Hello from Hong Kong!It never cases to amaze me how much this place reminds me of San Francisco... Chinatown, that is. And I'm not kidding. The sounds, the smells, the hilliness next to the sea - it's the same.
Pictured to the left are Hong Kong's tallest building IFC 2 (right) and Jardine House (left), which used to be Hong Kong's tallest building. Between them, in the foreground, is The Cenotaph.
Today I decided to get all the outlying spots on my itinerary done with so I can concentrate on areas closer to where I'm staying. I literally traversed Hong Hong, going to the town of Stanley in the far south of Hong Kong island, and then to Fanling, way north near the border with mainland China.
The bus to Stanley passes some amazing scenery as it winds its way along narrow mountain roads. A group of retired American ladies was on the same bus, and I overheard some of their comments. They were on a month-long tour through China, and one woman remarked the bus ride alone was worth the money they paid for the entire tour. Now, I wouldn't put it quite like that, but it is a nice ride.
In Stanley, I visited Stanley Military Cemetery...
...followed by a stroll around the famed Stanley Market. In the early afternoon, I took the KCR to Fanling, then a HK$30 (about US$4) taxi ride to Gallant Garden, a cemetery reserved for permanent burials of civil servants killed in the line of duty. Between them I made a number of other stops, including St. John's Cathedral in Central (close to the Peak Tram building), which has one grave -- that of a WWII soldier. I also visited Lei Cheng Uk, a Han Dynasty tomb in Cheung Sha Wan. Nobody knows who was buried there, but it's an interesting archaeological site (and admission is free).
Unlike my previous few visits to Hong Kong, the air is refreshingly clean and clear. I hope this trend continues - it makes for good photos.
