The Peak Tower

One can take the tram up Victoria Peak; then one can walk around Victoria Peak on Lugard Road. But what would a tourist destination be without a tourist trap?! Well, lucky for us it had a tourist trap... with a catch, the access to the Peak Tower was included with our Peak Tram pass.

From the Peak Tower you have the "highest 360 degree view of Hong Kong". And I must admit, it's a nice view. :) The tower is kind of cool looking too. 

From the tower there were many angles from which you could look... infinite angles if you care to believe the propaganda! Although the general idea is to over-look the city.

You can easily make out IFC 2 and Bank of China buildings... but they tend to stand out no matter where you are in the city.


So obviously the tower is on a peak which situates you high above the ground... and that means you get incredibly obvious signs!

But thankfully, obvious = hilarious at the same time.

The tower isn't all views though, there is some historical information regarding Victoria Peak and Hong Kong. It was kind of interesting to read.

Actually, there is a lot of it...

It continues on the other half of the roof-top terrace too!

Leah looking out over her (wishful) future home... but I was more focused on her.

You pay money for the roof-top terrace... and the view is great. However if you're just looking for the view of Hong Kong and Kowloon you can get the majority of the view from inside the tower for free. Can get it while riding the escalator...

Or sitting at lunch...

Lunch at Kyo Hachi was good... multiple types of Japanese food. The teppanyaki and fried lobster were very good and the lobster gave some entertaining comments... since it was WHOLE!

It was learned that even the mens restroom has a good view when you're at the Peak Tower!

See the restroom sign in the corner?! (This was from a doorway next to the men's restroom in the basement of the tower.)

Star Ferry

We finally decided to take try the ferry... after all, on of the piers is right outside of our hotel!!

The ferry company is the Star Ferry Co. LTD... it is certainly hard to miss as the ferry arrives for you to board.

And even once you're on the ferry there are indicators of the name every where... even the seats (which will face either direction)!

Unlike so many things in this part of the world... I'm not really bothered by the fact that the ferry was constructed locally. If it can last since 1959, then I'm pretty sure they know what they are doing!

Coming in to landing in Kowloon... man the piers show their age compared to the rest of Hong Kong and Kowloon!

Here is the arrival of our return ferry. Kind of funny that I caught my "mirror" taking a picture coming into landing.

I'm not usually much for cities, but this view of Hong Kong I think is quite stunning. Something about the water and mountains blended with the equally tall buildings is somewhat beautiful.

Happy Hour!

We could usually sit and enjoy Happy Hour the whole evening; it's casual and relaxing. Also, Happy Hour from the hotel has a great view! And it's free!

At first the reflection was an issue, but it has grown on us as it gives more of an idea of the place.

The Peak Tram

I previously posted about taking a walk along Lugard Road on Victoria Peak... but I did not comment on how we got to Victoria Peak. There are several options; however the only tourist way is to take The Peak Tram. The tram was built long ago (service started in 1888) when Hong Kong was still small (<200,000 people) and very few people lived on Victoria Peak (30-40 families).

We got on the tram at Garden Road where there is the main Hong Kong stop... and a grand entrance.

The tram route was fairly steep in places and unlike some of the funiculars that I have been on the seating did not exactly account for that.

There are a total of 4 stops on the tram... but I only remember one stop other than the top and the bottom. Perhaps there was nobody to get off.

Some sections of the track were almost built in the tree tops... when on the tram you could not tell, but once you got off it was pretty amazing!

From the top to the bottom the route seemed more adventurous since you could not see the track all the time.

But mostly it was just steep!

And there is a section, about half-way if you can imagine, where you pass the tram going the opposite direction. Yes... there were two trams even though it was mostly one track.

Yeah, I would do it again.

El Cid

Some people would probably call us food snobs because we like to eat well. But part of it is just the fun of going to the different restaurants. This time our first night (yes, we got two!) we went to a tapas restaurant, El Cid. It was fun, not too loud and the food was good. Plus they had music!

 These guys were hilarious... playing music, watching the ladies, and just playing around in general!

And Spanish wine…

And at the end… we were very satisfied!

Like the subtle name drop so we don’t forget it?!

**Oh yeah, that wasn’t our table (hence more than two sets of silverware), but it made a good photo of “finished”.

Lugard Road

We went to Hong Kong again… it has really grown on us and we quite like it there. Since this time we didn’t have much shopping that “needed” to be done we were able to be tourists a bit!

One of the things we did was take a trip up Victoria Peak. When we were up there the weather was good and we felt like enjoying some exercise without the noise of the city. Turns out, people had already planned for that… a long time ago! Lugard Road was built on Victoria Peak mostly as a scenic drive. Most of the road is actually a bridge as the hillside is too steep to build a true road. But it certainly gives good views!

The “entrance” to our walk around the peak on Lugard Road.

There were not too many buildings along Lugard Road, however the residences that were there were amazing. Even the entrance gates had appeal…

There were some crazy trees too…

There was a really large spider with a web at the side of the road; however the photos did not turn out. This section of the road felt really tropical since it was very mossy and had lots of funky trees and plants.

Some of the original benches still exist at various places.

In case you are wondering… she said it wasn’t very comfortable!

Here you can get a better view of the sitting area… I’m not so sure about this backrest!

Yes, I know I commented about the views… turns out I didn’t take too many pictures of the views, but at least I have one or two!

I would certainly go back just to take a walk and enjoy the view. Maybe next time we'll walk down into the park on the back side of Victoria Peak.