Bonkers in Honkers

          

We pulled into the Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbor before 7 a.m, awed by the skyline. The traffic in the harbor reminded me of Istanbul, where ferries carry people and freighters, barges and cruise ships pass each other.  Our ship docked at the Ocean Terminal on the Kowloon side.  The temperature was in the 70s, a pleasant surprise after Shanghai, but there was no sunshine.  

The activities desk of Semester at Sea offered several side trips, and I chose the historic tour of Hong Kong. Since I had a couple of ours before our minivan left, I walked off the ship into a huge mall, several stories high and as modern and Western as any in the United States. Hundreds of shops sold such items as children’s clothes, high-fashion clothing, Gucci purses and expensive chocolates. You walk out of one mall and walk into another and another one after that. I found a 7-Eleven and bought some stamps for the postcards I wanted to mail. I also took advantage of the free Wi-Fi and Skyped Joe (in D.C. before bedtime); Ayla (in Istanbul before noon) and John (in Hannover in the early morning).  We cannot use Skype on board the ship because of satellite limitations.

The only way to get to the Jumbo Floating Restaurant is by sampan, seen in the foreground. In the background are high rises and one of the three mountains on the island. During our tour, we crossed, via tunnel, from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island and visited Aberdeen, the old part of town called Little Hong Kong, where a sampan, or water taxi, gave us a tour of the waterways filled with fishing boats and fancy yachts barely avoiding bumping into each other. This area is the home of the Jumbo Floating Restaurant. Streets have names such as Queens Way, Gloucester, Jaffe and Kennedy as well as Chinese titles. Everyone drives on the left side of the street.

As part of our tour we went to a tea museum, tea being at the center of Chinese culture, and we had lunch in beautifully landscaped Hong Kong Park that includes evergreens, colorful flowers, waterfalls and a pond with lots of fish and turtles. We took the world’s longest escalator up one of Hong Kong’s several hills; walked up and down streets; went through a farmer’s market; indulged in some Cantonese pastries; and took the tram 400 feet above sea level to Victoria’s Peak, though the fog stopped us from enjoying the panoramic view.

Exhausted by 6 p.m., we returned to our ship, docked at Kowloon an island, which has been built up since 1998. After dinner we enjoyed a spectacular light show: the Hong Kong skyline.    

Clockwise from top: Pleasure boats offering dinner and dancing zigzag the harbor every night; music is coordinated with dancing lights at Ocean Terminal; "Season's Greetings" and the logos of businesses light up the sky at new year. Happy Year of the Snake.