Introduction. Several years BC (before COVID), my good friends and wonderful travel companions, Andy and Char, asked if I’d like to do a Mekong River cruise. Silly question: dangle a trip in front of me and there’s an excellent chance I’ll take the bait.
That river cruise has now morphed into a Southeast Asia extravaganza, beginning with a pre-tour visit to Hong Kong and continuing to Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. The tour is organized by Abercrombie and Kent. It’s my first trip with A&K, which has a wonderful reputation. In my final post, I’ll compare and contrast A&K with Tauck.
Hong Kong wasn’t high on my list of places to visit; I assumed it would be your basic bustling metropolis with a Chinese flavor to it. It is that, of course, but it is so much more! Having spent a few days here, I’m enchanted by Hong Kong’s mix of modernity and tradition, beautiful setting, and fascinating culture. Much of the credit for that goes to our amazing, charming guide, Vivian Wong of the Hong Kong Association of Registered Tour Coordinators. Vivian brought us to a “greatest hits” selection of Hong Kong’s attractions, which I’ll get to below.
First, though, let me deal with the basics of getting here and staying here.
Flying to Hong Kong. US residents do not currently require a visa to visit Hong Kong; they just need the patience and fortitude to endure a 15-hour flight from the West Coast. I flew from Los Angeles on Cathay Pacific in Business Class, which was very good but not exceptional (in my experience, Emirates remains the gold standard). Service was attentive, though I’ve found it friendlier on United and Lufthansa. The food was decent, perhaps slightly better than on competing airlines. (I had wok-fried cod for dinner and a “wellness” bowl for breakfast, any health benefits of which were negated by the two delicious croissants accompanying the meal.) The seats were comfortable, but the cabin doesn’t offer as much privacy as on some other airlines. For example, there is no full divider between the two middle seats in the 1-2-1 configuration. Having said that, I wouldn’t hesitate to fly Cathay again (as I will several more times on this trip).
Hong Kong Airport: Thank you, Hong Kong, for the easiest international arrival I’ve ever had! After deplaning, follow the signs for immigration. Once you’re in sight of it, the desks for HK residents are straight ahead and the desks for visitors are to the left. Before getting in line, you need to fill out a paper arrival card at one of the tables you pass. After you do so, the line moves very quickly. Baggage claim is straight ahead once you’re through immigration. Remarkably – I believe for the first time ever in my international travels – the bags began coming out almost immediately after I got to the carousel. (In contrast, I had to wait 45 minutes in Melbourne.)
Staying in Hong Kong. We’re staying three nights at the beautiful Mandarin Oriental hotel, a Hong Kong landmark for sixty years. The rooms are spacious, the beds are terrific, the breakfast buffet is excellent, the décor is elegant but not overdone, and most important, the staff is genuinely friendly and responsive. High marks all around!
What to See. Hong Kong’s 1000 or so square miles are spread over Hong Kong Island (where I’m staying), Kowloon, and the New Territories. It encompasses more than 200 islands, including Lantau, the largest island in the group, site of the airport, Hong Kong Disneyland, and a mountainous rural expanse sprinkled with fishing villages, temples, and monasteries. All in all, Hong Kong is both achingly modern and staidly traditional, a place trying to balance its British past, limbo-like present, and looming Chinese future.
I’ll start with Hong Kong Island, which is a study in contrasts. It is forests of skyscrapers clinging to vertiginous hills, in whose shadows thickets of pedestrians walk with heads bent in supplication to their cellphones. It is galleries of gleaming jewels and chi-chi clothes next to stores displaying dried fish, shark fins, dangling ducks, and pigs’ legs. It is dim sum joints next to McDonalds and Buddhist temples next to shrines to finance.
To begin our tour, Vivian took us to Sheung Wen, a market district lined with stores selling sea cucumbers, shark fins, various other products of the sea and land, and herbs used in Chinese medicine.
It’s picturesque, a bit smelly, lined with old apartment buildings (many of them ten-story walk-ups), and a glimpse into traditional Hong Kong life just steps away from the skyscrapers.
As we strolled through Sheung Wen, Vivian gave us an intro course on Chinese medicine and how various foods and herbs are used to maintain health. Being used to Western medicine, this all seemed a bit unusual, but the proof of its efficacy was all around us.
Hong Kong is one of the healthiest places on earth, there is virtually no obesity, and it seems like everyone looks twenty years younger than their chronological age. (Vivian is a perfect example: she’s in her early 50s but could pass for 30.)
From there, we drove a short way to a Buddhist temple to the gods Man (god of literature) and Mo (god of martial arts). Outside Man Mo Temple is a small shrine for people seeking luck in love; the inside is filled with incense, statues, and dozens of locals entreating the gods to look favorably upon them. I found it fascinating and spiritually vibrant.
Not far from the temple, we boarded a tram that took us to the top of Victoria Peak. In addition to a (literally and figuratively) high-end mall, Burger King, and McDonalds, the Peak affords panoramic views of Hong Kong harbor and, to the other side, the South China Sea. A return (2-way) ticket costs HK $148, about $19 US. It’s well worth it.
After descending from the Peak, we enjoyed a short cruise on a sampan through a floating fishing village in Hong Kong Harbor. (Our 69-year old pilot (she asked us to guess her age), who wove deftly down narrow passages between houseboats, could pass for 50. Her 71-year old husband still has a thick head of black hair and looks terrifically fit.)
To wrap things up, we had a fabulous late lunch of dim sum at the Luk Yu Tea House (24-26 Stanley Street). I guess the rejuvenating effect of the food take a while to set in; I still look every bit of my nearly 66 years. Vivian taught us an important bit of chopstick lore over lunch: each set of chopsticks is considered a mated pair, and if you accidentally drop one on the floor you must toss its partner after it to keep the pair together.
Our second tour day commenced with a ride to Tai O, a traditional fishing village on Lantau Island. The part of the island closest to Kowloon is filled with massive, towering apartment blocks and the airport. Just beyond the airport, however, the terrain becomes hilly and wooded, the monolithic buildings disappear, and rural Hong Kong takes over.
Tai O seems like it hasn’t changed much in the past century. In the older part of town, wooden houses on stilts overlook waterways leading to the sea. In the slightly newer part, the houses are metal, though they’re still on stilts.
It’s a tidy, atmospheric town with narrow lanes, sleepy dogs, basking cats, a few artists, small storefronts, and lots of fishing boats. Despite having become a tourist attraction, Tai O has retained its authenticity.
Not far from the village is Ngong Ping, a plateau hosting two major attractions: the Tian Tan Buddha (also known as “Big Buddha”), which is more than 100 feet tall, and the Po Lin monastery, which is more than 100 years old (it was named Po Lin in 1924 but was built in 1906 and known as the “Big Hut.”) You can get to Ngong Ping by road or cable car, but the cable car was out of service for maintenance.
To reach the Buddha, you must climb 268 steps. Walking around the statue offers wonderful views down to the monastery and out to the ocean. Doing so is free, but if you wish to go inside the Buddha you have to purchase an offering.
The monastery is a short walk from the base of the steps. It’s a handsome building at the end of an approach lined with statues of the Twelve Divine Generals.
There’s an entrance chamber with statues guarding the traditional smiling Buddha; behind that chamber is a temple with three Buddha statues and an ancient bell that for some reason sports a QR code.
Adjacent to the monastery is a restaurant serving delicious vegetarian food, where we ate our lunch before heading back to Hong Kong Island.
Which brings us to today, our third and final day in Hong Kong before heading to Hanoi late this afternoon. In the morning, we took the Star Ferry across to Kowloon – it’s about a seven-minute ride and costs $2 HK each way (about 25 US cents), which makes it by far the most affordable thing in Hong Kong.
Kowloon along the harbor is a busy business center punctuated with museums, hotels, and a park. The main drag, Nathan Road (it’s too wide to be Nathan Lane) is lined with gnarled ficus and banyan trees as well as the obligatory high-end watch stores (Rolex, Omega, Tissot, etc.) shoulder-to-shoulder with purveyors of traditional Chinese medicines.
The park features a whimsical art display entitled the Hong Kong Avenue of Comics Stars, along with people meditating, practicing tai chi, and otherwise enjoying a crisp, sunny day.
And thus ends my thoroughly enjoyable and wondrously eye-opening sojourn in Hong Kong. I’ll be back in a few days with a report from Hanoi.
PuffinlessTravel 