited data in Hong Kong on our phone so we check the web a bit and find out that for this train only you pay when you exit - that should have been clearly written somewhere in our opinion. Satisfied we climb on the next train for the half hour ride downtown where the second part of our adventure starts.
The problem is that we have to get somehow to our hotel from the metro station but we are stuck in the bowels of the IFC mall and we have to find the Mid-Level escalators that we want to use to get up the hill to our hotel. Here we are better prepared though with some directions printed from home that lead us through the mall and across a few covered walkways to the start of the elevators, from here it is a relaxing ride up the escalators to the hotel street and soon we are inside the hotel.
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| Christmas display | A banknote issued from one of the 3 possible banks |
The room is quite small which we expected but it has all the needed amenities including a dehumidifier which will come in handy in the rainy days that followed. We are really tired after our long flight so soon we go to sleep - tommorow we have a long day of exploring planned.
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| Our (small) room | The bathroom |
In the morning our appetite has caught up with us so we have to go outside to search for something to eat for breakfast. We hope we can find something close enough but the majority of the restaurants we find are either closed or the menus are in Chinese only so we start to despair a bit.
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| View from the window | Small gardens are everywhere |
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| Road in front of hotel | Hong Kong high rises |
Right when we are about to give up we find a place which seems to be perfect - it has a menu in English and is open and we enter it - not to our surprise it seems to be preferred also by all other non Chinese people that pass it. The food is good and refreshed we are ready for whatever the day is ready throw at us.
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| Looks like a great breakfast spot (and open:)) | The menu |
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| Chinese breakfast | Toast with coconut |
Before leaving for the day however we have to return to the hotel to prepare for all eventualities - it is supposed to rain today so we have to take with us umbrellas and rain ponchos and also of course our cameras.
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| Returning to the hotel | Fruit market |
And now we are ready to visit Hong Kong downtown which is nearby and in walking distance. We start walking down towards Queens Road Central passing through (yes through not next to) some interesting high rises on the way. Interestingly most skyscrappers here seem to be raised and the ground floor is open air, public and walkable most times with some artwork splattered throughout which makes this type of visit worthwhile in many cases.
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| Futuristic high rise from below | Interesting skyscrapper |
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| Few people right here | Bull statues |
Following the Queens Road Central we pass beneath the midlevel escalators and by many high end stores on our way to the HSBC Main Building which is one of the attractions in Hong Kong.
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| Part of midlevel escalators from below | Busy main street |
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| Queens Road Central Street | Looking up |
HSBC or Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation is one of the major banks in Hong Kong and one of the three permitted to issue banknotes for the autonomous territory. The headquarters sitting next to Statue Square are famous both for their history - they are located here from 1865 over 4 iterations of the building with the latest finished in 1985. Even more famous are the lions protecting it considered to be a symbol of good luck. The traditional ones were commissioned in 1935 and survived the Hong Kong war (with a few bullet wounds) and being taken to Japan to be melted down before being returned back to their place in front of the building. We enter inside the building as far as private people can, marveling at the many Christmas decorations before continuing to the Statue Square.
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| HSBC building - back | New lion |
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| HSBC building front | One of the original lions |
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| Decoration inside HSBC building | Main Christmas tree in the open air lobby |
Statue Square is right in front of the HSBC building in fact the headquarters are one of the "anchors" of the square with the Former Legislative Council Building on another side. The name Statue Square comes from the statues that were sitting here during the British times - now only one statue remains so the name is not that relevant anymore I guess:).
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| Statue square and Council Building | Only statue left |
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| Interesting art | Controversial Bank of China tower |
From here we walk to the nearby Chater Garden which is a small garden but well maintained and has quite a few tai chi practitioners as well as a lot of interesting birds that we study before moving on towards the Hong Kong Park.
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| Lake with Tai-Chi practitioners | Aquatic feature |
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| Chater garden - well maintained | Chater Garden View |
On the way we pass next to the modern Bank of China building of "bad feng shui" renown. A lot of bad events were blamed on the building before the HSBC building erected two cranes looking like cannons aimed at the Bank of China building that cancelled the bad feng shui. Or at least that is what they say:)
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| Bank of China building | Beautiful landscaping |
After the Bank of China building it is just a small climb to the Hong Kong Park with some views of the weird skyscrappers in Hong Kong. In fact depending on the definition Hong Kong has the most skyscrappers in the world so there are plenty of interesting skyscrappers to choose from.
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| Climbing towards Hong Kong Park | PLA Central Barracks - Amethyst Block |
As we enter Hong Kong Park we arrive right at a lake with some nice view of skyscrappers and lots of fish and turtles including some that are pretty tame or at least hungry.
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| Hong Kong Park View | Lots of fish in the ponds |
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| Noooo..don't run away | Much better - but scary |
One of the reasons we wanted to visit the Hong Kong Park is the Flagstaff House Tea Museum. It is free to enter and relatively small and for us it is a good introduction to the role of tea for the Chinese and how to traditionally prepare it (very very carefully:)). Next we pass the lake and a few interesting water features and start to climb toward out next major goal the Edward Youde bird garden.
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| Flagstaff House with Lippo Center towers in background | Relaxing path for soles |
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| View towards the Peak | View towards downtown |
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| Artistic and possibly dangerous - we almost got wet:) | Beautiful corner in butterfly garden |
On the way we pass the closed Olympic Stadium and enter the Tai Chi Garden. Here we discover a sombering Memorial dedicated to all the health workers that died during the SARS epidemic.
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| Olympic Stadium - not in the best possible shape | Entering the tai chi garden |
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| Path in the gardens | The "Fighting SARS" memorial |
Arriving at the aviary we choose to visit first the caged bird display - while the birds (toucans and parrots) are interesting they are difficult to photograph and see sometimes due to very small mesh sizes.
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| Caged bird display entrance | Toucan in display area |
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| Exotic bird | Birds in foliage |
The more interesting part of the aviary is the covered Edward Youde bird garden. Here you can enter the enclosure and walk among the birds on an elevated boardwalk which seems quite popular also with the locals.
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| Entrance to Edward Youde bird garden | Walking on boardwalk and looking for birds |
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| Trail is quite lengthy | Looking down |
THe birds are quite varied and seem at home here making nests and eggs and protecting those nests fiercely if threatened. Still most of them are very friendly and used with the humans especially the Bali myna birds that seem to be the most plentiful.
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| Bird waiting for us | Very common bird - Bali myna |
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| Victoria Crowned Pigeon nesting | Tired from too much eating |
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| Is the head supposed to be that bendable? | Finch in nesting hole |
Our next goal is the nearby Zoological Garden however we find it quite difficult to find the correct way as we somehow enter the Saint Joseph church courtyard where we go through a maze of small passages to arrive at a locked gate. A passerby on the other side of the gate takes pity of us and points us to another door that is open and we are free and ready to tackle the zoological garden.
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| Mix of skyscrappers | Saint Joseph Church - close up |
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| Church from the other side of the road | View from the entrance of Hong Kong Zoo |
Like the aviary the zoo is free to enter and it also doubles as a botanical garden with a nice bamboo garden that we pass through on the way to the animals and birds.
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| Hong Kong Zoo - free entrance | Monument to War Heroes |
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| Even slopes have a registration here | Bamboo garden |
The section on birds is quite small but the mammal section is bigger with a lot of focus on monkeys including a few orangutans which we haven't seen that often in other zoos. After a bit more wandering around looking at the other features of the zoo we continue on our way to the actual goal for the day - the Peak Tram.
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| Bright red ibises | Very active monkey |
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| Nice colors | And an orangutan - cool |
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| Surprised it's still here | Nice water feature |
The Peak Tram is close however what we are concerned about are the lines for tickets - we understand that they can be quite long. And long they are but still it seems that we can get to the tram in about 1/2h to 1h and that is probably how long it takes to follow the long line to the tram and finally we are on the historic and on our way up towards the Victoria Peak. It is longer than we expected and quite steep so we are happy that we decided to use the tram instead of hiking but going down we still aren't sure what to do - we decide to take the decision later after we see the situation at the peak.
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| Arriving at the Peak Tram | The queue on this side of the street |
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| And then on the other side | And then inside |
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| Here comes our tram | Inside the tram |
The tram takes us inside the Peak tower so we explore the stores a bit but we are here for the views so we try to exit the tower as soon as possible only to be met by thick fog - we barely can see the tower and no luck of seeing anything downwards - quite depressing.
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| Stores inside the Peak tower | Well...this is a bit confusing |
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| Peak tower | Plaza in front of the tower |
Undeterred we enter the Peak Galleria, another mall at the top, that has a free observation deck that we hope will allow us at least a few glimpses of the sea and the skyscrappers of Hong Kong. As all buildings in Hong Kong everything is very clean and disinfected regularly and this is clearly noted - likely a result of the SARS epidemic. From the top we catch a break in the clouds and a view of the south side of Hong Kong island and Aberdeen city before eating a snack and returning back to the ground level.
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| Almost all doors are sterilized regularly...supposedly | Same for elevators |
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| Very foggy today | We can see on the other side of the island - for a second |
Our initial plan was to hike the Peak trail, a roundtrip around the Peak and enjoy the views and after a brief deliberation we decide to proceed with this plan even though it seems that the rain will start any minute and we cannot get any maps for the trail due to the visitor center being closed. However there really is no need for a map, there are signs pointing us in the right the direction and soon we are on our way through the fog. There are descriptive panels on the way and some of them are about the history of the road and so we learn that this is an active access road to the houses bordering the narrow road - we cannot see how anyone can drive anything on it safely but there are photos so we continue on more carefully listening for any sound of car engines.
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| Visitor center/old tram is under renovation | Luckily there is an outside map |
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| Starting on the Peak trail | Otherworldly |
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| This is also an access road..yikes | Few people on the trail today |
The view is very variable but a few times we see down to the sea and then it is impressive but even without the view the hike through what is basically a jungle is worth it.
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| This is the view most of the times | If we are lucky it is this |
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| And once or twice we see the whole Hong Kong side | The other side of Honk Kong |
As the trail starts to loop around passing past rubber trees and old mansions it gets darker and darker and soon it starts to rain and our rain ponchos have to come out. Luckily it is a false alarm and the rain stops after about 20 minutes and never starts again today and we can enjoy unhurriedly the waterfall on the way before returning to the Peak tram station.
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| Trees are built around | Very old bench - from the time of construction |
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| Elevated road for some time | Passing rubber trees |
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| Lugard waterfall - not a lot of water today | Surely it is impressive when water flows |
We are quite hungry by this time and decide that before descending we should eat something here and we decide on a restaurant in the Galleria - there is no one else inside but it is open and the food is good and hot and the drinks are from natural fruits so we are quite refreshed when we are done and decide to try to go down on foot instead of taking the tram.
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| No one else in the restaurant | Good but not exceptional |
Before descending we buy a few souvenirs at the shops we admired when we got out of the tram and then we start into the unknown - luckily with our GPS and a map we had we find the correct paths for the steep descent and we are quite happy we have chosen these route as the views are amazing now that the clouds have dissipated.
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| Upper Peak Tram station | Fog has cleared in the evening |
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| We are halfway down | This is the downward trail |
At the bottom of the park we follow the streets down into the city until we reach the top of the midlevel escalator. Unfortunately for our tired legs the escalators go up only during the majority of the day so we have to use the stairs to go down - ouch. Still that allows us to pass one of the oddities of Hong Kong - the Rednaxela Terrace. If you wonder about the name try spelling it backwards - supposedly because in Chinese you write right to left a mistake was made initially and it was never corrected afterwards. After what seems like a million steps we arrive at our hotel where we fall asleep almost immediately - it was quite a long and eventful day.
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| Midlevel escalator - going up of course | Part of the escalators |
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| Stairs - not good for tired feet | Rednaxela terrace - funny (read from back to front) |
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| They are everywhere - and very small usually | Not that hungry really |
Today we wake up to bad news - the rain is falling quite heavily outside our window. Undeterred (and hungry) we prepare with our rain clothes, underwater camera (we really are prepared) and sacrifice shoes and go outside - no rain will keep us from visiting (or food:)). In the morning we plan to visit the area west from our hotel where a well known temple sits and also supposedly has lots of antiques stores and we hope a few breakfast places.
Finding the temple is easy as we passed the street where it sits the day before so we just take the covered midlevel escalator up and then follow the street to the Man Mo temple. it is not a big temple however here we see for the first time the distinguishing characteristic of the Hong Kong temples (vs. Japan) - the incense spirals that burn above our heads filling the temple with both incense smell and smoke.
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| Man Mo Temple | Inside the temple |
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| Lots of incense burners | Interesting shape - first time we have seen them spiral shaped |
We spend a bit more time inside the temple protected from the rain examining the many statues and shrines scattered throughout the temple - we like these temples where you can walk freely and examine all the different shrines from close up.
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| Deeper in the temple | Beautiful door |
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| Various saints | Main shrine - we think |
From the Man Mo temple we walk to Upper Lascar Row which supposedly is full of antique and souvenir stands but everything is closed likely due to the rain and early hour in the day. We also enter a few malls looking for something to eat but most restaurants are closed and the few open are not clear what they serve or even if they are really open;). We are excited when we find a "Cooked Food Centre" and enter it with high hopes but it is really a butchery hall, not sure why it is called cooked...
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| Hollywood Road street art exhibit | Upper Lascar Row shops - closed |
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| Sheung Wan Municipal Services Building | This does not look cooked.... |
Finally we find something open - we are famished as it is already 10:30AM and are ready to eat anything and the food is good just the AC isn't blasting over us in our drenched clothes.
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| What you expect for breakfast | What you don't |
From here we take the covered walkways to the IFC mall that we explore a bit but there isn't really anything spectacular or special versus any other mall we have been into except the excellent Christmas display with lots and lots of puffins and no reindeer.
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| Walking to the IFC Mall | Entrance to the mall |
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| Huge Christmas display | With lots of puffins - no reindeer |
However there is something special about the IFC Mall and that is the rooftop terrace. We are surprised how empty it is even with the rain (which is stopped for now) as the views are probably the best we have seen in Hong Kong yet.
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| Kowloon side | International Commerce Centre building - tallest in HK |
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| First view from top of IFC mall | No one else outside |
You can see from the roof both the Hong Kong and the Kowloon skyline and both are impressive. We stay here for some time taking turns at identifying the skyscrappers until suddenly the rain starts up again so it is time to go back into the mall for protection.
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| House of 1000 Orifices - Jardine Garden | Hong Kong downtown skyline |
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| Hong Kong Observation Wheel and covered walkway to docks | The Docks - our next destination |
We have enough of the rain so we decide to take the covered walkways to the docks area and to visit the Maritime Museum there. This is our backup plan for rainy days as of course Hong Kong has quite a few museums and many of them are worth visiting. The Maritime Museum seems to be one of them given the outsized importance Hong Kong had in maritime history especially in this area. The museum starts with an area dedicated to the antiquity and middle ages with finds from wrecks and products that were traded from China to the neighboring countries.
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| Inside the Maritime Museum | Finds from sunken vessels |
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| Trade objects | Famous China porcelain |
Most interesting for us were the different models of ships and how their shape and method of powering changed depending on the need and external influences. Even so the Chinese were woefully underpowered against the Europeans who took over the dominance of the regional seas in the 18-19th century.
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| This is one way to transport livestock | Typical Chinese boat |
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| Using manpower to propel ship | More modern wind-powered ship |
A good part of the modern section which is on a different floor is dedicated to exactly that showing the state of the navy at the beginning of the 20th century and the changes happening since then. It also has some great views of the well known Hong Kong - Kowloon Star Ferry leaving from the next pier and we intended to take afterwards however due to the rain we decide to maybe try another time especially as the next day we have a longer boat passage to Macau in front of us.
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| The modern ship section | Cases with modern ship models |
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| The pier to Kowloon | Howloon ferry |
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| Modern watersports exhibit | Diving diorama |
An interesting aspect of Hong Kong that we weren't aware before arriving here is the extent of the covered walkways. From the museum on the pier we can follow them all the way to our hotel which is about 30 minutes away on foot. From it we can access different malls and subway stations and we wander a bit around exploring the shops and even buying some sweets for lunch from the famous Mandarin Oriental store. Inside the hotel room we put all of our wet clothes near the poor dehumidifier and then eat the sweets before relaxing a bit and waiting for the rain to maybe pass before our afternoon walk.
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| Downtown view from pier | Lantau bridge in the distance |
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| Covered walkway in Hong Kong | Our lunch:) |
The rain doesn't let up and soon we have to go outside again - at least our clothes made a half hearted effort at being dry (before getting wet again:)). In the beginning we follow the same route as in the morning trying to see if Upper Lascar Row is open now, and it is but only marginally probably about 5 shops with nothing really noteworthy for sale. We continue on finding a few small streetside temples that we enter but they are quite small with only a few incense spirals and soon we have to continue on our way.
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| Upper Lascar Row (more) open | Antiquities stores - out of our price range |
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| Small streetside temple | Another temple - lots of incense |
We continue our exploration of the are by entering the Western Market, the oldest surviving market building in the city. It operated as a food market till 1988 and now it contains several cloth sellers and a few restaurants and curio shops.
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| Inside Western Market | Lots of fabrics for sale |
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| Walking the streets in the rain | Walking oppposite the Macau terminal |
We continue following a route described in our guide book visiting the areas where there are multiple traditional sellers of both food and spice. It is an interesting mix of smell and sights and we enjoy guessing what all the ingredients are (we are quite wrong as we find out from probably the only one that has names in English also). With the rain picking up again however we soon decide to walk back to the hotel for the night - tomorrow we have to cross over using the ferry to Macau.
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| Spice and Food market shop | What are those? |
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| Fruit for sale | Our dinner |
Today we are relocating to Macau for a couple days - we thought that if we are in the area anyway it would make sense to visit Macau also which is about a one hour ferry ride (60 km) away from Hong Kong. With the rain and rough seas we have second thoughts but the hotel is already paid and we are looking forward to Macau which supposedly has a different vibe than Hong Kong so we make our way to the Macau terminal with out luggage using the covered walkways and avoiding any rain that way.
We heard some stories that the ticket agents try to upsell you to a premier cabin but we don't experience anything but professionalism from them. The ferry runs very often every 15 minutes however the one we get is in about one hour as there are quite a few people going in that direction. Then we have to pass through security and passport control and are in the main waiting room. We half expected to get stopped for the luggage and to have to check it in (again from the forums) but there is no issue. However what we almost miss is that we have to go to another desk at the ship to get assigned places - this wasn't necessary at any other ferry we have taken before.
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| Kowloon in the clouds | Ferry terminal - not inviting |
Because of the assigned places we have to put our luggage between the seats which is very uncomfortable. The third person in our row tells us that the agents at the entrance should have put them in storage racks but they didn't do that for us. With the motion sickness medication taken far in advance we make it to Macau without any issues and after passing passport control enter this former Portuguese colony.
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| Inside the ferry | View from window - yes it is raining |
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| Exiting at Macau | Our ferry |
Before leaving the dock we first exchange some money (new territory/new currency) and buy some water before starting on our walk to the hotel. We have reserved a hotel that is close to the dock which is great because we do not have to wait for the free shuttle, there are lots and lots of them in front of the terminal. Macau is now a hub of casino activity, biggest in the world, and as such sees many daytrippers and overnighters from Hong Kong and China and the usual way to take them to the casinos are free shuttles. But we do not have to worry ourselves with all this now as we have an about 15 minute walk ahead of us to the hotel.
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| Macau Dock | First view - smaller skyscrappers |
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| No one else is walking to the hotel:) | Our hotel - so close |
The reception people are very friendly and we check in quite fast and even receive 2x200MOP vouchers to use at the restaurant. The hotel room is much larger than we expected with the bathroom being probably the size of the previous hotel room. It even has a tub with an unusual window towards the bedroom - not sure what the thought is behind the design?!
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| Spacious room | With a big window from bathroom to bedroom... |
As it is lunch time we decide to use our coupons at the restaurant and go and order a couple of Macanese specialties - the African chicken and the Sauteed Bacalhau with Eggs. The food is good especially the chicken and we also learn this way that bacalhau is actually a fish:). To reach the total of 600 pataca (the discount applies after the first 200 pataca) we also buy some borscht and dessert but when we try to pay they inform us that due to how they calculate the benefit is better if we use only one coupon. We cannot understand so she actually brings us two receipts showing that we will be paying less with one coupon instead of two - crazy. So we do that in the end before returning to our room to prepare for the rest of the day.
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| Borscht - not what we expected in Macau | Macanese African Chicken |
In the afternoon we decide to go to a nearby attraction, the Macau Museum of Art. It is very close to the hotel, you could say almost across the street. However crossing the street proves to be a slight problem as it is really impossible except at the permitted crossings and it takes a bit to find the one closest to the hotel. At least the traffic is very polite and stops as soon as you start crossing.
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| Hotel entrance | Hotel from front |
The Museum is not a standalone building, it is actually in a building complex that houses one more museum, The Handover Museum, and a few other art related exhibit places and libraries. The whole area is architecturally interesting - we are both guessing when it was constructed with no luck (likely 1999 which is later than we were guessing).
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| Museum of Art - our goal for today | Entering the art complex |
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| Row of trees | Fallen flowers on mosaic |
Before entering the museum we walk towards the channel that separates mainland Macau from Taipa an island also part of Macau. Here an overpass passes over the same road that is near our hotel and we can look at the traffic safely from above. We can see from here both the Science Center (closed today) and the Kun Iam Ecumenical Center, a huge Buddha farther along the shore. However the rain starts also here so we hurry back to the Art Museum to escape it at least for a few hours.
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| Foot bridge to ocean shore | Perpetual blockage |
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| View along the shoreline | Macau Science Center |
The museum while interesting seems to be missing the permanent collection which is weird. There are multiple temporary exhibits with a focus on modern art which are quite interesting. There is also one about the Forbidden Palace where a French painter was allowed even in areas out of limits to tourists to draw the palace and the paintings are exhibited here and some of them are quite good.
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| Inside the art museum | Exhibit at the museum |
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| Interesting sculpture | Temporary exhibit about the Forbidden City |
When we exit the museum the rain is gone so we decide to wander around the city and see if we can reach the downtown area on foot. We can see a lot of construction sites as we go and stands and we soon learn that the F1 Grand Prix is in Macau next weekend - luckily we avoided that period as it is probably crazy. We don't really have anything planned so we just go up and down following things that appear interesting like the Kun Iam Ecumenical Center, small stores and large casinos. After arriving at Lisboa Casino close to downtown we decide to turn around as we are already quite tired and soon are back at our hotel where we fall asleep quite fast.
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| Preparing for the Grand Prix | Kun Iam Ecumenical Center |
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| Streets of Macau at night | Lisboa Casino |
This morning even though we still have a coupon at the hotel restaurant we decide to try the buffet at the nearby casino, Sands Casino. It is rated better than the one at our hotel and we can't use the coupon for buffet breakfast anyway so maybe try it for dinner?! Finding the restaurants in the Macau casinos is surprisingly difficult and that is true also for the Sands Casino but we manage it after we search at probably 4 different floors for it and getting lost in the casino. The food is quite good and varied and we are refueled for our only full day in Macau.
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| Breakfast buffet at Sands Casino | Lots of choices |
After the experience the day prior where it took us 45 minutes to get back from downtown we decide to bite the bullet and take a bus to the downtown area which should be both faster and better for our tired feet. This was a great choice as today we probably walked almost 20 km anyway in the end so the additional distance would have been felt for certain. Finding the bus station is not easy - finally we find one near the science center but then the bus does not stop after we wait for 10 minutes. And so we learn that we actually have to wave for it to stop and we don't let the next one escape (which is only one minute after the previous one and much emptier so it was a win in the end :)). You also need to have exact change but we are prepared as we have asked the concierge at the hotel to exchange a few bills into coins.
We decide to stop at the other end of the peninsula near the Sofitel Hotel Macau and then walk back from there to the central plaza, Largo de Senado, using a hiking route described in one of the many tourist brochures available at our hotel. But first we enter the Sofitel Hotel to take a look inside and almost cannot exit it afterwards as multiple doormen are pointing us away from the door when we try to exit through the same door we entered. We are quite surprised until we hear a siren and we see the fire door closing - from all the days and times that was the time they decided to test the fire door. So we exit on a different route and soon are following the Rua de Caldeira - the street formerly used to shelter from typhoons.
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| Sofitel Hotel Macau | Rua da Caldeira - former typhoon shelter |
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| Fish in the street | Lots of weird food |
The walking tour route takes us past a few local attractions some that we don't find like the Cheng Peng Theatre and some that are more impressive than we expect like the Carpentry Guild Hall. Here there is an inside exhibit which is quite interactive regarding a Chinese inventor and the different things that he (supposedly) invented. Each of them you can try out and some are quite interesting like an "automatic" window opener/closer and a few others. Another thing that we notice here (and was common also in Hong Kong) are the many shrines at the base of the buildings - almost every building has one smaller or larger.
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| There is an old theatre somewhere here:) | Heritage Exhibition of a Pawnshop Building |
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| Carpentry Guildhall | Inside exhibit |
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| Small shrine on the way | Another interesting shrine - there are lots of them |
And then we arrive in the Portuguese downtown area right next to the St Dominic Church. The most famous area is the Largo do Senado which is anchored on one end by the church which with our luck is under renovation on the outside facade but can be entered easily to be admired from the inside.
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| Entering the central zone - the famous wave mosaic | St Dominic Church |
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| Inside the church | Closer view of altar |
In the downtown area and in the Largo do Senado there are lots of restaurants advertising to enter the side streets but the most interesting to us are the Portuguese egg tarts but we are still full from breakfast so we have to pass for now.
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| Very tempting | Even more tempting - Portuguese egg tarts |
We continue along the Largo de Senado admiring the imposing European-style buildings on both sides of the plaza and the Christmas decorations that are already everywhere. And of course we admire the wave like pavement for which Macau is famous for - it is certainly a great idea to make the city stand out.
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| Largo do Senado = Macau downtown | Ready for Christmas |
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| Largo do Senado Square | Christmas seems to be big here |
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| Santa Casa da Misericordia | Classic building |
At the end of the Largo do Senado sits the Leal Senado (Loyal Senate!) Building which is the former seat of the Portuguese Macau government. The title was bestowed in 1810 due to Macau's loyalty to Portugal and refusal of recognition of Spain's sovereignty during Portugal's occupation by Spain in the 17th century. The seat of government since moved to another building which is understandable as the Leal Senado is quite small which with the throngs of visitors makes it difficult to enter and explore.
 |  |
| Leal Senado Building | Entering is difficult due to popularity |
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| Old library is at top of stairs | Inside garden mosaic |
From here we explore a few more sidestreets around the Largo do Senado searching for the Kuan Tai Temple described in one of the walking tours. It is a small temple however it has some beautiful decorations and it is certainly worth the small detour.
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| Kuan Tai Temple | Inside the temple |
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| Outside decoration | One of the outside paintings |
Next on our planned route is the Macau Cathedral - even though many assume that the ruins of St Paul Church (that we will see later) are the ruins of a cathedral the only cathedral in Macau is this one and St Paul never received the title of a cathedral. It is located in a more sedated part of downtown and even inside there is little of the usual flamboyance of Catholic decorations in fact it looks more Protestant than Catholic.
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| Macau Cathedral | Inside the cathedral |
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| Bishop's house | Old house in the neighborhood |
We return back to the main pedestrian area and find the route towards St Paul and follow it. It feels like everyone in Macau is concentrated on this one street - it is difficult to walk from time to time, you are basically in a river of people flowing inexorably towards something (we hope St Paul ruins:)). The shops bordering the street are mostly selling snacks or clothes - no souvenir shops which is quite shocking. Another interesting thing is that almost all snacks sold are either sweets like the Portuguese tarts or jerky (really hot jerky). You can easily get a free sample of the jerky but not of the tarts - darn.
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| Quite a few people - tough to move around | Soul sucking - it looks that way at least:) |
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| Making pastries | Jerky is very very popular here with free samples |
And then the river of people deposits us in the front of the ruins of St Paul Church. It is as impressive as the pictures of it we have seen before even though just the facade has been preserved after a fire during a typhoon in the 19th century destroyed the rest of the church.
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| Ruins of St Paul Church in the distance | Closer view - lots of people |
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| Facade view | View of town from church |
Right next to the church is a small temple, the Na Tcha Temple with the usual beautiful sculpted details and dragons - who doesn't like dragons?
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| Na Tcha Temple and part of Old Wall | Detail of dragon |
Next on our list is to climb the Fortaleza do Monte (Mount Fortress) next to St Paul for what we hope are some good views and to see this historic fortress. The climb starts right next St Paul Church and we pass the ruins St Paul College on the way - the first European style university in East Asia - destroyed in the same fire as the nearby church. The climb is on some rough stairs but that means we are getting faster on top so we are ok with that:).
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| Ruins of St Paul College | Fortaleza - that is where we have to climb |
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| Very polite | Climbing up |
Soon we are at the base of the walls and already have some nice views of the city - but of course we still have a bit more to climb. Interestingly it is free to enter the fortress so we find the entrance avoiding the guns protecting the entrance and soon are on the top platform.
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| Phew - at the wall | First view of city and China from the hill |
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| Protecting the entrance | Well defended entrance |
The views are as expected spectacular, we can see both Macau and the surrounding Chinese countryside. We even have a weird encounter with two girls who ask us to take a picture - sure we say. But then they want a picture with us not us to take a picture of them - interesting.
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| Macau View | Skyscrappers on both sides |
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| Down to earth skyscrappers | Guia fortress view |
Also on top is the Macau Museum that we do not have time to visit today and of course lots of cannon that are enjoyed by everyone both Chinese and European(=us).
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| Macao Museum | Nice lilies |
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| Guns from above | And from below |
We descend afterwards from the Fortaleza and pass again past the St Paul ruins to arrive at the only remaining part of the old wall that surrounded the city which is right next to Na Tcha Temple. From here the plan is to continue walking north to the Protestant Cemetary following part of a walking tour route from our booklet and we do so passing Travessa de Paixao which is considered special as Paixao=passion as in passion for the Catholic God so due to mistranslation it became Love Lane. Given this now it is very popular for wedding photos, dating as well as even filming scenes in TV series and movies.
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| Another view of St Paul facade | View from the back...interesting |
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| Only remaining part of the old wall | Travessa da Paixao |
Next we arrive at St Anthony's Church first build of bamboo and wood until it burned (a few times) and finally being reconstructed of stone with the current appearance dating back to 1930. You can enter it for free and it is a bit more traditional Catholic looking but still not as decorated as we would have expected.
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| St Anthony Church | Inside the church |
Close to it is the next attraction - Camoes Garden. Together with nearby Casa Garden the garden belonged to a wealth Portuguese merchant who enjoyed raising pigeons which is why the garden was the backdrop of many flocks of pigeons. Now the most famous attraction is the grotto with the bust of the famous pot Luis de Camoes who visited this park often.
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| Camoes Garden | One of the mosaics in the garden |
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| Lots of rules | Camoes grotto |
However beside the grotto with the bust it also has some nice trails leading to secluded (more or less) views and overlooks and some interesting artificial waterfalls.
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| Nice path - good for soles | Beautiful ferns/greenery |
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| China side view | Normal people high rises |
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| Observatory on top of a small hill | View from below |
Next door is Casa Garden the house of the Portuguese merchant that owned the garden but now houses the headquarters of the Oriental Foundations and can't be visited at least today. And the next entrance is the Protestant Cemetery where all Protestants are buried after some arguments between Catholics and Protestants forced the Protestants to buy their own burial land. The cemetery is an oasis of peace in this bustling city and has at least two locally famous people that were buried here - Robert Morrison the first Protestant missionary to Macau and George Chinnery an renowned English painter.
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| Casa Garden | Protestant cemetery |
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| Robert Morrison - first missionary grave | George Chinnery, English painter, grave |
Now we have to return back to Largo do Senado as the plan is to go south now from the downtown area. Returning we can't help to notice that the downtown area is seemingly even more busy something we thought impossible. We even find two souvenir shops tucked into small side alley but they have nothing that attractive for sale. However this time we stop and buy a Portuguese egg tart for energy and it is very good and welcome as we are already quite hungry.
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| That is uniformity | One of the many narrow passages |
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| Almost all houses/high rises have these small shrines | The most typical and simple one |
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| Surprisingly even more people in downtown area | One of the rare roadside stands |
The first stop on the walking tour we are following now is the St Augustine Square which has multiple interesting historical buildings surrounding the square from the St Augustine Church from which the square got its name to the Sir Robert Ho Tung Library and the close by Dom Pedro V Theatre.
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| St Augustine Square | St Augustine Church |
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| Robert Ho Tung Library | Dom Pedro V Theatre |
Next we pass and enter one more church the St Lawrence Church (lots of churches here) before arriving at the Lilau Square. Lilau (Mountain Spring in Portuguese) Square is famous because the spring here used to be the main water source for Macau - it was so important that superstitions were built around it including one that says that"Anyone who drinks from Lilau will never forget Macau" - no problem for us so we decided not to drink:). We also search for quite some time for the Mandarin's House which is supposedly nearby but we have no luck and decide to continue on.
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| View from St Lawrence Church | Inside St Lawrence |
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| Lilau Square | Nice plaza |
Afterwards we arrive at the Moorish Barracks that can be admired only from the outside. It is an interesting building architecturally that was built as barracks for the Goa Regiment in 1874 and houses now the Water and Marine Bureau - it looks more like a palace from the outside than a government bureau or barracks in our opinion.
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| Arriving at the Moorish Barracks | Moorish Barracks View |
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| Detail of wall - nicely decorated | Corner of Moorish Barracks |
The last stop on the trail is the A-ma temple that is also one of the major attractions in Macau. It is the largest temple we have seen in Macau and is dedicated to the Goddess of Seafarers and fishermen so it makes sense. The entrance is richly decorated and from the entrance there are small shrines and prayer areas around us we just have to decide where to go.
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| Arriving at the A-Ma Temple | Temple Entrance |
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| Detail on entrance | Inside the temple |
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| Detail of prayers(?) | More modern prayer stone:) |
First we decide to go up for a better view of the complex and this way we can admire all the roofs and some of them are surprisingly ornate with dragons boats and lots of other symbolic designs that we do not recognize.
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| Going up | View of roof from above |
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| Roof with small pagoda | Interesting shape |
The smaller shrines are scatttered around the complex and interestingly we also catch a painter as he paints holy words (or something else, no way for us to know:)) the rocks - I am sure it is a full time job with all the usual rain (but no rain today for the first day...yay).
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| Working on the inscriptions | The ubiquitous incense spirals |
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| Small shrine in big temple | An even smaller one |
The larger shrines have beautifully decorated gates and walls and we enter each of them and wonder at the quality of paintings before taking one more tour of the complex to admire it and then exiting it before closing time- we assumed we will not be able to see everything that we wanted in one day only but we made it.
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| Detail of gate | Detail of temple |
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| Roof dragons | Stamp on roof |
In the same plaza as the temple is the Maritime Museum that we initially were interested in but because we have seen the one in Hong Kong and it is already late in the day and we are famished we decide to skip it.
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| Plaza from Maritime Museum | Maritime Museum outside exhibit |
Our next goal is something we found out about only after we arrived - the Macau food festival in on today and we intend to go there to eat something more local. Unfortunately there is no direct bus so we have to go on foot over a hill and the best way to do that is to return to Lilau Square and when we do that we decide to try one more time to find the Mandarin's House and to our surprise we find it this time. The house was the home of a famous late Qing ideologist who completed his masterpiece "Words of Warning in Times of Prosperity" in this house. It is surprisingly huge from the entrance courtyard that extends seemingly forever to the many additional courtyards, houses and corridors that are part of the complex. And all of it is free to enter so why not?
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| Mandarin's House entrance | First courtyard |
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| Looking back at the entrance | What a special door |
The next courtyards are different from each other but both are beautiful in their own way with some nicely done decorations and cool windows which were probably used to circulate the air for cooling.
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| Another courtyard | Nice idea for window ventilation |
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| Third major courtyard | Wall detail |
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| Door decorations | We really like these decorations |
From inside the building we can see outside the wall (probably that was not true when it was built) and into the surrounding buildings. It is quite interesting what people have on their balconies - most exciting are birds and plats including eggplants and other unidentified fruits and vegetables. The house itself is quite labyrinthine with many small passages that curve and weave between the buildings almost trying to get you lost.
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| Outside the walls | People are growing eggplants on their balconies |
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| Narrow passage | Almost like a labyrinth in this big compound |
You can enter most of the buildings and some of them have period furniture, some of them have only the decorations and paintings and some are renovated right as we pass through them. The thing that the museum seems to be very proud off is the ceiling and the woodwork that supports it - there is an exhibit about it and how it was built and then how it was renovated. Unfortunately much too soon we need to leave as the house is closing at 6 and we still have a bit of a walk to get to the Food Festival.
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| Inside - special roof | Some of it is renovated |
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| They really liked birds | And painting them |
The walk feels longer as we are already tired but at least we pass through an area of Macau we haven't visited before - the waterfront. From here we have great views of the Macau skyline as we follow the promenade to the new Legislative building and then towards the Macau Tower and Convention Center where the Food Festival is.
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| Macau from the waterfront | Legislative building |
When we get first it is unclear how to get to the festival that we assumed is inside the Convention Center (it wasn't). The sign was helpfully pointing out that we have to dig a tunnel?! or whatever it means but in the end we deciphered it as having to go through an underground passage to a barricaded area and there it was....finally. The exhibit area is huge and separated in 2 levels there are concerts going on and there are lots and lots of people.
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| Really??? | Fun entrance |
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| Large festival area | Even some music |
We buy a coupon book of 100 pataca (all food is bought with coupons) and explore a bit both levels - unfortunately for us many foods don't have descriptions in English and are hidden from sight so it is difficult to decide but we find enough English ones to decide on a mix of Japanese balls filled with something (likely fish), octopus and a few barbecue meats. Interestingly here very little is served with rice which is unusual and even finding rice is proving difficult but we manage it and finally can sit down to eat - it was a long day and besides breakfast and the egg tarts we haven't eaten anything else.
After this we have to go back to our hotel. To do this we have to take a free shuttle from the food festival to the downtown area, unfortunately all of them go to places like a bank, or border gate or Taipa and we are confused a bit. In the end our phone comes to our rescue (well the internet really) and we decide that the bank is likely located in the downtown area and it is and from there we know which bus to take to arrive right in front of the hotel from where we barely manage to go into our room before falling exhausted into the bed - we are done for the day.
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| Great when english descriptions are included | What should we choose? |
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| Our choice - quite good | Lots of people at festival |
As the day before we failed to use the last coupon today we decide to eat breakfast a la carte from the hotel (buffet is not covered) and we somehow manage to exactly match the value of the coupon in the end and the food is quite good again.
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| Breakfast at our hotel | Inside our hotel |
As we have a late checkout time of 1PM we still have time to do something in Macau and what we are planning is to visit the Handover Museum which is close to the Art Museum across the road. We pass again the Sands Macau before entering the museum complex and searching a bit for the entrance as it is not obvious at first glance.
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| Sands Macau | Fountain in museum zone |
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| Our goal - Handover Gifts Museum | Museums plaza |
We are probably the first visitors for the day and have the museum for ourselves. The Handover Museum was created to hold the gifts received from all the provinces of China when Macau was returned to China. It is surprisingly very interesting as each gift is a work of art trying to incorporate something unique to that province, either precious stones, wood, panda images and so on.
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| Inside the Handover Gifts Museum | There is one gift per province |
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| Each province tries to send something unique | And incorporate the number 9 multiple times |
Also important is to include auspicious symbols like dragons and the number 9 or 99 because the handover happened in 99. It is interesting to read about each of the gifts and then visit another small room where different memorabilia from Handover Day are preserved.
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| Mythology is important | And dragons are common |
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| Photos from the handover day | Different memorabilia |
Before exiting we are surprised to see that the museum has another wing which houses art from the Museum of Art, quite weird and easily missed even though it has some good local art both modern and traditional style.
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| Modern painting | Traditional painting |
As we still have some time before we have to exit the hotel we decide to also visit the Fisherman Wharf Convention Center of which our hotel is part of. We saw the complex every day from our window and we can see that a lot of work is being done to it still but it is visitable so why not spend 1/2h strolling through it. Our impression is that the idea is to built a complex that shows a mix of different architectures from Europe and Egypt with the most interesting being a replica of the Colosseum and of the Trajan Column from Rome.
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| Babylon Casino Entrance | Interesting sculpture |
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| Fisherman Wharf Convention Centre | Lots of reproduction European homes |
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| Close up of one European house | And a reproduction of Rome |
After returning to the hotel we decide that today we will take the shuttle to the ferry terminal (we are still quite tired after the day before) and interestingly the shuttle has no luggage area so you have to keep it with you in the seat or on the aisle, a bit weird. There are far fewer people going towards Hong Kong at this hour than we saw going in the opposite direction a couple days before. In fact we could have bought a ticket for a boat that leaves in 10 minutes time but that is a bit exaggerated as we still have to go through the border control and buy a few souvenirs with our last patacas. So we buy for the one in 40 minutes but in the end make it to the one 15 minutes earlier - we decide to try standby and are taken immediately. The boat is not full today and our luggage is taken to a luggage storage area - the thing that was missed when we came to Macau. We also do not have a neighbor in our seats - quite enjoyable.
The passage takes one hour again but today we also have some nice views from the ferry - it isn't raining again!! Arriving at the IFC Mall again we take the metro to a station next to our hotel in Kowloon (and we take the luggage with us) and then after a short walk we arrive at our hotel - it is a new building, in fact on Google Maps it is still under construction.
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| Macau ferry terminal | Our ticket with assigned seat |
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| Our ferry | Not as full as on the way to Macau |
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| Kowloon view | Lantau bridge |
The hotel room is quite small but very practical and confusing. It takes as probably one hour at least to find all the major things in the apartment (like the sink) and then we still keep finding things till the next day like the coffee machine that we thought was missing. Like all hotels on this trip the hotel offers a free mobile phone rental with google maps and information about the city but we already have our own phone so we don't need it but certainly it is an interesting idea.
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| Hotel room - small but practical | Handy phone - free rental mobile |
It is already late in the afternoon so we decide to go outside to see if we can find something to eat in the immediate vicinity of the hotel. In the end we settle on a nearby Japanese restaurant which has some good offers however unfortunately they are very similar, just a different type of meat. We also decide to eat some ice cream as today and yesterday it was quite hot and humid so a bit of ice cream might help.
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| Restaurant nearby - let's eat here | Good lunch |
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| But very similar | And some icecream |
In the evening we plan to explore the nearby markets with a focus on Temple Street market which is a famous Night Market close to us. For that we have to pass Nathan Road which is a large boulevard starting from the waterfront and then cutting through Kowloon towards the New Territories and China. We even buy some things before even reaching the market so we are hopeful about it as we really want to buy some souvenirs but unfortunately it has a focus on clothes and less on souvenirs even though we still find a few.
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| Nathan Road | Temple Street Market |
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| Close up of entrance | Inside the market |
Besides lots and lots of clothes and purses and some electronics the surrounding area is full of hole in the wall restaurants that are very very popular with some people staying in queues that are probably hour long at least. That is certainly not for us so we decide to skip them and see if we can't find something easier to buy closer to the hotel.
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| Lots of people...lots of stalls | Tough to move through the narrow passage |
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| Very popular food location | Lots of people eat here |
In the end we go to a bakery we have seen near the Metro station and buy at random (except the egg tarts - those are intentional!!) and return to the hotel room to eat our meager dinner and then go to sleep - tomorrow is planned to be again a full day of exploring.
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| Our dinner from the bakery | Portuguese eggtarts (cheaper and with a different name) |
Today in the morning we plan to visit the markets that are farther away from us, Ladies Market, Fish Market, Flower Market and Bird Market so there are lots of them. While being farther away they are close enough to reach on foot so we do that to take in the atmosphere of Kowloon. It is about 1/2 mile walk before we reach the first one, Ladies Market, and unfortunately it is not really open yet which is unfortunate but we press on through the narrow streets and the bustle starts to pick up the farther we get from the hotel and soon most stores are open (likely more due to the fact that it is getting later in the day).
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| Nathan Road near hotel | One of the many bakeries |
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| Ladies market - not yet open | Chestnuts are very popular |
The fish market is next - it is not that large and it is mostly small shops and not roadside stands but it is quite popular with many people admiring the fish and turtles for sale. Likely they are popular pets because they are easy to keep in small apartments versus dogs or cats.
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| Fish market (or more accurately Pet market) | One of the stores |
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| Turtles for sale | Fish by the bag |
The fish market ends at Prince Edward Road and on the other side starts the flower market. It is even more popular and the variety and amount of flowers is mindboggling almost. The prices are quite low also and it seems a lot of people like to but flowers as everyone seems to have at least one bouquet in their hands.
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| Few more open stores on this side of Ladies market | Flower market shop |
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| Bamboo are also flowers:) | Quite a few flower arrangements |
Our exploration ends at the Bird Market which is in a small park. We are not sure where it is initially as we enter the park but it is easy to find once we are in the right spot. There are multiple birds for sale with a focus on small birds that can be easily held in apartments with song birds being also quite popular.
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| Bird Garden and Market | Where are the birds? |
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| Finally found the bird sellers | Quite a few birds for sale |
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| Common bird for sale | A bit more rare |
It is already past noon when we exit the bird garden so it is time to eat however everywhere it is full and even when we try to enter a small restaurant they try to sit us with other people at the table which might be customary here but given how small the tables are we don't feel comfortable. In the end we find a good enought spot with small but separate tables that even has a menu in English and the food is good (but still very similar to what we ate the previous days in Hong Kong).
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| Time for lunch | Interesting mix |
From here it is time to go to the metro and here we see the unusual Hong Kong tradition of housekeepers enjoying their time off in any public space really (mostly parks and metro covered walkways it seems to us) by simply placing something on the ground and then sitting there for the whole day. They bring food, books, phones and seem to be involved in lots of discussions with other housekeepers. We assume this is because they are required by law to stay in their employer's house so really there is no private place they can go during their time off but maybe there are other explanations too. We are not sure why there is such a need for housekeepers given that most apartments are small but it seems to be quite a fad here in Hong Kong judging by the number of housekeepers that we see.
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| Covered metro walkway | Taken over by private housekeepers |
And now it is time to move outside the city into the New Territories using the metro. The New Territories encompasses an area that was acquired by Britain for Hong Kong subsequently after the Hong Kong acquisition and are less populated (relatively) and very mountaineous so the train passes through many tunnels and bridges before arriving at the Sta Tin MTR station for the Monastery of the 10,000 Buddhas which is our next destination. Unfortunately on the way we can see the clouds gathering as it seems that our nemesis, the rain, is making a comeback. It sprinkles a bit when we exit the metro but then it stops so we continue on trying to find the way to the monastery in a dense urban area with no signs. We are not the only people lost as we see another European person asking desperately where the monastery is but we find the way first using our GPS (as we find out a bit later there were quite a few ways to climb to it but all are hidden).
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| Where is the way to the monastery? | How do we distinguish them?! |
After finding the right trail suddenly the signs appear pointing towards the monastery even though now it is plenty obvious - there are buddhas lining the trail every few meters after all. The monastery is not that old, it was built in 1951, but it is considered a monument of historic importance in Hong Kong and the major attraction are the 12,800 Buddhas that took over 10 years to finish.
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| Starting the climb to the Monastery of 10,000 Buddhas | Should we start counting? Yeah right..I will trust them |
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| Buddhas are different | Close up of one Buddha |
To our surprise all of the Buddhas along the trail are different and in different poses and some of them even have mythical and fantastical animals with them as we are approaching the main temple. And we are happy we are approaching it as the climb is quite steep and long (431 steps) and the threat of rain still hangs over us.
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| The climb is steep... | ...and long |
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| Getting close | Buddha on dragon (or something like that:)) |
The temple complex is built on a plateau with some nice views of the surrounding area, we can see how high we have climbed from the metro station. It is free to enter and visit but you cannot take photos inside the main building.
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| Finally there | Even a small pagoda is in the complex |
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| That is where we climbed from | In the middle of the jungle |
The interior courtyard has multiple statues, a nine story pagoda, a few buildings and the main temple containing lots of small buddhas. You can enter most buildings to admire the interior even though we don't know what most of the symbols and objects represent.
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| Interior courtyard | Anchoring the courtyard |
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| On one side of the statue... | ...and on the other |
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| Not sure what this is but it is interesting | Inside the main temple - full of small buddhas |
Now it is time for our descent and we decide to explore a different path which is a great idea because as soon as we start to descent we encounter a few monkey climbing to meet us - luckily they are not really interested in us but they were going to the temple I guess. This descent is faster and we arrive soon into a small village even though we still have a way to go to the city where the MTR station is.
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| Going down - encounter of the wild kind | Looking at us from the tree |
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| Getting closer to the village | Still the city is far in the distance |
This trail also allows us to see the temple complex from a different vantage point, while climbing we never saw the temple but now from this side we can see the plateau from below and it is impressive how it was built to overlook the valley. However unfortunately it starts to rain again and this time it is more serious and we barely make it into the station before the skies open up.
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| Bird on the way | One above the other |
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| Temple complex from below | Quite impressive |
The rain doesn't appear to let up so we give up our remaining plan for the day to go further into the New Territories and decide to return towards Kowloon. Still we decide for one more stop at Wong Tai Sin to see if there is no chance to visit the Wong Tai Sin Temple. WHen we exit we see that it is still raining but not as bad and the temple entrance is right next to the MTR exit so we decide to enter it. The temple is dedicated to the Great Immortal Wong (which is what Wong Tai Sin means) and is a popular attraction in Hong Kong (which is why we are here of course:)). Even with the rain the complex is full of visitors many of them praying in front of the main temple in the rain - that is dedication.
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| Entrance into Wong Tai Sin Temple | Inner door |
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| Bonsai collection | One more door to Inner Temple |
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| Lots of people even in the rain | Main temple from outside |
Besides the main shrine there are many smaller shrines that are not quite as popular as the main one it seems but are still interesting to visit and admire. Still the major attraction are the gardens which is where we are headed hopefully before the rain starts up again.
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| Beautiful column | A small side shrine |
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| Many lanterns | Another small shrine |
The gardens are beautifully landscaped and they have some interesting features like an artificial waterfall, towers and bridges and hidden paths. Also fun is the contrast between the peaceful gardens and the huge skyscrappers behind it - in fact the monastery was scheduled to be torn down to build an apartment complex but it escaped in the end due to the efforts of the leader of the monastery. As we explore however the rain starts to pick up again so we hurry back towards the exit as everyone else huddles beneath overhangs and inside the temples.
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| Walking towards the gardens | Beautiful mix of architecture and landscaping |
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| Avoiding the rain | Lots of turtles |
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| Beautiful artificial waterfall | The pagoda is quite cool |
However instead of going inside the MTR station we decide to visit the nearby mall to find something to eat. It has a surprisingly poor selection of stores especially restaurants so we decide to go inside the station to buy some pastries. The problem is that you cannot eat inside the station so we have to go outside to eat them at the metro station exit while the rain is falling all around us (we are protected by an overhang) and examine how the people here deal with the rain (lots of umbrellas basically).
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| Entering the nearby mall | Chestnut creme sweets - eaten in the rain - romantic?! |
We have enough of the rain and decide to go with our backup plan which is to go to the History Museum which would allow us to escape the rain. To our surprise it is not signposted from the MTR station (almost everything major is shown on the station map usually) and so we have to get out in the rain and stop in various dry places to look at the phone and try to guide us to the museum so we are quite happy when we arrive and finally we can dry out a bit after we enter the free museum (it is cool how many of the museums here are free admission). We start the visit with the temporary exhibition which shows the importance of Hong Kong in maritime history - we go a bit faster through it as we have only 2 hours for the whole museum and it is similar to what we have seen in the Maritime Museum.
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| Arriving at the History Museum | Classic trade objects |
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| Looks modern | Found with sunken ships |
The permanent collection shows the history of Hong Kong going through the ages starting way back in prehistory when Hong Kong was just a plain and before volcanoes created the mountains in the area.
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| Rocks from pre-history | This is how Hong Kong area looked way back |
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| There were tigers | And bears |
It continues with an exhibit about the first people and how they lived and died - with an interesting replica burial, the original being in Beijing and some rock paintings discovered in Hong Kong which in our opinion were not that impressive compared to what we have seen in other countries.
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| First humans | Reconstructed burial |
The next area is concerned with the middle ages and how trade developed and then the arrival of the Europeans changed everything with a view of the history from the Chinese point of view.
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| Lots of trade passed through this area | Stone objects |
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| Walled city | Walled garisson town |
The following section goes in another direction as it is focused on the four groups of people (clans?) that lived in Hong Kong, from people that lived only on boats to those that lived on land exclusively to another that lived close to the sea but on land. This exhibit is fascinating as it also talks about the different traditions but we have to go relatively fast through it as it is getting late and also we are quite tired - all the walking is getting to us today at least.
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| One of the four major groups of Chinese people settled here | Second group |
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| And the third one | And the fourth and the last |
The section is continued with more general traditions include the well known dragon that is carried on the streets during the holidays.
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| Very impressive | Chinese dragons |
The last sections are concerned with the modern era under the British with a focus on the Japanese occupation and the resistance against them. It all ends with the handover of Hong Kong to China and then we are out about 5 minutes before closing (after visiting the museum shop also). Fortunately it is not raining anymore so we return to the MTR station safely however the rain starts again when we exit so we just buy something from a bakery and then run to the hotel where we eat dinner in our room before going to sleep after this very tiring day.
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| The Europeans are coming | More modern street reconstruction |
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| Inside an old style tram | Home of Kowloon Walled City displaced people |
In the morning we eat from our bakery supplies and enjoy the view from our window - not something special but we can see the roof of a school which has a garden and the sporting complex on top and two courthouses/tribunals across the busy highway.
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| Garden on the roof of the neighboring school | Tribunals across the highway |
Today we plan on finishing what we started the day before when the rain turned us around. So again we trudge to the MTR station for a longer expedition into the New Territories. It is interesting how planned everything is in the MTR station in order to optimize the flow of people and how everyone actually follows all the little rules about entering from the side and exiting through the middle and so on.
Today there is no problem though with the trains relatively empty as we exit at the modern Kam Sheung Road MTR station and try to follow the directions to the Kat Hing Wai walled town. We fail quite fast and soon are lost in a maze of narrow streets with small stores and interesting houses.
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| Very ordered lines to follow on boarding the metro | And people are really following them |
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| Looking for Kat Hing Wai Walled Town | Getting lost in Hong Kong |
Somehow we exit on the larger street on the other side of Kat Hing Wai and follow the wall and moat towards the entrance which we assume correctly must be on the opposite side from us. Kat Hing Wai is one of the few wel preserved walled towns in Hong Kong and it is the only one that even has part of the original moat and the watchtowers. Only the wall is original, the buildings inside have been rebuilt recently but we still want to enter it if at all possible (it is private so we can only hope the door is open).
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| Is this part of the walled town? | This is one of the towers protecting the city |
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| And the still preserved moat | Entrance to Kat Hing Wai |
The entrance is open so we enter and soon realize how the walled city (more like a very small village) is built. Basically there is a bigger path leading from the main door to the small temple at the other end. Every few meters there are very narrow alleys that go perpendicular from the main path and from them there are entrances to the many houses inside the walled city. We walk on the main path only to the temple and take a look inside and then we exit the walled city - it feels almost like invading someones privacy to actually try the narrow side alleys right up to the houses so we decide not to do that.
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| Main street in walled town | One of the sidestreets |
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| Temple at the end of main street | Inside the temple |
From the entrance we return on the correct way to the MTR station and cross again the huge bridge right in front of the station - it seems like an overkill for the small creek below but likely there is a danger of flooding and so they built this huge concrete canal for the creek.
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| Passing the canal | The modern metro station |
Our next destination is the Ping Shan Heritage Trail for which we exit at Tin Shui Wai station. The Heritage Trail was inaugurated in 1993 and was the first one of its kind in Hong Kong. It meanders for about 1.6 km linking a number of traditional Chinese buildings the first one being the Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda right in front of the metro station. The Pagoda is the only ancient pagoda in Hong Kong built more than 600 years ago and was intended as a feng shui structure to ward of evil spirits from the north and prevent flooding. The trail continues past a lake and then arrives at the small Shrine of the Earth God which is believed to be a protector of villagers.
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| Tin Shui Wai station - start and end point for our tour | Tsui Sing Lau Pagoda |
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| Lake near the trail | The resident ducks |
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| Shrine of the Earth God from behind | And from the front |
Right next to the shrine is the Sheung Cheung Wai, another walled city, this time without a moat. It can be entered and this time the wall is not continuous so from the shrine we go perpendicular to the main path and exit through a different door, a more modern one this time and return to the trail.
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| Sheung Cheung Wai Walled City entrance | Protected entrance into the city |
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| Place for plants | Walls look quite old |
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| Usual temple at end of main street | Detail at temple entrance |
The trail goes for a few hundred meters through an industrial area and we are happy we have the signs guiding us as else we wouldn't be sure we are on the right trail. The industrial area ends at the old well which was built more than 200 years ago and was the main source of water for the two villages nearby. It now hosts some fish to our surprise as pointed out to us by other tourists that were here before us.
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| Sign for the Ping Shan Heritage Trail | Glad we are sure this is the way as it doesn't look that way |
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| Old well | There are fish in the well |
Next to the old well is the Yeung Han Temple, a simple structure divided into three bays each housing the statue of a deity with some nice decorations both inside and outside.
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| Yeung Hau Temple | One of the three shrines |
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| Beautiful paintings | And a black/white one |
Afterwards the trail is showing in one direction however an attraction (we are not sure what) is signposted on a different route and we decide to explore a bit. The signs take us through houses and narrow alleyways and just when we are about to give up we arrive at the Yan Tun Kong Study Hall. The entrance door is quite ornate and there are signs that welcome us in so we do just that.
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| Trying a side trail | Yan Tun Kong Study Hall Entrance |
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| Entrance guardian | Detail above the door |
The study hall was built to educate the Tang clan children and to prepare them for the Imperial Civil Service Examinations. Since most instructors recruited came from Guangzhou, the side rooms in the study hall were provided as accommodation. It is an quite an interesting building with lots of details to look at and we are happy that we made to detour to it - now we can only hope we can find the main trail again.
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| Inside courtyard | Small building in the courtyard |
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| Shrine in the study hall | And a beautiful painting |
It is easier than we expected to return to the main trail that we follow a short distance to the Tang and Yu Kiu Ancestral Halls. These are the major ancestral halls of the Tang with the Tang Ancestral Hall being the most well known one. It was constructed about 700 years ago by the Tang Clan when it settled in the region. It has two internal courtyards with the first one having a special feature, an elevated red sandstone pathway that is a sign that one of the clansmen had a high ranking position in the imperial government.
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| Tang and Yu Kiu Ancestral Halls | Nothing in front of them for some distance |
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| Inside the Tang Ancestral Hall | Raised due to high ranking government position |
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| Inside door | The shrine past the door |
The second courtyard is also interesting with a shrine and lots of beautiful decorations that we admire before exiting and entering next door in the second ancestral hall.
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| Close up of shrine | Beautiful panel near shrine |
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| Interesting rooftop sculpture | Door guardians |
Yu Kiu's structure is similar to the Tang Ancestral Hall even though it is newer, it was built in the early 16th century. It also served as a school for a few years before being renovated and becoming a historical monument.
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| Inside Yu Kiu Ancestral Hall | Yu Kiu shrine |
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| Small house in the courtyard | Historical tapestry replica |
From here we find a shortcut through the village to the Ping Shan Tang visitor center. It is not on our map but we trust the signs and it also seems more interesting to go a bit through the village and see the houses instead of just following the trail.
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| Close by house | Narrow passage through the village |
The Heritage Trail Visitor Center which doubles as the Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery sits on top of a hill for a reason - it ia a former police station and built to impress the surrounding native people. It was completed in 1900 and is one of the few pre-war police stations in the New Territories still standing most of them having been demolished due to the inexorable march of progress (or something like that:)).
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| Entrance to Ping Shan Tang Clan Gallery | The gallery/visitor center/former police station |
The views due to the location are great we can see how far we have climbed when we glimpse the metro line far below in the distance. You can even see Shenzhen and the huge skyscrappers on the China side towards the north.
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| View from visitor center | Buildings on China side in the distance |
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| Our metro in the distance | Festival places...we think |
Before returning to the trail we enter the small museum, it has exhibits related to the Tang Clan and their traditions. The more interesting ones are related to marriage which we have seen also the day before in the history museum.
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| Carriage for brides | Typical festival |
Now we return to the trail - the gallery is one end of the trail so we are going to follow it back to the Tang Ancestral Hall where we left it and then return via the same route we have followed initially. The trail here leads through more lively areas with a few supermarkets and restaurants and unfortunately the quality of the signage decays so we have to search for a bit to find the next attraction, the Hung Shing Temple. It is a small temple so it is easy to miss as it sits between the private houses. It was built in 1767 and then rebuilt a couple times and as usual has some nice frescoes - it is surprising how even these small temples have such nice frescoes.
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| That is one way to build around a tree | Where is the temple? |
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| Inside Hung Shing Temple | Small shrine |
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| Fish painting | Cranes are quite common in paintings |
Next we follow the signs down a few narrow passageways inside the residential area to the Entrance Hall of the Shut Hing Study Hall - here the study hall is gone and only the entrance is somehow preserved between two residential buildings, it seems weirdly both out of place but still fitting.
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| Really narrow passage | Entrance Hall of Shut Hing Study Hall |
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| Roof structure | Nice embellishments |
The last point of interest on the trail the Kun Ting Study Hall is closed, most halls are closed between 1 PM and 2 PM and we arrive right between these two hours. Still we have seen enough study halls for the day so we admire it from the outside before returning back to the MTR station.
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| Finding our way back towards the metro | Architecturally cool restroom |
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| Kun Ting Study Hall - closed | Just closing the side entrance |
We are quite hungry so we decide to exit near a mall and hopefully find something open there. The exit we choose is near Kowloon Park which we intend to visit afterwards. To our surprise in the first mall we enter there are no restaurants so we try a bigger one nearby, Harbour City and here finally there are multiple restaurants and we choose a Dim Sum one - it doesn't feel right going to Hong Kong and not eating Dim Sum:). Dim Sum here is different than we know from the US, instead of carts passing by you choose from a menu writing down the number of portions next to what you want and then repeating the process each time you want more. So it is more like a mix between restaurant and fast food or it feels that way. The food is very hot but good enough especially given that we are quite hungry.
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| Dim sum lunch | And the weird dessert |
Kowloon Park is right over the street from the mall however finding an entry is a bit more complicated as we follow the wall for a few hundred meters before finding an entrance from which we soon reach the free aviary. It seems that all major parks here have free aviaries and while this one is smaller it has a lot of flamingoes that are a big attraction.
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| Kowloon Park flamingoes | No pigeons - only parrots are to be fed:) |
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| Parrots in the free aviary | Hey - those are pigeons! |
Here in the park as in the covered walkways a lot of public areas are taken over by the housekeepers during the weekends, here however there are also a few wedding going on it seems or at least wedding preparations and it is interesting to examine those for some time.
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| Maids(?) relaxing | And a wedding rehearsal...at least we think so |
Exiting the park on the other side we pass through the HK Avenue of Comic Stars an interesting area where many statues of local comic stars are erected. We don't know any of them but still it is fun to imagine what each of them might do and what their powers might be (if they are super heroes of course).
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| HK Avenue of Comic Stars | Close up of some unknown (for us) comic stars |
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| Entrance to Kowloon Park is full of them | Even one on Nathan Road |
Because we are now on Nathan Road and just one MTR station from the hotel we decide to walk to it and to rest a bit before going out for the evening first to the markets to buy some souvenirs.
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| Returning to hotel | Typical high rise view |
We go again to the Ladies market area which is now much more busy - it is fascinating to watch but difficult to buy something. Somehow we find however everything that we intended to buy and return back to the hotel to leave our shopping bags in the room.
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| Ladies market in full swing | Tough to walk sometimes |
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| Arriving back at the metro station | Maids enjoying their free day (we think) |
It is 7 PM but we are not done for the day - we have one more place we want to visit and only this evening to do it. And supposedly it is open till 11PM so why not try it? The place is Kowloon Walled City Park and has an interesting history even though we don't know what can be seen now. The area where the park sits now about 6.5 acres was a Chinese garrison that remained even after Hong Kong was ceded to the British until it was expelled in 1899. Still as it was still potentially a Chinese territory after the 2nd world war high-rise tenements were built without authority and completely lacking proper foundations and the whole Walled City with its dank alleyways became a notorious nest of drug dealers, criminal hideouts and even cheap, unlicensed dentists and doctors. It was also a very densely packed place with 33,000 residents living in this very small area. The British authorities did not police the area for quite some time due to the ambiguous situation until with the agreement of the Chinese authorities they moved in in 1987, evacuated everyone after an arduous process and cleaned up the area creating the park that is there now by 1994.
Getting there is a bit difficult as we have to go using the MTR a few stations away and then walk 1 km through the city to find the park. It is an interesting walk through the residential areas to see how the people live a bit farther away from the tourist areas. The park itself is a bit difficult to enter as the first door we find is closed and says 6PM as closing time but then we find another one which is open which we use to enter it.
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| Walking Hong Kong at night | Where is the Kowloon Walled City? |
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| Finally found it - and it is open | Inside circular door |
Inside the exhibit halls closed at 6PM but still there are areas to visit and see - the park has been rebuilt as a reconstructed Chinese town and it is fun to explore especially the temples even though it is a bit spooky to be the only people walking through these seemingly ancient temples.
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| Rock features in the interior couryard | Old foundations excavated after the razing of the projects |
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| Temple on a small hill | Not used anymore |
There is also some interesting artwork - we like especially the zodiac sculptures but then as it is getting late and we still have to pack for the next day it is time for us to leave.
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| Good to have protected walkways | Chinese zodiac sign |
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| Nice pavement mosaic | Game area |
At home we eat some dinner which in this case are our last egg tart and a lot of sweets we have bought from a bakery shop - all of them great as usual. Then it is time for packing as in the morning we have to leave the hotel and Hong Kong.
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| Our dinner;) | Last egg tart pastry |
Today it is time to say goodbye to Hong Kong. We finish packing in the morning and then we have to find the free shuttle to the Airport Express which supposedly leaves right next to the hotel. It is accordingly to the concierge near the 7eleven but everything is near to one:) - still we find it and capture the last spot in the minibus - no further stops are made until the station. We check in at the train (one of the perks) so at least we don't have to carry our luggage with us as we speed towards Lantau Island and the airport.
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| Crossing between the islands on the Airport Express | Ngong Ping tramway in the distance |
At the airport we have to give back the Octopus cards and get back the balance and the deposit and we wander through the whole terminal before finding that it was right where we exited the train..somehow we missed it then. Border control is very efficient and we have enough time and a bit of money left so we decide to eat at another dim sum in the airport - same rules apply as in the mall and not the ones we were used to from the US.
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| Dim Sum at airport | One of the dim sum things we tried |
The plane leaves on time and does us a favor by flying again over the islands so we can see everything one last time before the long flight back over the ocean to the US after this very exhausting (lots of walking with no car:)) trip.
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| Future highway to Macau - we think | Ngong Ping tramway |
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| Hong Kong from plane | Passing over the islands |
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