Tai Po and Plover Cove

One of the things about travel is it addictive - you just want to see one more sight. But even the longest trip must one day end.

The last day in Hong Kong had a meeting in Tai Po and then the rituals of check in at the airport. But there was time for one last hit, namely seeing Tai Po itself and the nearby Plover Cove.

Tai Po is in the New Territories (well they were new in 1898 in this case) and was a small market town until the growth of Hong Kong turned it into a satellite dormitory town.

At the heart is still the street market above - I must have looked a bit out of place wandering along it in my two piece pin stripped suit ready for the presentation.

Below is the river that has been given concrete banks and in the background some more concrete apartment blocks and the MTR into Hong Kong.

After the meeting my client heard me asking about the nearby Plover Cove and kindly took me to see it.

It was a good place to say goodbye to Hong Kong. The city is rightly known to be crowded, with millions packed in so tightly it must grow vertically higher and higher.

But the rocky peaks that squish in the buildings are also an escape valve, where at weekends hikers can be found stretching their legs.

And not just hikers, at Plover Cove there are also water sports with boats and kayaks for hire.

Another thing for "next time".

Farewell Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Railway Museum

Just round the corner from the Man Mo Temple in Tai Po is the Hong Kong Railway Museum, and I had just enough time to pop in and see it before heading off for my meeting. Indeed without having spotted a taxi rank in the central square would probably have had to give it a miss.

Which would be a shame as always had a soft spot for train as form of transport. Unlike (say) coach travel, trains are fun - the children in the photo above were having a great time playing around the old coaches and balancing on the rails as they walked along the tracks.

In the modern age we have the wonderful Eurostar that whisks us from London to Paris in two and a half hours at a breath taking 186 miles per hour.

There is also a more than a little romance about train journeys. Consider how Hitchcock used trains as meeting places, from Cary Grant's encounter with Ava Marie Saint in North by Northwest to Hannay meeting Pamela on his way to the highlands of Scotland.

And that romance is no doubt the reason there was a host of wedding photos being taken in the museum while I was there. Were they real couples or a magazine shoot I'll never know but striking anyhow:

This one seemed on her own:

Temples of Hong Kong and Macau

One of the pleasures of Hong Kong is that often you'd turn a corner and there would be a temple in front of you, exotic mix of gold and red, smelling of incense. Its part of the mix of old and new I mentioned before that is one of the attractions of Hong Kong.

So here are the top three of those I saw, starting with the Tin Hau temple (above) that was just around the corner from my hotel, so was one of the first things I saw on my visit. Its not that large and surrounded by tower blocks (such as, er, my hotel).

It is dedicated to the patroness of seafarers (hurruh!) and initially wondered what it was doing hundred metres or so from the sea, but apparently it used to be water front before a round of land reclamation.

Next up is the A-Ma temple in Macau (below), which is opposite the Maritime Museum. Apparently when the Portuguese arrived they asked the name of the place and was told it was A-Ma Gau (Bay of A-Ma) from which they derived Macau.

A-Ma is known in Hong Kong as Tin Hau - so this another temple to seafarers, including fishermen.

There are various stories behind her, some of which are on in Wikipedia here, but the guide book also had another, based on how she wanted to travel to Guangzhou but the rich junks refused to help. A poor fisherman was prepared to give her passage: during the voyage a storm blew up and wrecked all the junks but saved the little fishing boat. On arrival after this miracle she ascended to heaven and the temple was built on the spot

Within the complex there is a large boulder with a traditional sailing boat embossed on it:

There are temples to many other causes than seafarers: for example this elegant temple was in the New Territories at Tai Po and is dedicated to Man Mo, and as such dedicated to the gods of literature and war.

To me thats an odd combination, but there's no doubt its a lovely building. There was another Man Mo temple in Hong Kong's Sheung Wan district I never got round to seeing (another next time) but I was in Tai Po on business so seemed a good chance to drop in.

It had this impressive drum and bell combination that wish had a chance to hear:

More on Tai Po later....

Boats of Hong Kong

Some pics of the boats saw while in Hong Kong.

First up, above, is the most spectacular, which saw gliding through Victoria Harbour one evening as sat in my room working on the laptop. I'd love to have been on board, but just looking at it gave a lovely feel for Hong Kong of the 19th century.

Having done some googling think its a reproduction of The Bounty that is based in Discovery Bay on nearby Lantau island. Unfortunately the only side to Lantau had a chance to see was the airport, so the sights there like this remain on my "next time" list.

Below of course is the iconic Star Ferry that are continually crossing the harbour:

For longer distances there are the fast cats - like this TurboJet preparing to leave Macau:

On the way there and back passed a couple of these fishing junks - wonder if that's where my sardines came from?

Back in Hong Kong had a chance to see the junks up close moored in Causeway Bay. It was glimpse of a traditional way of life, a bit anachronistic amongst the gleaming towers of steel and glass, but that mixture is part of the attraction of this city.

I think they can make their money taking tourists out for tours, and in which case maybe the more grimy the more "authentic".

Of course this being Hong Kong, where there are more Rolls Royces than anywhere else, there are also fleets of shiny Sun Seekers:

Three Macaus

On Saturday I took the fast cat over to Macau - or at least two of the three Macaus.

The first Macau, and for me the main draw, was the old Portuguese settlement with churches, some ruined like St Paul's above, barracks, offices clubs, forts and the like. The connections with Europe go an awful long way back - 1557 according to my guide book.

And it was a major early trading base with the whole of south east Asia, connecting countries like Japan Indonesia and India. It was also a base for the Jesuits who took a significant role in the settlement, including one of the order firing the cannon that saw off an invasion of Dutch!

It was at a Portuguese restaurant I stopped for lunch - Afonso III - where had some lovely sardines.

Increasingly though the old Macau is being lost within the second city. Just as if we humans were to disappear our cities would soon be lost within the undergrowth, so the colonial buildings are islands within the Chinese city it really is:

The streets were packed with shoppers and tourists buying foods and gifts that meant nothing to me. They were also crowds in front of the huge screen in the main square following the Grand Prix that was being held here this weekend.

There is a third Macau, one which left me cold. For its a great gambling centre and there are these huge casinos that intrude on the sky line and suck money out of those that come over.

Hello from Hong Kong

The view from Hong Kong peak is as spectacular as you might expect. Hong Kong radiants wealth and a dynamic energy as it enters the 21st Century.

It brings a bit of city envy - in London we had docks, now we have Docklands, but here there is a huge working port. London might have the longest underground railway in the world, but the MTR is air conditioned, has wireless coverage, and animated route maps showing the train location as a flashing light.

But after nearly 3 weeks away beginning to long for the cold wet streets on old London town. But have a presentation to give in the New Territories tomorrow, so time for a short stop over sight seeing.

The island whose handover in 1997 marked the formal end of the British Empire, with Britannia sailing off into the South China Seas as the heavens opened and the rain came poring down, was won under the most inglorious of ways.

Its hard imagine now the circumstances that led 19th Century Britain to go to war with China in order to have the right to sell heroin, but they did, and not only did the gunboats succeed but also they gained this superb harbour into the bargain.

But the city has moved on, English is spoken much less (taxi drivers and restaurant menus have both proved a problem) and the city is most definitely part of China.

So anyhow took the tram to the top:

... and took a Star Ferry across the harbour: