Friday, November 19, 2010

The sounds of silence in Hong Kong.


What do you think of when you think of Hong Kong?? LOTS of people, noise, buses, pollution, chaos?? Well, there is a place where it is completely silent - except for the sound of the wind in the trees above, the twittering of birds and the waves on the rocks below. It is called Ma Hang Park in Stanley, on the southern side of Hong Kong Island. Many people go to the Stanley Markets as part of organised tours - but not many get out of the markets and explore the delightful surrounding area. The markets are OK - but similar to those found in Kowloon - so use your time in Stanley for other things. All it will cost you is about $25HK - about $3AUD (or US) for the day.

Oriana docked at the very well located Ocean Terminal - we were very happy with that as we were not sure that we would dock there. Sometimes cruiseships dock elsewhere - but the Ocean Terminal is very central to everything in Hong Kong. We walked out of the terminal and caught a Number 973 bus in Canton Road which is right outside the Harbour City shopping centre (where the ship berths). The bus stop is opposite the large Marco Polo Hotel. These buses are double deckers - so go to the top deck and sit in the front seats. The ride to Stanley is worth the fare alone ( $13.60 HK). It takes about an hour. When you get to Stanley (stay on the bus to the very end of the ride) , walk down to the waterfront and head for the wharf (pier) - walk past it and you will see the entrance to Ma Hang Park.  I think that I would recommend that people who only have a day in HK should spend all their time in Stanley - there is a lot to do there (beaches, forest walks, beachfront restaurants/bars, Maritime museum, squatters shacks, markets) - none of the hassle of Kowloon or HK Central.  You can either return to Kowloon on the 973 service - but we caught a Number 6 bus back to Central and then walked to the Star Ferry Terminal, to catch the iconic Ferry back to Kowloon ($2.50HK) . The only thing to watch with this is that it is "challenging" to find your way from the bus terminal in Central to the Ferry Terminal - look for the overhead road walkways to do this.

You can view a Youtube video about our visit to Hong Kong here 

No comments:

Post a Comment