Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Victoria Peak - June 14 (Eric)

I prefer to blog when events are fresh in my mind, but as I mentioned in the previous post, circumstances have gotten in the way. Anyway, I will, to the best of my ability, recreate the day we rode the tram to the top of Victoria Peak.

First of all, if you only had time for one thing in Hong Kong, this would be my top recommendation. The tram ride itself is an adventure as it steeply climbs the hill. Once you get to the top, you are treated to the most amazing views of Hong Kong. This by itself is worth the trip.

Secondly, we bought tickets on the Big Bus tour of Hong Kong which includes the tram ticket and allows you to skip the line which can be quite lengthy at times. The bus tour is also a great way to see the city if time is limited. They provide headphones to listen to an audio description of the sights and history of this one-of-a-kind city. Normally, I find tours like this kind of cheesy, but this one was informative and interesting. It also had a haunting sound track which both Jenny and I still have stuck in our heads.

At the top, there's another mall (I know shocking), but I mention it because it provides shopping and dining experiences with some fantastic views. Believe it or not, there is a Bubba Gump Shrimp at the top of the lookout tower. We ate at a rather touristy place called the Peak Lookout Restaurant. The building itself was unique and did have an amazing view of the other side of Hong Kong Island, but our food had mixed reviews. I really enjoyed the Thai style mussels I ordered, but Jenny's steak sandwich was mediocre at best.

After lunch, I highly recommend what we did next, the Peak Circle Trail. This is a relatively short walk (about an hour) around the peak with majestic views of all sides of the island. It was our favorite part of the Hong Kong experience. To see one amazing view after another was truly a breathtaking experience.

We finished our hike with an Egglet dessert (we had to put the calories we just burned back on somehow) which is the Chinese version of a waffle cone. Jenny described it best by comparing it to Cinnabon -- it smells and looks better than it tastes. 😝
We finished our day with a walk along the harbor and a ride on the Hong Kong Ferris wheel. Both are cool ways to get some remarkable views of the night skyline. And now, pictures...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Happy to read your Blog again as you hadn't posted in awhile. Glad you enjoyed Victoria Peak especially the Tram Ride. We were surprised by the views. The Big Bus is a great way to get around Hong Kong Sites. Glad you are enjoying your trip. It was really hot here -- our backyard showed 106. There are also fires in the hills behind Azusa fortunately not Glendora but we can see the smoke. Mom/Fran