Our luck had to change. We've been dogged by weather forecasts of heavy rain since we arrived but, whilst its been grey and distinctly humid the rain didn’t really threatened until today.
A heavy downpour began as soon as we stepped of the boat form Kowloon and persisted for our whole stay on Hong Kong island. Hong Kong is, in essence and insane place to build anything (let alone a high density high rise city). Within mins of the rain starting the streets and corporate water features were indistinguishable as torrents of water flowed down the mountain sides. As we finally left the shelter of the covered walkways we opted to have a lunch early and entered the first café we could find. The establishment consisted, it appeared, of a gap between two buildings covered with tarpaulin which leaked in at least 4 places. We chose from a menu of approx 6 items (all variations on a theme) as the café owner shovelled water out into the street and tried in vein to mend the leaks.
Our primary destination was the Peak and we eventually made it up in the tram past increasingly luxurious apartments to arrive at the top…in a cloud. Since we arrived, and had our rooms upgraded to suites with panoramic views, we’ve been suffering a sort of view Karma deficit. Clouds and low fog have consistently stopped us enjoying views in all the normal places and we went to the Peninsula Café only to find it was closed. Today was know exception. We looked out from the Peak building through huge glazed panels that looked out on to a blank white space. To add to our dismay we were also surrounded by shops offering pictures of the views we should be seeing. We made it to the top of the building, but only for symbolic reasons. When we got to the top we found there was a £2 admission fee for the ‘viewing deck’ and were accosted by a team offering to take photos of us at the top. I had to admire their ambition and sheer nerve.
You cant have it all I guess.
The last few days has been China lite….Tomorrow its China proper. Watch this space!
A heavy downpour began as soon as we stepped of the boat form Kowloon and persisted for our whole stay on Hong Kong island. Hong Kong is, in essence and insane place to build anything (let alone a high density high rise city). Within mins of the rain starting the streets and corporate water features were indistinguishable as torrents of water flowed down the mountain sides. As we finally left the shelter of the covered walkways we opted to have a lunch early and entered the first café we could find. The establishment consisted, it appeared, of a gap between two buildings covered with tarpaulin which leaked in at least 4 places. We chose from a menu of approx 6 items (all variations on a theme) as the café owner shovelled water out into the street and tried in vein to mend the leaks.
Our primary destination was the Peak and we eventually made it up in the tram past increasingly luxurious apartments to arrive at the top…in a cloud. Since we arrived, and had our rooms upgraded to suites with panoramic views, we’ve been suffering a sort of view Karma deficit. Clouds and low fog have consistently stopped us enjoying views in all the normal places and we went to the Peninsula Café only to find it was closed. Today was know exception. We looked out from the Peak building through huge glazed panels that looked out on to a blank white space. To add to our dismay we were also surrounded by shops offering pictures of the views we should be seeing. We made it to the top of the building, but only for symbolic reasons. When we got to the top we found there was a £2 admission fee for the ‘viewing deck’ and were accosted by a team offering to take photos of us at the top. I had to admire their ambition and sheer nerve.
You cant have it all I guess.
The last few days has been China lite….Tomorrow its China proper. Watch this space!
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