In Transit - 6 hours in Hong Kong

On a recent business trip I was travelling back from Taiwan to Bangalore and had about 6 hours lay over at Hong Kong Airport. I was with a colleague of mine who had never been to Hong Kong so we decided to explore the city instead of hanging around in the airport. As soon as we arrived we rushed to the immigration counter stood in queue for about 20 minutes before we got the on-arrival visa valid for 14 days.

Once we got through immigration we took the Airport Express to Kowloon station. From Kowloon station we switched to MRT and made our way to Sham Shui Po. The plan was to first make our way to Sham Shui Po electronics market, buy a new phone for myself and then head to Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade to view the Hong Kong skyline, take a boat ride and cross over to Hong Kong Island grab a quick meal and then take the airport express back in time for the flight.

Victoria Harbour- The most photographed harbour in the world. A must see while in Hong kong

The electronic markets of Sham Shui Po is a must visit while in Hong Kong. You can get very cheap deals on all kinds of gadgets and accessories here. I came here to get a new mobile phone because my LG G3 died during the trip. I got myself a brand new LG V10 which had just come out and was not available in India at that time.

The Busy streets of Sham Shui Po

Vendors selling clothes and phone accessories 

Streets lined with electronic stores 

Being Gadget geeks that we both are, we spent way more time than we planned in Sham Shui Po so as soon as we were done we hurried to Tsim Sha Tsui via the MRT to our next stop.

It was not a perfect day to see Hong Kong as there was a storm the previous day and it was still raining on and off. I was surprised to find a lot of tourist at the promenade in spite of the rains. Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade has to be the most visited tourist spot in Hong Kong. The best time to see the skyline would be around 6 in the evening when the sun is setting and the harbour is bathed in golden light and the colourful neon's light up the skyline.

Windy day at the Promenade 

Skyline Selfie's

Dad pointing out the Ferris Wheel 

First shot with my brand new LG V10

Hong Kong Clock Tower & Salisbury Road 

There is a laser and light show that happens every day at 8 pm which I recommend you MISS because the promenade will be flooded with tourist and the show is definitely not worth spending your time if on a short visit! There are much more interesting things you can do.

We started feeling hungry so we stopped for a quick bite at a small restaurant near the promenade. I had Pork Chops and and Chinese fried rice, some Dumplings and of course a Beer.

After exploring the promenade for a bit we walked down the waterfront to the Harbour Terminal and took the star ferry to Hong Kong Island. These steamer styled boats have been ferrying passengers from Kowloon to Hong Kong island since 1888 and is great to get a splendid view of both sides of Hong Kong( The Island and Kowloon) in the most economical way as compared to the junk ride called Aqua Luna.

Star Ferry 

Chinese Junk Boat 

Once we reached the island we spend some time exploring the maritime museum which has free entry and you can finish seeing the whole museum in maybe about 15 mins. We got out and found a nice spot by the water to really soak in the view.

Inside the Maritime Museum

Central Pier Hong Kong 

There is a breathtaking 195ft Ferris Wheel overlooking the Victoria harbour. This is called the Hong Kong Observation wheel and a ride on this should give you a great view of the sky scrappers. I got a nice shot of it from near the Central pier.

Hong kong Observation Wheel overlooking the Victoria Harbour

Another landmark of the Island part of Hong kong are the Tram service in the financial districts. The trams have been running since 1904 and today caters to the transportation of a large population and is a very economical and the most green way of transportation. They all mostly have nice bright and catchy advertisements and it is quite a sight to watch them go.

By now it was getting late and we decided to head back to the airport. We got the airport express back from Hong Kong Island directly to the airport, it took some time to find the train station but we made it on time.

So thats the breakdown of how we spend about 5 hours running around Hong Kong while in Transit. Way more productive that sitting around in the airport and trying to kill time.
Hope you enjoyed the post Cheers !