Lamma Island

Yesterday it was time to escape the city. Lamma Island sounded promising- the Hong Kong Tourist Bureau Guide boasted it was an island without cars and with idyllic beaches and fresh seafood. While some of these promises were delivered, Zach and I found the island to hold the same of the same inconsistencies as the island of Hong Kong. We left for our excursion in the morning to catch the ferry from central pier to the auto-less island. For around $2 Cdn, the boat chugged us across Victoria Harbour past everything from small fishing boats to huge container ships. In the distance we could see the flags of several large American naval vessels ( including an aircraft carrier), an odd sight by our account! Once on the island we sat down to a Dim Sum breakfast of fish balls, prawn dumplings, spring rolls, and delicious jasmine tea at one of several harbour front seafood restaurants serving fresh fish caught by local fishermen and fisherwomen. We set out to hike to another small village on the north side of Lamma Island, hoping to stop at the beach along the way to play some frisbee. As we hiked along ( taking some quick-dissolve immodium breaks for my benefit) the view from the elevated trail boasted an enormous coal-power plant that jets out like an industrial arm from the picturesque island. The Hong Kong Tourist guide encourages you to stop and take photos from vantage points offering full views of the plant, expressing an unapologetic pride in the island's industrial wart.

a beautiful beach....

Or a symbol of modern development?

In Hong Kong it seems like these two concepts- nature and industry- are not as opposed as we like to think of them in North America. An island advertised for its value in escaping the city sits comfortably with the fact that a huge development project dominates the island's landscape. A beach merely metres away from the polluting muscle of industrial energy is written and spoken of in normative terms. I noticed this harmony on the island of Hong Kong, too, during our excursion to Victoria Peak on the tram. The high-end shopping mecca that awaited us at the end of our tram journey, and the high-rise condos we discovered on our hike around the summit sat uncomfortably with me. The handful of new building projects we saw underway from these heights of the city suggest this is just the way it is in Hong Kong.

Tomorrow we make our way on a hydro-foil jet to nearby Macau for a day and night before flying to Hanoi on Friday. We booked our hostel just moments ago for a bank-breaking $7/night each for a private room and ensuite bathroom. I like Vietnam already! We've been getting by on around $50 Cdn/day in Hong Kong and paying $24/night for our hostel ( this is about as cheap as it gets in HK without living in a ratden). $7/night in Hanoi is music to my ears....

I'll write again when I can, but for now I have to make my way back to our hostel. Good night!

Smoggy in Hong Kong

I arrived in Hong Kong after a day long journey that took me over ocean and mountain. I was surprised that it was dark when we got there- our flight landed at 6:30pm, in Canada the sun would still be shining bright. It was almost impossible to find our hostel in the hustling and hyper-commercial Causeway Bay area we are staying in- the hostel was unmarked from the street, and we had to ask a helpful Hong Kong shopkeer to lead us in the right direction. Our room (more like a closet) is on the ninth floor of a large apartment building. The bathroom and shower are in the same room- I have seen this before in England, but this particular shower/bathroom combo brings things to a new level of tiny. Still, the room is clean and equipped with a/c and is close to the double decker tramway that runs east/west across Hong Kong island. Yesterday was our first full day in the city, and we went for Dim Sum at City Hall followed by a long afternoon walk through the Zoological and Botanical Gardens and Hong Kong park, where there was a huge aviatory with a raised wooden walkway throughout. Hong Kong park is also the site of the bridal registry office and picturesque location complete with manmade fountains and manicured flowers. I saw at least 4 wedding parties! Today the jetlag began to hit me. Both mornings I have awoken at 4:30 wide-awake for the day. Exhausted, Zach and I took the Victoria Peak Tram up Victoria mountain only to be met with a thick blanket of smog/fog. It is a most bizarre area on the mountain, as there is a modern shopping mall that awaits at the top and several multi-million dollar homes and condos. The city is humid, but not scorching hot- a nice ease into our upcoming visit to Vietnam.

It is hard sometimes to believe I am in Hong Kong and not a North American city. KFC, 7-11, Shell gas station, MAC make-up and 100s of other american brand names litter the city scape. There is a 50+ story building that is completely covered in a Calvin Klein ad of a male model in tight boxers! The public facilities are better kept than many places I've been to in Canada, and the public transit system is a godsend. Most people I have come across have been very friendly and helpful ( some perhaps too friendly- Zach and I have been dodging the buddhist monks that scavenge the city for donations from foreign tourists...). Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures soon- tomorrow we trek to Lamma Island, an outlying fishing island that apparently is car-free and has amazing fresh seafood from local fisherman and sandy beaches.


Jennie