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Ferryboat
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The optional tour included a Thai dinner. It was my first taste of Thai food. It was not as spicy as I had been told. Rice and naan (flat bread) are filling. Then we went to the “night market.” A street is closed off to traffic and people set up stalls of all sorts of cheap goods. It was very similar to an out-door Zern’s. Then we were driven up the zigzag road to the top of Victoria Peak at 1003 feet to view the night lights of the city below. There is also a funicular that goes to the top and Chinese were in a long line waiting to get on it. Several of the buildings have colorful changing light displays. It was pleasantly cool and relatively clear at the top of the hill.
At Happy Valley Race Track (there was racing this night) we got on the double-decker trolley for a short ride before getting back on our bus for a quick ride through the one block long, illegal red light district (nothing like Amsterdam’s) before returning to our hotel (no pictures allowed!).
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Night market
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Fresh fish |
Off track betting
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Hong Kong at night from the top of Victoria Peak |
Thurs., 10/16/14 – Hong Kong
Since this was a whole day on our own and most of us wanted to visit the Hong Kong History Museum, Michael went over to the Kowloon Peninsula with us on the 101 bus, showed us how to buy subway passes, and where to catch the bus back to our hotel. It would have been difficult had he not gone with us. The footbridge we used is not on our map. It cost us only 5 HK$ (or 80 cents US) for admission because we got the half-price senior “concession.” The museum is new and very interesting. We first went to the section on the Opium War and watched a movie “From Trade to War.” It explained the history from the first foreign settlement for trade in Macau by the Portuguese to the British victory over the Chinese over the opium the British had grown in India and traded into China and the tragedy that the opium created. The Chinese had to surrender to the Brits and cede Hong Kong to Britain in 1941. We learned that land has been reclaimed from the sea since 1841 and reclamation is still going on today. We watched a movie and looked at the descriptions of the three years and eight months of the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong in the years 1941 to 1945.
We wandered more quickly through the galleries on dynastic rule of Hong Kong, and before that the four minority tribes who first made a living here. The folk culture of Hong Kong was also interesting with exhibits of dragon boat races, colorful costumes, Chinese opera, wedding ceremonies, music, etc. There was almost no reference to Mainland China.
While we were in the museum there were at least four groups of Hong Kong primary school students walking in two lines, holding hands, and listening to their teachers. One group of very well behaved children looked to be only four-years-old. The older kids had papers or work sheets. The kids seemed intrigued at the adult exhibits.
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Interesting
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Traffic through the tunnel - they drive on the left - Brit influence |
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Kids at the museum
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Hong Kong Museum of History |
Musical instruments
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More cute kids outside the museum |
Clock tower
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Hong Kong is very different from mainland China. People are polite and helpful, they queue up for buses, they walk to the right and don’t push through even though there are 7.2 million people on this little island. The Brits have left a mark on the culture here. We also have not seen any squat toilets in the public places and there has been TP in the stalls. The public buses seem to all be double decker buses and new, clean, and air-conditioned. The traffic is congested but cars stay in their lanes, don’t honk horns, and even let a car or bus merge in front of them.
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From our hotel room
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Modern buildings |
Fri., 10/17/14 – Hong Kong to Siem Reap, Cambodia
Our flight to Cambodia was not until this afternoon so it was nice to have a leisurely morning. After a later breakfast we walked around outside to take photos of the cemetery, the trolley we rode two nights ago, people on the streets, and unique signs. It is interesting that we could not find a stop sign in downtown, only yield signs. Traffic flowed, though at a crawl because of all of the cars, buses, and motorbikes. Drivers seemed courteous and let cars in and did it without honking horns.
We bought two more ham and cheese buns to eat at the airport for lunch. .
On the way to the airport we again had good views of the Hong Kong cargo terminal, which is the largest in the world. The containers are mostly filled and ready to ship all things Christmas.
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You can buy some interesting goods in Honk Kong! |
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Wonder what they are implying about riding these buses by advertising this motto? |
Manhole cover
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Golden Dragon sculpture
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Double decker trolly
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Part of the Hong Kong cargo terminal |
We flew Vietnam Airlines to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) and on to Siem Reap, Cambodia. They fed us something on the first flight and it was typical airline food.
We got into Siem Reap at 8 PM (or 9 PM China time – all of China is in the same time zone). We had no jetway and as we walked to the terminal two guards were handing out lengthy papers we had to stand outside and fill out before we could enter the terminal. It was their screening process for Ebola! Of course no one would say if they did have a fever or diarrhea.
Soeng (sir name Lov, pronounced Love Song!) met us after visa and passport and customs controls and took us to our hotel. We were glad to be there and to go to bed - it was a long day!