So I finally visited Hong Kong and now it's my turn to share my impressions of this city-country and of our whole unusual trip. This is my first trip here, but Oleg was already passing here once and talked about it (link 1 and link 2). And last time he liked it so much that he could not miss the chance and not show now to Egor and me this country, especially since tickets from Sanya to Moscow were much cheaper if you make a transfer (about tickets separately). And choosing between Beijing and Hong Kong, we chose the latter and decided to spend a few days here..
The content of the article
Flight Sanya - Hong Kong
The last month in China was not easy for us due to the fact that all three of us were constantly alternately ill, and during the flight this lucky lot «get sick» I stretched out, so I was flying almost unconscious with a high unbreakable temperature and a splitting head, so basically I just slept. But, nevertheless, I managed to notice that our boy grew up and it became much easier to fly with him. Even if the flight lasted only a couple of hours, our already-not-kid spent this time with dignity and quietly (quietly for Egor), having fun with his dad. Well, Oleg has once again grown in my eyes, as a dad and as a husband, he has grown a decent Zen and already quite knows how to cope with all of Yegor's tricks calmly and in a playful way, in general, the boys made me happy 🙂
Petal Fans at Sanya Airport
We fly from Sanya to Hong Kong
Walking in Hong Kong
The hospital is the first attraction
Our walks began from the most unusual place - from the hospital, where we went to insurance. And the first thing that I noticed with surprise on the way - for some reason we got there very quickly by taxi, despite the fact that it was evening and, in theory, we should have decently knocked about in a traffic jam.
We will probably tell you about the hospital later. I just want to note that everything was fast, well organized, the doctor listened to me attentively and prescribed medications, which I took there, so when we arrived home, the temperature was already asleep and my head did not hurt so much, and the next day I was felt quite healthy.
Hospital in Hong Kong and Daria is already better
But the next day we noticed that Yegor was somehow very dry and quiet, we measured the temperature and got scared - it was at 40 degrees. Any attempts to bring it down with our means were unsuccessful and we again went to our first «sight» - all the same hospital. By the way, we caught a taxi right on the street, it turned out pretty quickly. The only difficulty, in spite of the fact that Oleg promised me that EVERYONE speaks English in Hong Kong, for some reason it is taxi drivers, like true Chinese no matter what, well, we still have the skills to explain on the fingers, we quickly found a common language.
At the hospital, Yegor was helped immediately and by the time we arrived home, the temperature was almost normal. But we still did not dare to take a serious walk that day, we just walked a little around the city, went to the local market, freaked out at the prices, bought groceries and went home to prepare for the next day.
Since we were a little afraid for Yegor, we decided to go to the sights not in a hurry and basically let the boy sleep, calmly spent the first half of the day at home (fortunately, the apartment was cozy and the view is amazing) and got out somewhere in the evening, after Yegor's nap.
General impression of Hong Kong
This is something extraordinary! Literally and figuratively! An extraordinary combination of Europe-America and Asia, glamor with an Asian flavor. I have never seen such a variety of people, styles, nationalities anywhere else! It seems to me that there is no such contrast in architecture, living standards and culture anywhere else in the world! As you walk down the street, English, French, Spanish or German, or already painfully familiar (hehe) Chinese fly into your ears from all sides. A Hong Kong grandmother with some dilapidated cart has just shuffled in front of you, and, looking at her, you immediately bump into a disheveled blond foreigner in an expensive business suit, and a crowd of cheerful multinational youth overtakes him (from where there are so many very young «Europeans»? Do they study here or do they come with their parents?).
Grandma rolls the cart, and in the background a Porsche
And there are so many people, everyone scurry about like ants, and the sidewalks are so narrow! Everything is narrow and small and it is felt even more because of such a large flow of people on the street. But how many cozy cafes, and even more shops! As Oleg put it in an interesting way: Hong Kong is one solid supermarket! And, unlike groceries, prices for clothes and other goods are very different and you can find something cool for quite reasonable money, but you have to look 🙂
There are many people in Hong Kong
The entire center of Hong Kong in ground crossings-streets passing through the shopping center
Streets of hong kong
Beggars meet too
Hong Kong Island
Some kind of surreal photo turned out
Oasis on the roof of one of the high-rise buildings
Typical bans for playgrounds and parks
Junk workers on the city streets
Candle Mountain in a Restaurant Showcase
Hong Kong Lada
Automatic mail - pay and send
In Hong Kong, driving on the left
Hong Kong subway
Streets of hong kong
Sometimes the neck gets numb, so everything is high here
A cemetery in Hong Kong huddles on a slope
3 mango costs 28HKD (~ 200 rubles for June 2015)
Ordinary Chinese Market
It seems like THIS is always on sale in the Chinese market
Traditional pastries with egg filling
Double-decker trams on the streets of Hong Kong
Everything seems to be done as for people (one public transport is worth what or a single pass Octopus card!) and at the same time Asia makes itself felt: take at least broken sidewalks and an almost complete absence of normal ramps for wheelchairs. By the way, there is a very large number of slingo moms, these crowds, indeed, it is much more convenient to walk with a child on yourself than with a stroller.
Typical Hong Kong residents - employees in shirts, mothers with children on them
Hong Kong is not very suitable for people with disabilities, an accompanying person is needed
Hong Kong is not particularly suitable for strollers either.
The asphalt in Hong Kong is covered in hatches, tiles and patches
Getting into the metro with a stroller is also a separate quest. Every time we honestly wanted to use the elevators provided for this, but almost always it was very difficult to find this mysterious elevator, at every metro station it was hiding in some unexpected places and even following the signs it was not possible to get to it, so we often had to just score on him.
Victoria Peak
Our first trip was Victoria Peak, we expected to admire the beautiful views of Hong Kong at night from a great height, but instead we just visited the clouds 🙂 That is, of course, there was a part of the view too. But, apparently, I am so lucky: almost every time I rise to some height, the view that opens from it is almost always in the clouds (Munich, Kuala Lumpur). Well, on the other hand, we walked like hedgehogs in a fog, at 100% humidity. Well, in any case, the trip was interesting, because we got to Victoria Peak and back on a special tram that rolled uphill at a very steep angle, and when we looked out of the window, it seemed to us that the skyscrapers were just falling on us..
If you want to see how everything looks from Victoria Peak during the day, then the blog already has such a post.
Hong Kong Island - Go to Peak Tram
Life trip inside Peak Tram
Victoria Peak in the clouds
Victoria Peak European Corner
Hong Kong Park
The next evening, Oleg planned two walks at once in different places, and since we wanted to visit the park before dark, we ended up with a run rather than a walk. But despite the fast pace, we managed to admire all the delights of the park's landscape finds, and at the end we let Yegor play a little on the multi-level playground. In general, somehow they arranged everything very comfortably there and it's very cool that the park is not flat, but rather multi-stage, due to this, many places are very interestingly beaten, but you can't go everywhere with a stroller, you have to carry it around.
Go to Hong Kong Park
Trees in Hong Kong Park
Hong Kong Park - an oasis with a fence of skyscrapers
Avenue of stars
It so happened that we were in Hong Kong during the rainy season, so we often got wet. So we walked along the Avenue of Stars with slow dashes from the roof to the awning. But what's great: wherever we stood, a very beautiful view of the city's skyscrapers on the other side of the river opened up from everywhere, wherever we were hiding from the rain, the music of street musicians was heard everywhere, and there are a lot of them and they sing great, I liked it ... Well, as it turned out, we weren't just going somewhere, but Oleg took us to the cafe to end the evening with a pleasant cup of cocoa..
The only pity is that the Laser show did not take place that day, although we were kind of at the right time and in the right place. What it is, Oleg already wrote in his post about the Avenue of Stars.
Sail to the other side on Star Ferry
Life Trip on the Walk of Stars
Bruce Lee on the Walk of Stars
Embankment near the Avenue of Stars
Fried squid on the Avenue of Stars
Science Museum
It was raining, and this was our last evening in Hong Kong and I really wanted to visit a place where it would be interesting for us and Yegor. Oleg suggested the Museum of Science, promising that a lot can be touched there and Yegor should like it there. Those. we went there mainly for Egor, but in the end we ourselves got a lot of pleasure. We somehow did not immediately understand that the museum consists of several floors and the higher, the more interesting, so we spent too much time at the very bottom, giving Yegor the opportunity to study everything with pens. And then, when there was only half an hour left before closing and there was no one else but us, we ran all over the museum and ourselves, really like little children, felt, tugged, touched and now and then called each other to show one more «cool stuff». It was such a slight feeling and excitement from the fact that we fell a little into childhood! More about our delight about the Science Museum, in a separate post.
Special bags for wet umbrellas at the Science Museum
Exploring the magic ball at the Science Museum
Our booth! About how sounds are heard if you cut frequencies
Huge bubbles will delight both the child and the adult
Flight Hong Kong - Moscow
The flight to Moscow began surprisingly for us, because we, with surprise at the airport, concluded that the special escort in Hong Kong is the worst that we have ever met. We gave up the wheelchair, but nevertheless, we hoped that, as always, an airport employee would escort us out of line, as was done in other countries. But this did not happen, we were simply led along the signs, put at the end of the queue and said «I will wait for you on the other side». Advanced Hong Kong - and this is such a strange service! We were, to put it mildly, surprised, because the meaning of the accompaniment is immediately lost.
Express from Central to Hong Kong Airport
But the flight itself was brightened up by acquaintance and communication with a pleasant family - the readers of our blog. As it turned out, there were another couple of readers on the plane, but they were embarrassed to approach. The world is small, however!
Accidentally met the readers of our blog on the plane
Egor postponed the flight Hong Kong - Moscow normally
Well, our Egor, a wonderful boy, although he slept for only an hour (and we hoped that he would give us more time), behaved very noble and began to touch the neighbors in front by the hair only at the very end of the flight, and so: all the way I drew, read books with my mother, played with toys prepared in advance and ate buns with my father, although we usually don't give him flour. And, despite the fact that the flight was delayed by more than an hour (despite the fact that we were already on the plane), these 10 hours of flight flew by somehow calmly and even interesting. Although it may well be that we are now after our first long trash flight to Bangkok a couple of years ago, everything seems simple now.
P.S. From Oleg: then about some of the places where we have been, there will be separate short posts with photos 🙂
