On our way back from Thailand, we had a nice 2-day layover in Hong Kong and were able to go into Kowloon, HongKong Island, go to Victoria’s Peak, ride the Star Ferry, and all great things.
We landed at the Hong Kong International airport which is built on an island by land reclamation. For the "Extreme Engineering" fans, Hong Kong Airport itself can be an attraction. The huge terminal is an impressive sight. Despite being one of the largest and busiest airport, it was pretty painless to navigate through the terminal building and pass through immigration, baggage claim and customs.
We took the airport express train which zips you from the airport to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. The station and the ticket counter is inside the airport itself and arguably the most efficient and cost effective way to reach Kowloon or Hong Kong island. From the station there are free shuttles that will take you to all major hotels.
Hong Kong has many sights to see. Since we had less than two days there, we narrowed it down to seeing Victoria Peak and the Victoria Harbor which are must sees. Victoria Peak offers some fabulous views of the Harbor and Kowloon. The Peak Tram takes you to the top of the peak. However be prepared to wait in the long line to board the tram. We went on a weekday but still had to wait over 30 mins to get on it. The ride on tram itself gives you some spectacular view of city skyline. There are many restaurants, shopping and walking trails at the top. We ended up having lunch at one of the tourist trap restaurant and spent couple of hours walking around.The tram on the way back was empty so we could move on either sides of it to checkout the views.
We spent rest of the day in and around Hong Kong central, which is where all the banks and other big businesses are. It is also home for the most expensive hotels, restaurants and designer stores. We walked around the the central district admiring the tall buildings. Most of the streets were very crowded especially the streets around Time Square and SoHo. We also took the pedestrian escalator which is the world’s longest escalator system that connects downtown financial district to the mid-levels neighborhood of condominium towers.In the evening we did the Harbour cruise on the Star Ferry. There are plenty of other cruise operators that you can choose from if you like the usual luxury amenities, but Star Ferry is very popular and is one of the icons of Hong Kong. It carries passengers across Victoria Harbor between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island and offers magnificient views of the harbor and city skyline. We got off at Kowloon and walked past the famous Peninsula Hotel. And yeah I was not aware of the world famous restroom on top of the hotel. Apparently the main attraction of the Peninsula Hotel are the restrooms on the top where the urinals line a floor-to-ceiling glass wall viewing the harbour and Hong Kong Island. who knew!
The next day we took a cab to the airport express train station. I was pleasantly suprised that the train station turned out to be just like an airport, it had check-in counters of all major airlines.You basically check-in your bags and collect your boarding passes right there. All we had to do after that is to board the train to the airport. At the airport we directly went through the security and almost had 3 hours until boarding.The Hong Kong airport facilities are amazing with over 40 restaurants,160 retail outlets and free wi-fi. We spent lot of time walking around the shopping area and for awhile I forgot that I was in an airport, it was like wandering in a shopping Mall. And what can I say, there was a "Popeyes" right there, there are hardly any in San Francisco bay area, so I just could not miss the oppurtunity to grab some chicken before heading towards our gate. -
We landed at the Hong Kong International airport which is built on an island by land reclamation. For the "Extreme Engineering" fans, Hong Kong Airport itself can be an attraction. The huge terminal is an impressive sight. Despite being one of the largest and busiest airport, it was pretty painless to navigate through the terminal building and pass through immigration, baggage claim and customs.
We took the airport express train which zips you from the airport to Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. The station and the ticket counter is inside the airport itself and arguably the most efficient and cost effective way to reach Kowloon or Hong Kong island. From the station there are free shuttles that will take you to all major hotels.
Hong Kong has many sights to see. Since we had less than two days there, we narrowed it down to seeing Victoria Peak and the Victoria Harbor which are must sees. Victoria Peak offers some fabulous views of the Harbor and Kowloon. The Peak Tram takes you to the top of the peak. However be prepared to wait in the long line to board the tram. We went on a weekday but still had to wait over 30 mins to get on it. The ride on tram itself gives you some spectacular view of city skyline. There are many restaurants, shopping and walking trails at the top. We ended up having lunch at one of the tourist trap restaurant and spent couple of hours walking around.The tram on the way back was empty so we could move on either sides of it to checkout the views.
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| View from Victoria Peak; |
We spent rest of the day in and around Hong Kong central, which is where all the banks and other big businesses are. It is also home for the most expensive hotels, restaurants and designer stores. We walked around the the central district admiring the tall buildings. Most of the streets were very crowded especially the streets around Time Square and SoHo. We also took the pedestrian escalator which is the world’s longest escalator system that connects downtown financial district to the mid-levels neighborhood of condominium towers.In the evening we did the Harbour cruise on the Star Ferry. There are plenty of other cruise operators that you can choose from if you like the usual luxury amenities, but Star Ferry is very popular and is one of the icons of Hong Kong. It carries passengers across Victoria Harbor between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island and offers magnificient views of the harbor and city skyline. We got off at Kowloon and walked past the famous Peninsula Hotel. And yeah I was not aware of the world famous restroom on top of the hotel. Apparently the main attraction of the Peninsula Hotel are the restrooms on the top where the urinals line a floor-to-ceiling glass wall viewing the harbour and Hong Kong Island. who knew!
The next day we took a cab to the airport express train station. I was pleasantly suprised that the train station turned out to be just like an airport, it had check-in counters of all major airlines.You basically check-in your bags and collect your boarding passes right there. All we had to do after that is to board the train to the airport. At the airport we directly went through the security and almost had 3 hours until boarding.The Hong Kong airport facilities are amazing with over 40 restaurants,160 retail outlets and free wi-fi. We spent lot of time walking around the shopping area and for awhile I forgot that I was in an airport, it was like wandering in a shopping Mall. And what can I say, there was a "Popeyes" right there, there are hardly any in San Francisco bay area, so I just could not miss the oppurtunity to grab some chicken before heading towards our gate. -
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