Tuesday, October 6, 2009

#259 Victoria Peak

The cityscape of Hong Kong would remind you of Chicago with all of the tall buildings and water, but the major difference is the hills that surround the city. Downtown Hong Kong is on an island which is dominated by a 1000 foot high peak called "Victoria Peak", named by the British after Queen Victoria.

On day two we did the essential activity of taking the historic tram ride from downtown to the summit of Victoria Peak. I can tell you that the view from there was absoulutely stunning. You can see a couple of my favorite pictures above of the skyline, hillside, and Victoria Harbor below. We were fortunate to have a beautiful sunny day as well.

From the peak we took a lovely 3.5 kilometer walk on a shaded path around the peak and saw some wildlife and a waterfall. Kathleen bribed the kids with some designer jelly beans to non complain on our hike. Afterward we had a nice lunch at a sandwich shop overlooking the back side of Hong Kong Island. Everyone found what they wanted for lunch at the upscale shopping mall at the top of Victoria Peak (McD's for the kids, a gourmet sandwich for Kathleen, and a focaccia from an Italian deli for me).

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