I woke this morning after another good nights sleep and looked out of the window to see the weather was fairly nice and clear.  It was also not too sunny, which meant that it wouldn't be too hot to go to the peak!  After a breakfast of cereal followed by rice rolls (rolls of squashed rice  fried in soy sauce - yes its a bit different for breakfast) and a char sui pork bun we set off for our trip to the peak. 

To get to the peak you have to take either a bus, or more excitingly a peak tram which is a furnicular railway that goes up the steep slope and up to the viewing platform at the peak.  The tram leaves from under a buiding about half way down the hill to central.  To get there we took a short walk and called into a couple of places on the way.  The walk down Robinson Road is quite spectacular and it is possible to see the peak some 500m above.  At the end of the road is a large traffic junction with roads going in all directions and every road on a steep slope.  This is the area that the bus normally travels down but now we were walking it was possible to take in the view a bit more.

The Hong Kong botanical gardens are located on the hill beneath the mid levels on the way to Central.  The botanical gardens are home to many species of plant, but what makes them different to the ones in England is that they also have many cages with animals to see - and you do not have to pay to see anything.  We went into the botanical gardens and had a look around the flowers.  Like everything else in Hong Kong the gardens are on the hill and so have many steep paths with steps, luckily we were going down the hill which made things a little easier!  After the flowers comes the monkeys and lemur cages.  There are a number of different varieties and we were lucky enough to see them start to feed the Ring Tailed Lemurs as we approached.  Th keepers had novel appraoch to make the lemurs move into the feeding cage, they sprayed them with water until they ran from the other cage and into the one with food in it.  Also at the bottom of that cage were a couple of porcupines.

After a brief look round the rest of the monkeys we moved onto the reptile house.  To call it a house is a bit of an over estimate as there are only three cages.  There are two small cages with small crocodiles in them (see the pictures) and another cage with a burmese python - which according to the guide is native to Hong Kong (and I asked Clara if there were any dangerous animals and she said no!!!!). 

The botanical gardens are located across two sides of a road and so we crossed the road to see the bird enclosures on the other side.  There were a number of different birds including flamingos and large birds that looked like flamingos but were various colours (sorry I don't remember the name).  After the birds the final cage contained a jaguar, which was laying down in the shade having a rest.  All in all, I thought it was quite good and especially as it was free there were plenty of animals to see - nearly as many as the last time I went to London Zoo!

Continuing down the hill we passed the old governers house complete with barbed wire fencing.  I'm not sure what this is used for now, but used to be home to the Hong Kong govenor but has many other apartments for their staff and visiting guests.  A little further down the hill we walked past the American Embassy.  The first day we came past we had seen many Chinese people queuing to get a visa for a trip to America, however, today it seemed fairly empty - although there is still a visible security prescence (maybe becuase its 9/11 today). 

The peak tram is located underneath a large office building opposite the American Embassy.  To be honest, its pretty well hidden and the only giveaway is that there is a small sign directing you under the building to the tramstop.  The tram is the oldest form of transport on Hong Kong and dates back to 1890 (or close to that) - but they have upgraded the trams since!  As we arrived at the station it was quite busy with tourists of all nationalities trying to get up to the peak.  We bought a return ticket and then queued for 5 minutes until the tram arrived.  As the tram pulled in I could see the design was very traditional.  When we got on the seats are wooden planks, like the seats in old trams and the floor has deep steps carved into it so that people who stand up can grip on the floor!  To be honest, I was shocked that people were even allowed to stand up!

As the tram set off the gradient is quite shallow but it soon gets a lot steeper.  There are a number of stations on the way to the peak, some of which we stopped at.  The railway is single track for most of the way, but halfway up the hill there is a passing place for the trams to overtake each other.  As soon as we were past this section it was possible to see the view of Hong Kong harbour we had come to see.  All the tourists started taking pictures (despite the fact there was a better view from the top!).  The top half of the tram route is through a forested area.  One thing I have not pointed out (and I only found out about 2 days before leaving for Hong Kong) - there are many slopes on the hills of Hong Kong.  During typhoon season one of the biggest killers are landslides.  In order to stop this many of the slopes have been concreted over so that they can not slide away and cause damage.  There is a special department that looks after this and each slope is given a number on a small green sign (there is one in the pictures) so that it can be identified!  Seems kind of strange, but thats the way it is!

On arrival at the peak tram station we all disembarked.  The peak is a famous landmark in Hong Kong and is mainly a building shaped like the bottom half of a circle.  This building has featured in many films including Rush Hour 2, and I belive at least one James Bond Film (not sure which).  The building has recently been updated inside and has many shops and even the Hong Kong Madam Tussaudes (we saw Jackie Chan waiting for the tram - well his waxwork anyway!).  We worked our way up the 5 floors of the peak building and eventually reached the roof where we could finally take in the view!  The view is 360 degrees and the south of the island can also be seen.  I can't really describe what I saw, so have a look at the pictures to see!  Its worth pointing out that the peak is not actually the highest point on the island, this is a hilltop very close to the peak and is 522m above sea level.  I guess they picked the location of the peak as it was easier to get to rather than the hilltop that looks quite remote.  At this height there are still a number of houses, but at this level you must be a millionaire to afford anything (and in pounds, not Hong Kong dollars!). 

After taking in the view we had a look around the shopping centres, they are mostly filled with touristy shops, but also a number of clothes shops and one of Clara's favourite clothes shops Giordano (there are a number on the island, I've been in at least 3 so far).  We also had our lunch in McDonalds.  We decided to try it here to see if it was different to England.  Firstly the food is much cheaper in Hong Kong McDonalds, any medium sized meal can be had for under 2 pounds.  We opted for the special at the moment which is called a FanTastic.  Fan in Chinese is rice and the FanTastic is two buns made from rice with beef and lettuce in the middle - kind of like a chinese handburger - and it was surprisingly nice!  The whole meal set us back about 4 pounds, similar to the cost of one meal in the UK!  There is also much more choice in the Hong Kong McDonalds as you can drink lots of other drinks including ice tea with your meal instead of just the boring cokes, fantas and sprites.

After lunch we took another short walk around the shops and picked up a couple of presents for home.  We also picked up some chinese sweets that Clara wanted me to taste.  I've had some this evening and they look like white candy floss, but taste nutty with candy floss on the outside.  There is not that much to do at the peak and so we decided to take the peak tram back down again.  The peak is a nice place for the view, but its very touristy and quite commercial, so not really the best place I have been.

The tramride down was much emptier than going up and takes about 8 minutes to reach the station at the bottom.  After disembarking we decided to go for a walk in the Hong Kong park which starts near the peak tram station.  The park is nearly a continuation of the botanical gardens on the other side of a busy road.  Again its on a hill so has some parts that are VERY steep and many steps to climb.  There are a number of features in Hong Kong park that are well worth seeing.  Firstly there is a large aviary that you can walk through and admire the birds in a semi natural environment.  To get there we had to climb about 50 steps to the top enterance which was very tiring.  Inside the aviary there is a wooden walkway to walk between the trees, that sits about 5 metres above a stream in the valley.  There were a number of very colourful birds to see, but things got a bit scary when I nearly got hit on the head by a bird flying full speed across the aviary.  After that we walked a bit faster and didn't spend too long as I thought we might get hit!  After leaving the aviary we moved further down the hill to view a small pond.  Normally you'd think this might only contain fish, but this pond also has terrapins in it, just like the ones I had seen in the market for sale!  The terrapins were swimming freely and some were quite large, about the size of a dinner plate.  There is also a watefall that you can walk under which is worth a look.

A little further inside the park is a tall viewing tower.  The tower has no lift and has 105 steps to the top.  Clara wasn't too bothered about going to the top - and doesn't really like heights anyway, so I climbed up all the steps myself.  The view from the top was okay, but not brilliant.  The park is located in the middle of a number of large buildings including the bank of china building and the Lippo buildings (these are in Gran Turismo the computer game).  I took a couple of photos and then had to walk the 105 steps down again!  The advice on the tower was don't go up unless you are physically fit, and it was quite difficult in the heat!  Talking of the weather, it is a little cooler today and I didn't sweat as much as normal.  As you'll see from the pictures, its still kind of grey and the sun didn't really shine much all day.

Next we passed Olympic square, a small ampitheatre in the park opened by the head of the IOC in 2005 - although it doesn't say why it was opened!  At the bottom end of the park there are also a couple of fountains and finally a tea ware museum - which we didn't visit.  Also at the bottom of the park I saw the British Embassy, a pretty nodescript building that looks like most others!

By now, time was getting on and Clara wasn't fully well, so we decided to end the sightseeing.  We walked across to a shopping mall for a quick look around some of the shops including a large department store that was kind of like Waitrose, complete with food section on the basement level.  The food section was well stocked with fresh meat and fish.  The fish counter was a good place to look at and almost everything you could imagine from the sea was available!

Finally after we had finished we caught another Killer Bus (number 56) back up to Robinson Road.  The buses were quite full, mostly of school kids who must have been coming home at the end of their day!  We arrived back home for a rest and a quick snack.

Tonight Polly is cooking again and we are going to see the Symphony of Lights Show - a light show that takes place on the buildings of the Hong Kong harbour.  We are going to the Avenue of Stars in Tsim Sha Tsui to watch across the water - things kick off at 8pm!

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