Day 2 Hong Kong

Had a nice smooth flight into Hong Kong arriving early. Don't feel like I slept much but there were lots of gaps in one of the movies I watched, so obviously got some. Long immigration queue but once we were through were well impressed with the ease of getting a train from the airport....

and virtually had the carriage to ourselves. First impression of HK was pretty much as expected....lots of tall shiny buildings and hazy sky.

From Kowloon station we got a free bus to our hotel, which ended up being a long tiki tour around the region with our stop being 2nd to last. Too early to check in to our hotel but were given key to gym to freshen up.  So we found ourselves on the street soon after 8am feeling tired and directionless. Our hotel is in an area that is less modern than expected...lots of Chinese characters in the signage dominating the English versions. We wandered down Nathan road looking for a MTR station....Jordan station wasn't far away...struggled to understand where we should go ( probably due to tiredness rather than it being difficult), so decided to head to Central hoping there was something there. Turned out to be the wrong time with rush hour and carriages crammed with people.

After 2 unsuccessful attempts to squeeze on to trains we eventually managed to get aggressive enough to get on. And door shut against us as we breathed in. Luckily not many stops to Central.

At Central we came upon the HSBC building, Apple Store spanning a road and walked on down to the pier.

Caught the star ferry to Tsing Sha Tsui (Kowloon) to see the city from the water.

Sat looking out on the city skyline trying to decide where to go next but our fuzzy brains struggled to differentiate the places and what to do. The guidebook seemed so confusing. Decided we should go to see the giant Buddha as it was a definite "must see".  Caught the star ferry back to Hong Kong Island and then got on another ferry to  Mui Wo (an outlying island) as suggested by the guide book. Saw some amazing views of differing skylines from the ferry but were surprised to see no tourists as expected it to be popular.

The journey was also unexpectedly long considering how cheap it was....each corner we thought was our last and it felt like we were heading to nowhere. After an hour we finally arrived at Mui Wo but were concerned to see no tourists and no obvious signs to the Buddha. All we saw was a local hawker type market, hundreds of bicycles

and not much else. I was concerned that Cam had led us astray and we were almost going to give up and head back to the ferry when we found a bus that seemed to be heading to the area we wanted. We hopped on, with lots of locals and were again surprised by the length of the journey...windy steep road that wound up and down the outside of the island. We saw plenty of interesting sights but were relieved to finally reach our destination.....and that's where all the tourists were!  

We were puzzled how they all got there but enjoyed exploring the temple, burning incense and monuments.  

We then climbed the 268 steps ( impressive considering my injury) and viewed the Buddha up close.

There were great views of the area from the top also. We then headed down to have a quick look at the village for some food. We ended up in a noodle shop where we ordered a beef noodle soup to share....struggled with the chopsticks...and gave great amusement to the man working there who kept watching us. The meat was pale, soup pretty tasteless with a fishy aftertaste and noodles slippery....so didn't finish it.

Opposite here was the gondola which we decided would be worth a trip since we were there. Went to buy tickets and then it dawned upon me that this was how everyone had got here and we had come via a very long alternative route.

Loved the cable car ride down...stunning views and 25 minutes seemed good value compared to others we've been on. The gondola finished at Tung Chung...which has a convenient MTR back to our hotel. Couldn't walk past the nearby outlets shopping centre so Cam endured a quick look at that. Enjoyed the supermarket (biscuits photographed just for dad...not yummy enough to buy)

and got a few supplies and caught the train back to our hotel to finally get into our room at 4pm.  We were so tired and keen to rest and ice my foot....a long day since we landed at 6am and the 5 hour time difference.

Were surprised how big our room is...a big bed each, lots of floor space and everything we need (even a magnifying mirror with light for me). After resting for an hour or so we wanted to sleep but decided we needed to eat. Not very successful as we were too tired to be adventurous and nothing appealed. Walked and walked but ended up at the MTR where Cam had some dumpling and I got a sandwich.  Back to hotel and early to sleep...at last!