Adventures of a Tribe

Hong Kong

Posted on December 1, 2017 Updated on December 1, 2017

Surprisingly, the remainder of our travels to Hong Kong went quite smoothly. To reach our final destination, we took 2 car taxi’s, 4 scooter taxi’s, 1 ferry, 3 buses, 1 shuttle and 3 airplanes. Mycah chuckled and commented that the saying is correct; ‘smoke follows beauty’, because as we headed to Lombok to catch a flight since the airport in Bali was closed, the ash cloud followed us to Lombok and ours was the last flight out before it closed too!

Hong Kong is a busy place! Extremely densely populated and as a global port, it has become a major destination for shoppers. As we walked the busy streets I couldn’t help but notice the lack of anything natural – aside from the odd potted pant on a ledge or porch up high on a building or a tree here and there in business landscaping.

With a population of over 7 million people in 1042 square kilometers, it’s no wonder there are so many sky scrapers…the only way to fit everyone in, is to go up!!!

The main religions are Buddhism,Taoism and Confucianism, and the remaining 16% are either Atheists or Christians.

The main languages spoken are Cantonese and English. Hong Kong has become famous for being a leading financial center for East Asia, and transports large volumes of exports from China to the rest of the world. The streets are lined with stores in every size and are filled to overflowing with everything one could imagine.

Some signs are pale and worn, rusted from rain and age, having hung, advertising year after year as brighter and newer signs are hung close by. So many have seen them and followed their direction. New signs are brightly lit with hundreds of lights in every color.

We smiled as we read the name of a street – so fit for its surroundings.

Hundreds of vendors sell knock offs of major name jewelry, clothing, shoes, electronics and toys. It’s difficult to tell a difference with some, but not so tough when things are misspelled. Star Wart…nail biting suspense and action in space, close to the star of Papillomavirus…

We used the subway system to travel from Kowloon to Hong Kong City Center. It’s a fun, cheap way to travel and saves a ton of time.

Once we reached City Center, we felt like we’d been completely swallowed up in the concrete, brick, asphalt and glass, and commented on how crazy it was that all this business happens every day! So many people coming and going, rushing, working, pushing, racing against the clock. The endless movement and buildings, people, alleys and roads.

So much traffic…buses, taxi’s, vans, trucks, cars, shuttles and trolleys.

At times I felt dizzy as I looked up, higher and higher, so much glass reflecting sky and clouds. It made me feel better to know there was still a big beautiful sky out there some place.

We wanted to check out Times Square, and were amazed at the number of people coming and going through the area.

Here and there are signs of Christmas, including a Snoopy Christmas display at Times Square.

The clock tower was interesting to see,

And as always it is wonderful to be with Danny and the crazy creatures.

As evening fell and business and street lights began to glow, the concrete maze turned colorful.

I kept wondering to myself why all these people aren’t home for dinner. Where are they all going?!

How late will they work before returning to their families. Their pets. Their homes.

We caught the subway back to our hotel in Kowloon, along with hundreds of others headed in the same direction, and I wondered if our paths would ever cross again?

Then, we exited the trains and went off in our separate directions – some down this corridor, some down that one…some into the loving arms of partners, parents and children. Some to empty apartments. Some to no homes at all.

It all made me feel so grateful for the friends and family in my life.
The sky grew darker as we neared the hotel, as clouds moved in for possible rain.

The street in front of our hotel was busy with people shopping for last minute ingredients for dinner.

It’s been a busy day for everyone.

We’ve walked many roads today, seen many new things, felt the rush of city life and loved the energy. Tomorrow we will explore once again, and who knows what adventures that will bring!