25-Jun-2005
We had a nice flight from Johannesburg to Hong Kong (just over 13 hours total!). The view coming into Hong Kong is quite spectacular, as is their new airport, completely built on landfill reclaimed from the sea.
After getting off the plane and checked into the airport lounge to shower and get our bearings before heading out for the day. Little did we know that it would take us a while to get out of the airport! As we were on the "Departure" side, we couldn't leave without obtaining a pass from the airline to let us go the wrong way through security. We could see where we needed to be, but couldn't get there ... just like some places in the Pittsburgh area!
We met our tour company at the airport hotel and rode in to our first stop. On the way we crossed the current longest suspension bridge span ... 2.4km long, longer than the Golden Gate Bridge.
After wandering around a shopping area for about 30 minutes, we met more of our tour group at lunch (Dim Sum). One of the people at our table might be going to UCT (University of Cape Town) for a semester so her parents were asking us questions ... mostly trying to figure out what they might be getting into! The school she's attending (Marquette University) has a relationship with UCT.
After lunch we boarded our buses for a trip to our first stop, Victoria Peak, one of the highest points on the island of Hong Kong. There is also a railway / cable car that you take up to the top as well. We were lucky as the clouds stayed away long enough for our group to get some nice pictures.
One of the things that struck us was how many tall buildings Hong Kong has ... our tour guide told us that Hong Kong also has a lot of other attractions and things that make it unique, and to not just mention the tall buildings :-).
That's all for now ... we have to get our things together so we're ready for our flight to Adelaide.
Editor's Note: We are currently 12 hours off of Pittsburgh time, halfway around the world, and halfway through our trip. Three weeks gone already!
Our next stop was the fishing area of Aberdeen (named after the city in Scotland). Many people still live on house boats and continue their way of life that existed before the British first came to Hong Kong. Next was a visit to a jewelry factory where the jewelry is made by hand. Here's a picture of a worker setting stones in a ring.
After our tour finished we caught the train back to the airport for our flight. Since this was a quick visit we would like to visit for a bit longer next time.
