Hong Kong   

Wednesday–Friday May 6–8, 2009

We flew from San Francisco non-stop to Hong Kong, 6,000 nautical miles/11,100 kilometers. A very long time in an airplane.

The tallest building when I was last here in the 1970s is in the photo above. It has 52 floors. It’s a little to the left of the tallest building and it no longer stands out at all. Across the harbor in Kowloon, there is an even taller building under construction. That’s a “Star” Ferry coming across from Central.

There is air pollution now, which comes from across the border. 

We stayed near the Star Ferry Terminal in Tsim Sha Tsui, and went to the nearby Hong Kong Museum of History. The exhibits are really good; a half day is needed to see everything, including geology and the Opium Wars. 

Yes, we took the funicular up to Victoria Peak for the fantastic view.

We ate dim sum at the Peninsula, and had a wonderful dinner atop a skyscraper with a fantastic view of the nightly light show as seen from Kowloon.

This was my first trip to Hong Kong in over thirty years. It is a more prosperous city now than it was back then. There is a new airport and a subway, and some of the harbor has been filled in for yet more development. The food is really good, too. I am glad we stopped there on our way to Indonesia. Hong Kong is a fascinating city and, perhaps, a glimpse of the future for other parts of the world.

Hong Kong was a good break on the long route to Bali, more than 7,000 nautical miles (8,300 statute miles/13,000 kilometers) from home.

Next—on to Bali to see the culture and eat the food.