Hong Kong
I’m including this preamble because it might be helpful to people. I will get to Disneyland soon.
After our time at Paris Disney Resort we spent 3 nights in Paris looking around the city and going on a day tour to the Loire Valley to see 3 of the castles.
We then flew to Heathrow and drove to Stratford Upon Avon via Oakley Court and Oxford. After a night there and looking around the Cotswolds we then drove back East past London and based ourselves North East of London for the next 6 nights.
I took the next part of the journey alone as I returned home to Sydney with a stopover in Hong Kong. Flying KLM I went Heathrow – Schiphol. Then with a tight connection from Schiphol – Hong Kong. My aircraft complete with clogs was actually quite pleasant and I was happy with the service by the Dutch. I always take the window seat and although the person in the middle seat was a nightmare to the cabin crew I managed to shut down any interaction from the beginning so I was not troubled. The crew also seemed to take pity on me and were always happy to serve me. So thank you KLM for a good flight.
Although like Air France the arrival in Schiphol on the first quick flight was also a bang and swerve…lol…maybe it is tradition?
For simplicity I had booked a coach transfer from Hong Kong International Airport to my base for 4 nights – The Marco Polo Hong Kong hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. Now this was a simplicity thing in terms of getting my tired body and my luggage to the hotel. However it isn’t the quickest way into the city. If you have a manageable amount of luggage without a big coat (which I didn’t end up needing thanks to mild weather in Europe) and extraneous items the train is actually the quickest way into the city. There is an Airport express that takes you to Kowloon station and I could then have changed to go to Tsim Sha Tsui station. Or there are various shuttles run by hotels. Some hotels actually ran them from the airport.
But you do need to be mindful of peak hour once you are on the MRT and the amount of luggage you have with you. So although it ‘wasted time’ waiting for the shuttle after finally finding the meet and greet. It was a door to door service with only a couple stops before my hotel and I did (sort of) get to see the city a bit along the way. Sadly fog abounded for most of my stay making any view from The Peak impossible.
The Marco Polo Hong Kong hotel was lovely. I wasn’t planning to go quite so upmarket but a special with various upgrades with Qantas Holidays meant I splurged and it is a GREAT location.
Note: If you wish to see the Symphony of Lights Kowloon is the place to be for it and DO NOT pay for a cruise to see it. Not only is it a waste of money but you are stuck on a boat for 2 hours in most cases to view a 12 minute show. Which to be honest isn’t all that good. Although very pretty. Without so much haze it would have been better. But there really aren’t enough buildings involved to make it very impressive.
It IS worth seeing though so here is a tip. GO to the Marco Polo Hong Kong hotel and stand at the top of their carpark. This is on the 6th floor of the hotel and they pump the music to go with the show to there. It is the BEST view of the show IMHO. And it is free.
If you wish to see it from a ferry the get the Star Ferry about the time the show is starting. It is a whole 2-3 Hong Kong Dollars per person. There is a top deck and lower deck. Either actually works fine. The trouble with the top is actually the amount of windows and the fact they draw a plastic screen across on at least one side of the ferry at any one time. On the bottom deck there is a clear view from either side.
Check in at the Marco Polo was a bit torturous as they are going through renovations which means that some floors and some rooms still STINK like paint fumes. I had been upgraded to a deluxe room through the special with Qantas Holidays and after first getting a newly renovated room which STANK. I finally got allocated a 14th floor room with a view. Be aware many rooms look into the interior of the hotel – the courtyard.
If you want a ‘proper’ harbour view room you’ll pay extra. And be aware also that the Hong Kong Cultural Centre has stuffed up the view from most hotel rooms in the area, for anything below the 15th floor pretty much.
BUT…I was happy with my view and did enjoy my stay once I got settled in my room.
(These photos are actually of the stinky first room but apart from getting a king bed in the one I stayed in and that it was a mirror image it is EXACTLY the same)
This was the view from my actual hotel room
The courtyard
The Carpark view
I do apologise for the quality of the photos but there was always quite a thick fog around.
In this one down on the left you can see a mass of people. This is the MAIN viewing area. This does afford you a slightly better view of the left hand side of Hong Kong Island. But I was happy up where I was. Although I did go down here the first night.
On my first day after arriving I did a city tour which was ‘included’ in booking the transfer which was a typical tour but it got you around and the tour guide was good.
This day didn’t end well though as when I went to get dinner I slipped twice down a flight of stairs. My tailbone is still getting over that…
Second day I went to Lantau and visited Buddha. It wasn’t something I originally planned to do. I had considered visiting another Island which has ‘old Hong Kong’ but after seeing Aberdeen on the city tour I was happy with that and decided Lantau and the cable car would be more interesting. At the MRT stop for Lantau (Tung Chung) there are citygate outlets with various outlet stores like Rockport, ESPRIT as well as all the expensive brands like Ralph Lauren etc. Nothing seemed especially cheap to me. But hey…I’m tall with big feet so my options were limited. The ESPRIT was actually quite cheap but nothing really appealed to me.
What I DID get at the citygate outlet though is my Hong Kong Disneyland Ticket. They had a little stand and I got my ticket there. They did have an offer if you bought 2 tickets you got a free umbrella…but I was only getting one. Not a great Umbrella if you ask me though.
The cable car is quite a long journey over to Big Buddha but it’s sure much quicker than the walk.
I went with the Crystal Cabin, which is a bit more but has a couple of advantages. 1 – you can look straight down. 2 – It is actually like a fastpass as most tour groups are using the regular and especially if you are leaving around 4pm you will find yourself with less people in your cabin and on your way much faster.
This is a lot of stairs in ANYONE’S language. Especially to someone with a bruised tailbone
An advantage of doing this the day before meant I was more familiar with the MRT line and getting to Disneyland so I was all ready in the morning.