The first station of our Far East tour was Hong Kong in our 2013 holiday. Hong Kong means “Fragrant Harbor”. Time is 5 hours ahead of Turkey in China. We arrived at Beijing Capital International Airport (PEK) from Istanbul after 11 hours flight by stopping in Urumqi by China Southern Airlines, the next day we arrived at Hong Kong International Airport (HKG) from Beijing after 03:40 hour flight. Currency is Hong Kong Dollar (HKD). 1 Hong Kong Dollar was equal to approximately 0.25 Turkish Liras.
Traffic works from left side in Hong Kong. Turkish citizens who have regular passports don’t need visa for 90 days in their travels. Arrival – departure cards are being filled for visa. We bought our flight tickets on 10 March 2013. Total flight tickets İstanbul-Beijing (15.06.2013), Beijing-Hong Kong (16.06.2013) and Beijing-İstanbul (30.06.2013) cost was approximately 500 Euro.
We bought Octopus Card for HK$ 150 for public transportation. HK$ 50 of its was deposit, and we used for Airport Express remaining HK$ 100. There were a lot of “7 Eleven” stores and we could add value this cards in “7 Eleven” stores. Bus and subway fares set by distance.
Sockets were different in Hong Kong than in Turkey. We had use converter.
The weather was very hot and humid. As soon as we come out, our body is getting sticky because of humidity. Umbrella is a must for protection from heat and rain. People seemed quite modern. Ladies’ daily clothes and shoes were jeweled, lacy, embellished like our clothes we wear in weddings. People were not short, but I guess the ladies in China love to wear 15-20 cm high-heeled shoes.
We usually ate our meals at Mc Donalds. Interesting, but prices were more affordable than ours.
1. day – 16.06.2013
After arriving at Central from airport, we passed inside a lot of skyscrapers until finding the hotel (mini Hotel Central). So many skyscrapers, cannot seeing sky, not working of GPS, cannot getting outside the skyscrapers made me feel very bad. We could arrive at hotel at last, but it was another disappointment facing with a tiny room. Then, we went out and decided to visit Victoria Peak. We went there from Central by 15 number bus (HK$ 9.8). We sit on the upper floor of the bus, and at every corner we felt like we’ll fall off the cliff. At last, we arrived at top and enjoyed the view. When it got darker and lights of buildings was on, view got even more beautiful.
2. day – 17.06.2013
In the second day, firstly we went to Tong Chung from Hong Kong by subway (HK$ 19.8), then we arrived at Giant Buddha (Tian Tan Buddha) in Lantau Island from Tong Chung by 23 number bus (HK$ 17.2). It was a bumpy bus ride again as in the previous day.
After we returned back, we visited Hong Kong Museum of Art. Entrance fee was HK$ 10.
Then, we watched sky show (front stalls HK$ 24) in Hong Kong Space Museum. I wish we would buy ticket for exhibition halls, we didn’t like this show so much.
We would like to go to Hong Kong Museum of History, but we didn’t have enough time to visit. It was closed on Tuesdays, so we couldn’t visit in our last day, too. After visiting Space Museum, we went to Avenue of Stars to watch “Symphony of Lights” light and sound show which starts at 20:00 every night.
3. day – 18.06.2013
In our last day, we visited green places mostly. Firstly, we went to Hong Kong Zoological And Botanical Gardens, then we visited Nan Lian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery monastery.
We arrived at Nan Lian Garden by getting off Diamond Hill station of Kwun Tong subway line, and a bit walking from there.
In the evening, we went to Nathan Road and Ladies Market. We got off Mongkok station of Kwun Tong subway line to be able to arrive at there.
A lot of things like buckles, bags, t-shirts, souvenirs, clothes are sold in Ladies Market. When you ask the price of something, they don’t leave you without selling, so make a good bargain. Generally, they are starting with so high prices, then they’re asking the price you want looking at your response.
The next day, we went to Hong Hom station using West Rail subway line, and said goodbye to Hong Kong getting on Guangzhou train.
Ocean Park and Macau Island were also included in the list of places should be seen when visiting Hong Kong, but we didn’t interested in them.