The afternoon starts of with a trip on the known tram in Hong Kong. The spot I start the tour is part of the area where all dried fish and seafood is sold. Nothing for me, but interesting to see. 🙂 I get a nice spot on top at the front (thanks to a Dutch couple that made room for me). he streets (even the main streets) are very narrow. Small shops and people everywhere. The open window in the tram allows for some wind to get inside, which has a nice cooling effect. But if you want to travel fast, this is not the right mode of transportation. It is very slow. But this has it’s own charm.
After a while I exit at the stop close to the public library. Of course there should be a geocache inside. The building is huge and nicely cool. Old fashioned signs remind you to be quiet. School classes in their school uniforms are lined up to either enter or exit the library. I find a PC on the 3rd floor to use the hint on the geocache to find it. It shows me a section of the library to go to but I cannot find the book close to the cache and there are security guards everywhere and people reading (and even sleeping). After 15 minutes I give up – I want to see more of the city. Elevator out of order means that I have to take a stair (with security guards).
Back on the street I see a lot of people around some trees staring on their phone. That I want to be a part of and it turns out to be a Pokemon Raid Battle thing going on. I join in for my red team. An old guy (must be around 70) asks me if I have caught this Pokemon boss before (I had no idea what he was talking about^^) – but it is nice to o with the flow. Just have some fun and do fun, spontaneous things.
But I want my geocache. 🙂 There should be an easy one close to the Excelsior hotel and another rare virtual cache very close by. No problem to find the hotel, the cache is more difficult to get to, as it is located on the island between the lanes of this very very busy, 4 lane main road. I somehow survived the crossing and locate the cache at once (the drivers who saw me must have thought I am some kind of maniac). Leaving some Travel Bugs behind I have to risk my life again to cross the street back. Now the virtual cache on the other side. Easier said than done. I have to enter a shopping center to find the access to the road crossing (bridge) on the 2,5th floor, then I have to cross the street, get down, through a tunnel (there are roadworks which means you have to go all around everything) u some stairs again, down more stairs, through another tunnel and finally I arrive close to the spot. The question I have to answer is easy and the picture is send at once… now ALL the way back over all bridges… I need oxygen!
It is getting late and I want to see and use the long escalator that goes from Central to the Mid levels. Using the MTR gets me fast close to the spot. A lot of signs there and they show you the way. Then I take the escalator uphill. Only from 6-10 am it will go downhill. Even if it is a tourist attraction it has practical use for the people living higher up (i wouldn’t want to go up that hill every day…). On the way find out that there is a geocache at the escalator. Just making sure no muggles see me logging it. When I arrive on the top it is already getting dark.
Now I will try to do some of the walking tour that my Lonely Planet recommends. But I have to go downhill quit a bit. Winding roads, lots of steep stairs and when i get to where I wanted to go, it is dark. But the city in the dark has it’s own qualities. The neon lights of the ships and restaurants, the open shops – an interesting view an way to see the city. I find Hollywood Park (I might have gone all the way to Los Angeles^^) with the quiet cheesy lights one knows from China. It is mid autumn festival soon in China – that is a part of it.
Finally it is time to catch one of the buses back to the hotel. Thanks to google maps, the next bus stop is located and I g back to Pok Fu Lam village. But the bus stops early and I have to jump out on the street. At the bus stop (directly in front of the village) there are many people. Many with cameras and a big group of locals preparing a lang straw dragon with incense sticks for a dress rehearsal of the fire dragon dance for the midt autumn festival the next day. Good vibes here. Warm (a local lady gets me a small towel to use) but some nice pictures are taken and the dragon is been carried into the village. I smell like I have been sitting at a camp fire. But the drums, the dance and the incense are a very nice experience.
Back at the hotel I order food (Burger this time) and hit the shower, wash my shirt and hit the pillows. Tomorrow I will be going to Macau. Very excited about that.
