Cheapskates Do The Peak
Saturday, March 14th, 2009by Rach
Hong Kong
We told you the other day we’d probably make it up Victoria Peak. We also told you we’d more than likely do it on the cheap. And we did. Instead of taking the iconic cable-car, we adventured in a bus at well under half the cost. Double-decker it was; and double the excitement too. It wound its way up the only-just-wide-enough road, close enough to the edge for Mboy6, who was up top on the cliff side of the bus, to be overheard saying, “I’m scared, Dad.”
Fair enough too – it was a sizeable drop. Although there were apartments towering above us, we had already gained enough altitude to be looking down on highrises protruding from the earth like incense sticks in a brass bowl at a temple’s entrance. Surreal.
Being blessed with the clearest day so far and the only sunny one we have seen, our walk around the summit can be told in non-cloud-shrouded pictures. In case you don’t notice (or can’t wait for the pics to download), please allow me to state the obvious: there are so many highrises. So many. Really high. Rising. Understatement.
Being on the cheapskate tour, we definitely did not take the cable car down…..
(nor did we pay an arm and a leg to stand on the platform above the cable car stop – although we took a picture of those who did)
….and we did not even take a bus back down. No, not us. We walked. We’d been warned by some unknown internet writer that it was a very strenuous path, straining calf and thigh muscles alike. All we could conclude was that she has never done a hilltribe trek in Thailand 😉
At the base of the hill we hailed a bus (even cheapskates can’t walk everywhere – although the writer does hold a wee dream of an extended walking tour one day) and enquired as to the fare. Should have been over $30 for us lot, but all we could scrounge together in small denominations was $25 (no change given in these parts), a sum the bus driver accepted as he signalled us to board! This cheapskate measure is not to be encouraged – next time before we climb a hill, we’ll make sure we have enough small change to get us home again!
PS No offense intended to anyone who has ridden the cable car or marvelled at the city from the observation deck (or even eaten one of the HK$62 double scoop sugar cone icecreams – can you believe you can be charged so much???) – this post was just about how we did it on the cheap, not an attack on others, who travel differently.
Yeah, that last picture has nothing to do with the Peak, but we did take it today. So not entirely random.
And here’s a not entirely random piece of information from the Peak itself. Up there “taking your dog for a walk” has quite a different meaning. We saw three dogs, all being taken for a walk. None of them on leads. All of them in special little compartments on wheels, not unlike a baby’s stroller. For real. Didn’t manage a photo, sorry. We were too busy laughing – discreetly, of course.
But we did get a photo of a pretty impresseive tree:
rayres