Our first night in Hong Kong, we had stayed in the city, and had even done some exploring. However, having arrived late at night, and taken the subway out to see the Big Buddha early in the morning, our first view of the iconic Hong Kong skyline came as we crossed the ocean on a Star Line Ferry. I know what you’re thinking, “What a crappy picture of the view. All I see is gray blah and clouds.” , and you’re right. Our first view of Hong Kong would fit right into any Kurt Cobain song, but, when we re-examined the situation, we didn’t see it as a bad thing. Instead, we got to see Hong Kong in a foggy mire…mysterious, withholding, elusive. While there are literally millions of vibrant, cityscape shots covering the Hong Kong shoreline, there is a dearth of dim, Seattle-ish shots. We were seeing a unique, fresh view of the city, something we had literally never seen before. Well, some of us were…
As I said, we were on a Star Ferry. Star Ferry Rides were something we had researched and been told were both unique and important parts of Hong Kong, not to be missed on any trip to the city. Yes, it was cool to travel from coast to coast on the boat. No, It didn’t feel exactly like every ferry I’ve ever been on, mainly because of the abundance of islands that lay between the two shoreline, but also because of the many different types of boats that were also sharing the sea. Still, it was a boat ride, and Rob fell asleep.
Which leads me to the big secret of our voyage…our Star Ferry was really made out of tryptophan – or – there was a a non-lethal natural gas leak plaguing the boat because everyone fell asleep. Jade and I struggled and managed to stay awake, but the gentle rocking, hazy, dim light, and purr of the motor knocked all the passengers out.
So, as we cruised across a populated sea we had never visited and the Hong Kong skyline starting edging into view, Jade, Rob (now awake), and I were staring out into a cloud wrapped city surrounded by the gentle snoring of several dozen Hong Kong-ians. Maybe this is business as usual. Maybe we were the weird tourists trying to make a memory out of a boat ride that was really not ‘that’ spectacular, when really all the guidebooks and blogs had been quietly hinting that they had found a secret place to catch a quick 50 winks between stops of endless travel.
Either way, my memories of Hong Kong are of a dense, foggy city, and I think that’s great, not everyone gets to see it this way. However, if you travel to Hong Kong in June, you too can see Hong Kong our way. If you’d like to find out more about our travels through Hong Kong, check out We Learn to Sweat in Hong Kong, a recap video of our first day.
