Martin um die Welt: 8) Stunning Hongkong

Back in Hongkong, we checked in at the Ibis Northpoint Hotel. Not cheap, tiny room, but a great view across the harbor. After a quick dinner around the corner we took the metro to Hongkong Central and walked to the monorail to get up to the Victoria Peak. Especially at night all those huge skyscrapers are incredibly impressive! The ride up hill was great using a very old British monorail. From Victoria Peak we had a first great view over the skyscraper filled city of Hongkong. Back down, we visited Hongkongs major bar district around Lan Kwai Fong road. The best and only true bar quarter we have seen on this trip. Simply a lively feeling including drinking and chatting on the streets, talking to drug dealers and whatever else makes up your bar night :)

A glimpse of Hongkong's skyscrapers from the bottom of Victoria Peak

On Victoria Peak

Gorgeous views from Victoria Peak

The next morning (06.11.) we decided to visit Lantau island with its famous Buddha. But first we started with dim sum for lunch at the famous Tim Ho Wan restaurant which is considered as the cheapest Michelin Star restaurant in the world. Instead of the original one, we visited its new branch in Hongkong central. The queue was not too long here. The food didn't disappoint us... it was super delicious. Though, the dim sum dumpling of Din Tai Fung in Taipei were even better :P
The metro then brought us to the cable car station on Lantau. First we thought the cable car is quite expensive... luckily we used it anyways... it is absolutely impressive! On our way to the Buddha, we had a crystal cabin... meaning that our floor was made of glass. It was simply great. On our way the cable car stopped once and Danny feared that the end has come... when it started again the island started to be covered in mist and fog. It was a mystic feeling to see the cable cars appear out of the fog. Near the Buddha it was slightly raining... as every afternoon during our days in Hongkong. We hardly could see the massive Buddha due to the fog, although we were standing right in front of it. The scenery had a really mystic feel. Back from the Buddha we visited a small temple, the jade market and a small night market around Yau Ma Tai. Danny was starving... so we had Sushi for dinner...it was rather expensive, but really delicious. It was great to see the chefs making the fresh Sushi in front of us. We then went to the promenade, watched the second part of the light show that is played every evening. After taking some pictures we met a Taiwanese girl who asked us to practice her English. So we talk for some hours about the differences between living in China, Hongkong and Europe. We missed the last metro and so took a taxi to our hotel... to our surprise the taxis are quite cheap in Hongkong.

Riding this mega cable car over

Entrance gate to Lantau Buddha shrouded by mist

Small Buddha statues around the big Lantau Buddha

The massive Buddha shrouded in mist

awesome Sushi for dinner

Laser show at Hongkong bay

Danny punches Hongkong's lucky pig in front of Hongkonb bay

View of Hongkong Central skyline

The last day (07.11.) we started with lunch at Tim Ho Wan again. Then we found that Hongkong central station offers in-town check-in for your flight. So we went back to our hotel, got our luggage and checked it in at the central station. This was when Danny was told that he should take a flight earlier, otherwise he would be stuck at Peking airport for several hours due to delays in China Air's flight schedule. Thus, he left right away. As I had several hours left before I had to catch my flight, I visited the markets between Yau Ma Tai and Mongkong again. Walking along Nathan Road, which is considered the longest shopping street in the world, I saw the remaining camps from the Umbrella Revolution that became famous as Occupy Central... although they were forced to leave Hongkong central already before we arrived. The protesters were quiet and rather lazy checking their phones or reading books. There was a lot of police force around, but everyone was friendly. The blockades were sometimes quite impressive. I then found the ladies market and bought a "Jimmy Joo" bag for Franzi. At the metro I then met a middle aged German couple who were trying to get to the promenade to watch the light show. I joined and guided them... and it was a good decisions. The evening before we had only seen the second part of the light show (starting 9pm), while the first part is called a symphony of lights and was much more impressive (starting 8pm). It holds the Guinness World Record being the largest permanent light show. This was a great finish for this trip. By metro I went to Hongkong central station where I took some more pictures and then caught the train to the airport. Thanks to the earlier check-in I had no luggage to carry^^ A nice Airbus A380 from Emirates then flew me to Dubai from where I continued to Hamburg. Back in Germany I was lucky catching trains back to Leipzig. I was extremely lucky... although the train drivers were striking, I got faster from Hamburg to Leipzig than ever :P