What follows is largely a memory dump of what we’ve learned today. It’s heavy on history and politics. It may be inaccurate since I may have misunderstood what our guide said. It’s probably boring as all get out. Sorry about that!

We aren’t in Hong Kong anymore. Gone are the Rolex watch shops, towering steel-and-glass skyscrapers and a retail-oriented culture. What we’re seeing so far (and it’s early in our visit) is a Buddhist country with a third-world economy and a complex political environment. We’re going to have our work cut out for us to make sense of what we’re seeing and hearing.

First, we’re a group of eight travelers, two coupes and four singles, from across the U.S. All are experienced travelers and seem to be a good group to travel with if, that is, you can stand spending all day with a bunch of old 70 give or take year old fogies like us.

Our guide, Sandro, is a 38-year-old man who graduated from the university with a degree in mathematics but has spent his working career as a tour guide. He seems quite knowledgeable and personable, typical of most OAT guides we’ve had in the past His English is good although accented. Listening to him is like a Shakespearean play: it takes Act I to get an ear for the accent so you can understand what’s being said in Acts 2 and 3.

Sandro took us to the Kalaywa Tawya Monastery on the north side of Yangon (the Brits came up with Rangoon since they couldn’t get the hang of pronouncing Yangon). This monastery serves as a school for boys and girls. Many are from rural areas, some orphans, who live full time at the monastery and receive educational training while living as Buddhist novices. Boys receive both religious and secular training; girls receive only religious training. Novices can leave at any time but girls are at a disadvantage because they lack training to help them secure employment in the secular world.

Such monasteries serve roughly 400,000 students nationwide, a relatively small proportion of the total. Most attend government run public schools. Attendance is mandatory through Grade 4 but students can continue on through Grade 10. University placement depends heavily on secondary school achievement.

We had a chance to talk, through our guide as interpreter, with three middle school girls who were sitting in the courtyard under a tree during their noontime break. They were very hesitant to ask and answer questions, clearly unsure of this gaggle of old westerners. I showed them a picture of our four grandkids, which seemed to interest them, Sandro indicated that they have little TV exposure to the West so we were a complete mystery to them.

Sandro spoke at some length on the political situation in Myanmar and on the situation with the “Muslim Bangladeshis” or Rohingya Muslims of the Rankhine State in northeastern Myanmar, close to the border with Bangladesh. It’s been like drinking from a fire hose; Snadro is a rapid-fire talker who clearly feels strongly about his subject and who wants us to understand. What follows is my preliminary interpretation of what he said. I reserve the right to correct myself (or to receive your corrections) as we learn more.

First, politics. Myanmar’s history can be briefly summarized, perhaps glossing over too many details and nuances to be accurate, as follows:

• A series of kingdoms and dynasties
• Occupation and rule by the British after two wars of conquest in the 1800s
• Takeover by Japan during World War II
• Liberation by the Allies
• Independence, granted by Great Britain in 1948
• A period of weak socialist government
• Rule by the military after a coup in 1962
• A new constitution is implemented in 2008, elections held
• Aung San Suu Kyi’s party sweeps parliamentary elections

Today, the government is nominally led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the daughter of one of the original pro-independence leaders who was assassinated in 1947. She won the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to unify Myanmar. Sandro refers to her as “The Lady” and speaks of “The Lady’s Party.” The catch is that the military controls 25% of the seats in Parliament and has control of the Interior and Defense ministries.

The political situation is further complicated, Sandro says, by two factors. First, many Army officers have left the military and are now civilian heads of many of the major administrative functions in the government. They retain loyalty to the military, as might be expected. Second, The Lady has placed in key cabinet positions members of the resistance, her comrades, many of whom have spent 10 years or more in prison. These individuals lack training and experience in government and hence are ineffective.

Sandro, much to my surprise, started the discussion of the Rohingya Muslims by saying, “I want you to understand the other side of this story. I believe you have heard one side as presented by Western media but you need to understand what has led to this situation.”

His argument, as I understand it, can be briefly summarized as follows:

• Historically, Rohingya Muslims illegally moved from poverty stricken Bangladesh across the river to the Rankhine state of northwestern Myanmar.
• The Rohingya Muslims have never become part of Myanmar culture nor have they become citizens of Myanmar.
• There has been tension and conflict between the Rohingya Muslims and the military for a number of years
• Rohingya Muslim extremist attacked and beheaded a number of Myanmar’s border guards in 2015. This led to expulsion of 400,000 Rohingya Muslims who now exist in refugee camps in Bangladesh.

I asked Sandro if he thought the Rohingya Muslims would ever be permitted to return to Myanmar. “Never,” was his answer.

This is a subject I’m sure we’ll continue to discuss over the course of the trip.

One other interesting fact: Myanmar’s government/army has fought a civil war ever since independence was achieved in 1948. About 68% of Myanmar’s population are members of the Burman ethnic group. The rest of the population is divided between a dozen or so other ethnic groups with whom the civil war is being fought.

Sandro has noted a marked decline in the number of tourists visiting Burma. Let’s see, the Ronhinga Muslim situation and civil war? I wonder why.

Lunch was at a Chinese restaurant. The food was served on a rotating table, Chinese style. It turns out the Chinese and also some Muslims are quite entrepreneurial and own and operate many restaurants in Yangon.

We were free until 4 PM (nap and typing) and then headed out to the Shwedagon Pagoda, a huge complex of stupas most covered with gold. The story is that two traveling merchants obtained eight hairs from the head of the fourth (our “present”) Buddha. These hairs, along with relics said to have come from the previous three Buddhas were enshrined in the stupa where they remain today. The complex has been enlarged and expanded over the years and today the Pagoda is the most sacred site in Myanmar.

Myanmar practices mostly Teravada, which Sando says keeps closer to the original teachings of the Buddha than does Mahayana that is practiced in Bhutan and Nepal (and India). Like Mahayana, Teravada incorporates some of the concepts of Hinduism, particularly the use of deities and spirits. One interesting difference is that Teravada Buddhism does not use prayer wheels, which are a big part of Mahayana Buddhism. The Shwedagon Pagoda is supported entirely by contributions, not by government support.

That’s it for tonight. Judy and I have to get some sleep tonight to recover from our late night (2 AM arrival) that we experienced last night

We’ve had our three nights at the Charterhouse but because we arrived early (6 AM) and won’t head for the airport until 6 PM we’ve really had four full days in Hong Kong. We had a fairly well defined first three days: two on the Big Bus and one sailing off to Macau but we didn’t start figuring out our plan for this day until breakfast this morning.

Actually, I started thinking about it at 1:30 AM when my cell phone rang with some overly cheerful recorded lady offering to improve the hit rate on my blog. “I’ll tell you whose hit rate is gonna get improved, lady,” I thought. I did some preliminary research at 5 AM when we both woke up unable to sleep. We did screen stuff until 6 by which time we both fell back asleep.

Judy had already staked her claim to part of today: a lazy morning. So we slept ‘til 9 and made it down to the breakfast buffet before it shut down at 10:30. We packed. And were checked out by the Noon deadline.

Here was our plan: walk a few blocks to the quaint trolley line with its narrow cars (about a dime fare for seniors, two bits for young ‘uns), travel 8 stops or so and then walk to the Star Ferry terminal. Big Bus had given us ferry tickets (seniors ride for free but whatever). The Lonely Planet had gushed about the wonderful Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade, the History Museum, Cultural Center, Art Museum, Science Museum – all right there in one easily walked stretch along the river with magnificent views of Hong Kong Island across Victoria Bay. What a deal.

Sometimes in the tourist racket you come to realize that you’re ready to move on, that you’ve seen 80% and the last 20% is going to take some work. Maybe there was a little of that working on us today. But then again half of the attractions Lonely Planet gushed over were closed because it’s Tuesday and the other half were under reconstruction, had been since 2016 and will be through most of 2018.

But you know what? The trolley ride was a blast, sitting up top with the windows open and watching the lunch-time throngs shopping their fool heads off. Boy-o-boy do these HKers have the shopping bug, and bad!

We got off at the correct stop (I tracked our location on GPS) and found ourselves in the Central district, which I’d guess is the heart of the financial district. Lots of fast walking, well-dressed youngish, important looking (or at least self-important looking) people typing on or talking on their smart phones.

Our guide in Macao said, proudly, that the pace of life in Macau is much slower and laid back than Hong Kong. “In Hong Kong they walk StepStepStepStepStepStep. Here in Macao it’s more like “Step . . . Step . . .Step . . . Step.” She’s got Hong Kongers pegged, I’d say. And they don’t suffer doddering old folks with cameras dangling from their necks. “Keep moving or get out of my way!”

We knew where we wanted to go but had trouble finding a way to cross the street to get on the right track. Finally we looked up and saw a marvelous walkway, much like the skyway system in Minneapolis except this one is open air. Shops everywhere, of course. Hong Kong has as many fancy watch shops as New England has Dunkin’ Donut shops.

The skyway led directly to the Star Ferry terminal. They run continuously from Hong Kong Island across the bay to Kowloon. The terminal there is adjacent to the aforementioned arts area. A pleasant ride, again with the windows open, of 15 minutes or so.

Despite the construction, which caused detours and produced a cacophony of noise and a continual stream of construction workers and vehicles getting in our way our stroll wasn’t all that bad. We stopped a couple of times to sit and watch the boat traffic on the river and the people traffic on the walkways. A pleasant, laidback kind of afternoon, just what we needed.

We took a different Star Ferry back to the island, one that landed at the Convention Center, and which is directly south of our (former) hotel. By now it was pushing 3 so lunch was beginning to sound good. Off we went in search of a noodle shop to cure Judy’s sudden noodle shop craving.

The walkway out of the Convention Center proved to be another construction maze that we had to navigate. Our limo driver this evening told us they are building a train terminal. Turns out they are building a high speed train system that will connect Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, Macau, Shanghai and Beijing. It looks as if this “One China” thing is more than just talk. Nothing like connecting the seat of government with the hinterlands that aren’t 100% convinced they want to be governed. And, by the way, all the mainliners will have easy access to the gaming tables in Macau. A win-win-win? We’ll see.

We found a place for lunch in what I would describe as somewhere between Denny’s and Applebee’s. Lots of people eating there was a good sign. We ordered a crunchy noodle dish and sweet and sour pork. It turns out that sweet and sour pork is popular in the US because the early Chinese immigrants came from Canton where sweet and sour pork is the mac and cheese dish: something everyone loves, even if they won’t admit it.

So now it’s almost 5 PM. The car is supposed to come at 6 so nothing left to do but walk back to the hotel and wait. Rather than take our original path along Hennesy I suggested we walk up one block and then across to see what was there. Low and behold, we stumbled across a multi-street open-air market. There were stalls selling all kinds of fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, spices, you name it. It was a busy place; lots of people picking up what’s for dinner, I’d guess.

So we sat for 45 minutes, the driver came 10 minutes early, got us to the airport, we checked in and now we’re sitting in the departure lounge waiting for our 9:50 flight to Yangon (Rangoon). It’ll be a long night: with the time change we’ll arrive in Yangon at midnight, which is 1:30 AM HK time, after a 3:30 hour flight. We’ll need toothpicks to keep the eyelids open at tomorrow’s Welcoming Breakfast.

With luck, I’ll get this out on the airport wi-fi before we leave. I’m told Internet service in Myanmar is spotty at best so if you don’t hear from us soon don’t worry, just relax and enjoy the silence.

Judy and I were up and refreshed after 11 hours of restful sleep – 5 1/2 for Judy and 5 1/2 for me. We were fed and in the lobby for a 7:30 AM pickup for the Gray Line tour to Macau. I’ve resolved to avoid the detailed and, I fear, boring recitation of the mechanics and travails of our trip. Instead I’ll try to focus on some observations of Hong Kong so far.

I’m writing this on my iPhone as we travel by high speed catamaran from Hong Kong to Macau. Unless noted later on you can assume today’s trip was:

• 7:30 AM pickup (7:50 actual)
• 9:45 castoff at 9:45
• 10:45 AM arrival (40 miles at 40 mph)
• Touring and whatnot with a guide
• 5.35 PM return ferry to HK
• 7:00 PM back at hotel
• 7:30 PM Dim Dim Sum
• 8:30 Blog posting
• 9:30 bedtime

Piece of cake!

So far Hong Kong seems like a real Apple-a-day kind of place: healthy, wealthy and wise. Wages here are said to be three times the mainland China average. Financial services and a robust retail segment dominate the economy. The question is, how long will this state of bliss last? What does the future hold?

Britain achieved its position in HK in the mid 1800s after two Opium wars (Britain was taking so much tea from China that it started shipping opium to China. The Chinese didn’t like the results of widespread opium addiction. Hence the wars.) The Brits won and got a 99 year lease on HK. The lease ran out in 1997. Ever since HK’s autonomy has eroded. Popular elections determine HK’s government but only candidates approved by a central committee can run for office. China’s stated goal is to achieve a “One China” status by 2047, 50 years after the give back.

What will One China mean for HK? I don’t think anyone (least of all me) knows for sure. Our guide yesterday told us that today mainland Chinese must obtain a visitor’s visa to enter HK; they can’t come to live or work. HKers enjoy free access to the mainland to visit, work or live. If the border was free in both directions the HK island would sink under the weight of the 1.4 billion mainlanders who would come for work in HK. One China must therefor assume that the income differential will be eliminated in 30 year’s time. Either mainland must grow or HK incomes must sink to achieve equilibrium. Scary if you’re an HKer.

By the way, I figured out the crowds we experienced in the department store yesterday. November 11 is an annual Singles Day (11/11 = singles. Get it?) promotion started in 2008 by the online retailer alibaba.com, China’s answer to amazon.com. The event has apparently spilled over to brick-and mortar retail, hence the crowds. Do we have this at home? I’m clueless, as my kids and grandkids will attest. Check out http://www.scmp.com/tech/enterprises/article/2119483/alibaba-smashes-singles-day-record-online-shopping-festival-goes for the details.

According to the South China Morning Post newspaper, Alibaba claims single-day sales of more than $US 25 billion on 11/11, up from $18 billion last year and more than three times the U.S. on-line sales for Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined last year ($US 6.7 billion). Consumer spending accounts for 40% of China’s GDP compared to 70% in the US. China has 300 million middle class consumers, almost equal to the entire population of the US, and has another 1.1 billion people aspiring to reach middle class status. One thing’s for sure: China has size on its side. China’s long-term success in growing its economy is certainly questionable. But we’d better be sure we get our economic and international policies right. We face a formidable competitor on the world stage.

What about Macau?  The Portuguese established their claim in the 16th century and gave it back to China in 1999, two years after the Brits gave back HK. Like HK, it’s a Special Administrative Region with its own border, currency, etc. The big deal in Macau is that it’s the only place in all of China where gambling is legal. Today it has a whole bunch of Vegas-style casinos (didn’t get the count), many from the US: MGM, Sands, etc. We’re told that Macau’s gambling take is six times that of Vegas. The message again: China has bigness going for it.

We visited the remains of a Portuguese Catholic church, built in 1602 and burned down in 1850 or so by Portuguese soldiers who were using it as a barracks after the Jesuits had been expelled. Only the front facade and entryway remain. See the pix.

We visited a small Taoist temple adjacent to the church, the Portuguese fort, the Sky Tower (293 meters; we didn’t pay to go up – too cloudy nor did we bungee jump), a Buddhist temple (Buddhism was the official religion of Macau) and finally the Sands casino.

My overall impression is that Macau, a relatively small city by Chinese standards (only 600,000 people), is not as prosperous and well developed as Hong Kong. The casinos are grand but the surrounding neighborhoods don’t have the steel and glass patina that we see all over the place here in HK. Quite a bit of the architecture reminds me of Soviet-era poured concrete structures totally lacking in style. It’s a bit like Atlantic City but not as extreme. But the one day bus tour impression is that the wealth from gambling isn’t as widely shared in Macau as the wealth generated by financial services and retail in HK.

All went according to plan. The bus tour was, well, a bus tour and Macau’s cultural sites are interesting but not earth shaking. But at least now we have bragging rights: yes, we’ve been to Macau and we beat the odds by leaving with as much money as we had upon entering. Most gamblers can’t make that claim.

Oh yes, it rained steadily all day long. What else is new?

Tomorrow most of the day in Hong Kong and then at 9:50 PM we’re off to Yangon, Myanmar.

 

So far today, we’re error free . . . at least no unforced errors. But the elements, both weather and human, weren’t operating in our favor. But you know what? It’s turned into an interesting and challenging day, one in which we’ve managed to experience Hong Kong in a way the tourist bus travelers never will.

We started with a leisurely morning. We both woke up around 5 AM (4 PM back home). We read for an hour and rolled over at 6 and slept until 9. Not bad, considering we were in bed by 8 PM (Judy) and 9:30 PM (your faithful scribe, Jon). The breakfast buffet here at the Charterhouse runs until 10:30 so we enjoyed our usual repast before hitting the trail.

Our plan was to hike to Big Bus Stop 3, just like we did yesterday. From there we’d go to Stop 8 to visit the Man Mo temple. And then we’d stroll 10 minutes or so to the Luk Yu Tea House for, what else, dim sum.

That’s where things went off plan. We were at Stop 3 by 11:06 AM, just missing the 11 AM bus, we assumed. But when Noon came and still no bus, we, being the bright hicks from New Hampshire, figured something was amiss. I called two Big Bus phone numbers; no answer. Finally, I googled “Big Bus Hong Kong Sunday”. Sure enough, up popped a notice that on Sunday, November 12, 2017, and that day only, Red Stops 1, 2, 3 and 4 would not be running due to a 10K race in that end of town. Thanks a lot, Big Bus. Can’t hardly wait to let ‘em have it on Trip Advisor.

Actually, the hour wasn’t a total bust. Judy smelled department store and sure enough 20 meters down the street from Stop 3 was the Sogo department store. We ducked in for a 5-minute look-see. I’ve seen crowded stores before, but nothing like this. It was packed with about half of Hong Kong’s millennial generation, cheek to jowl, waiting to buy whatever it was that must have been on sale that day. My shopping tolerance isn’t high, but I couldn’t wait to get back out into the rain.

Did I mention it started to rain? Not a drizzle, an honest-to-goodness rain.

Time for Plan B.

Hong Kong has a quaint tram service; it runs east-west in the general direction of Big Bus Stop 5 and is listed in the guide book as a must-do. But how to get on, pay the fare and figure out where to get off? No problem, Judy pulled out her Big Bus map, stood in the rain looking perplexed and soon enough a nice, English speaking man stopped and explained the system to us. (His son graduated from Babson)

You’ve got to see the picture to appreciate what this two-decked top-heavy contraption looks like. They tried to kill the service when the subway went in but by popular demand the tram was saved and enhanced.

So on we hopped, went upstairs, and rode until my GPS said we were close to Stop 5. Close, but no cigar. Turns out the tram veered off Hennessy Street onto a parallel street, leaving us a block of course. So get out the map, stand in the rain, look confused and this time a nice young English-speaking passerby sent us to the correct spot.

A half hour later we settled into our seats on the Big Bus. Well, Judy did. Hers was the last seat in the dry section of the bus. All the unoccupied seats were in the open air and hence rain. So that’s where I sat.

Somewhere I read that Hong Kongers show great reverence and respect for their elders. Now I just turned 70 and was probably twice the age of the average bus rider that day. But did anyone give me his or her seat? I guess I don’t have the venerated elder look thing going for me yet. Or maybe the Yanks, Brits and Aussie tourists haven’t absorbed enough Chinese cultural values yet.

Wet though we were we arrived at Stop 8 right in front of the Man Mo Temple. It’s one of oldest structures in Hong Kong and is a Taoist temple. Or is it Confucianist? Not Buddhist (no fat bellies). Certainly not Methodist. I get my Eastern religions mixed up. Whatever, it was full of shrines to a variety of gods. And a steady stream of worshipers came in, lit incense and offered prayers and supplications at the various altars.

I bought the e-book version of Lonely Planet ($14.95) before leaving home and I was bound to make use of it. So off we walked through the rain to the Luk Yu Tea House, a short 11-minute (google maps) walk away. It took only 45 minutes and two interventions, one by another nice man and then the bodyguard at the HK Jockey Club who I asked and who finally got us the last 50 meters to our destination.

Lonely Planet said, “This gorgeous teahouse (c 1933) . . . masterful cooking . . . Eastern art deco décor . . . haunt of opera artist, writers, painters . . . old-school Cantonese . . . $$”. The only argument I’d have with that description is the $$ thing. Should have been $$$. All the rest is accurate but the $346 HK bill ($40) for four dim sum items was a bit on the high side, especially compared to our home street Dim Dim Sum shop. But you only live once. . .

We sprang for a cab back home ($5 bucks US) and got here by 3:30. Our next event starts with a bus pickup at 4:30 so Judy gets an hour’s nap and I get to type.

+++ More Later +++
So here I sit at the dinner table, typing away while the “Filipino band” plays away. “What a loser” you’re thinking. But let me explain. Judy has set my bedtime for 10 and I’m afraid I won’t get this done in time.

We’re on the last leg of today’s activities: a Gray Tour outing. They picked us up at the hotel at 4:30. Judy had a one-hour nap while I banged away on the typewriter. First stop the International Commerce Center a 108 story skyscraper across the bay in Kowloon. It took one minute flat to ascend 100 floors to the observation deck (393 meters). Our weather jinx continued. Visibility was advertised as 1,000 meters but we could barely see the ground. Instead of the glorious evening lights of Hon Kong and Kowloon we saw the inside of a cloud.

Next, a visit to a night market, a collection of pop-up stalls selling trinkets and tee shirts, etc. Fortune tellers had stalls across the street. Judy wouldn’t let me have a palm readi.  She wouldn’t let me buy any of the other personal services on discrete but evident display. Thankfully the clouds had lifted and the rain had stopped.

Finally, a harbor cruise to view the building lights on either side of the harbor, including a 15 minute light show that commended at 8. Our ship came in at 7:55 so we saw the show, narrowly avoiding another disaster. Dinner was what you’d expect for an outing like this; it wouldn’t cut the mustard on a Carnival cruise boat. But the band has a bunch up dancing so I’d better quit and join the party – they’re playing YMCA!

OMG, they’re teaching the pax the Macarena. I’m staying firmly planted, you betcha. Unless, of course, they play some salsa!

You may, if you’re reading this, assume that we got home Ok.

OK, so this wasn’t the swiftest day we’ve ever spent out here on the tourist trail. And the reason? Jet Lag. It’s not that we’re getting older and less capable of handling the uncertainty of a new country with no one to show us the ropes. No, it was the jet lag.

The trip itself went very well. We took off on time from Boston at 1:30 AM and arrived at Hong Kong a few minutes early – 5:30 AM the next day (today, Saturday November 11, that is). Cathay Pacific is a fine airline and the Premium Economy seats were worth the modest extra charge. We both slept fairly well, considering, so we felt ready to take on the world when we reached our hotel in downtown Hong Kong.

The first boo-boo was at the Immigration desk. We thought it curious that we hadn’t been given a card to fill out and sure enough the Immigration officer sent us back to the kiosk right there in plain site with a curt wave-of-the-hand dismissal. “Dottering old fool,” was his body language message.

Our hotel room at the Charter House is very nice and it was ready for us when we showed up at 7:00 AM. That meant hot showers and an included breakfast buffet – a really nice spread. Actually, that turned out to be our second breakfast of the morning since Cathay Pacific fed us quite adequately just before landing. But, hey, we need to adjust to the time change and what better way to do so than getting on the local eating schedule. So eat again we did.

We sat with a lady from Canada who, it turned out, is just finishing an Overseas Adventure Travel trip to Mainland China, Tibet and Hong Kong. Her tour guide, Cathy, joined us and she provided us with some good information about things to do around town.

Before setting out for the day we hit the nearby ATM and 7-11 store for Hong Kong dollars and bottled water. That was the next mess up. The U.S. dollar currently buys about 7.8 HK dollars – call it 8 to keep the mental arithmetic simple. I figured we needed about $100 U.S. to last us for three days here, considering that credit cards are widely accepted. Let’s see, that’s about 8,000 HK dollars, right? The ATM wouldn’t give us that many, setting a rather low limit of 2,500 HK dollars, only about $30 worth, right?

Wrong. I slipped a decimal point somewhere and ended up with more than $300 in local money. It’s the jet lag, I tell you.

The good news is that several places we went for food today only accept cash – no credit. The bad news is that we’ve been eating pretty cheap – $200 HK for lunch and $229 HK for dinner. We may have to gamble the rest away when we go to Macau on Monday.

Before leaving home I signed us up for the Big Bus hop on/hop off service. The same idea worked well a year ago in Auckland and it worked pretty well for us today. But sure enough, we messed this deal up too.

Big Bus has three routes: the red, green and blue. The red covers the downtown area on the north side of the island along the harbor, the green covers the southern portion of the island and is less densely settled, but that’s only a relative comparison. The whole island is heavily built. The exception is the central area that is fairly hilly and there are a number of park areas. But everywhere else it’s one high rise after another. (The blue line covers Kowloon, across the bay, a trip we’ve saved for later on.)

Our plan was to do red today and green tomorrow. Our mistake was to do half of the red, hop off for an expedition and hop back on to complete the red. We instead hopped off the red and hopped back on the green. Jet lag.

The red-green mistake occurred when we hopped off to take the tram railway up to “The Peak,” the highest point in HK, some 1,100 feet above sea level. At the top, naturally enough, there are great views of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon across the bay. It was fairly hazy today, and windy too, so the view was obstructed but we got the general idea.

The view in fact reinforced our initial impression of Hong Kong: this place is defined by its architecture. It’s one glass and steel skyscraper after another. Every large city has its collection of high rises but we’ve never seen such a concentration of high-rise buildings as we’ve seen here. The second impression is one of great wealth. Sure, there are more modest sections, even some that might be termed urban decay, but from what we’ve seen it’s the exception not the rule.

While touring the Peak I had another comeuppance moment: a text message from ATT saying that I’ve run up a $100 data bill so far on this trip. Now I’d signed up for their Passport service, which is supposed to give me data service while abroad. The 800 number they told me to call didn’t go through (it’s after hours on the weekend back home). I think I’ve figured it out; my cell phone wasn’t blocking data roaming service so I was probably using a carrier that ATT doesn’t have an arrangement with. At least that’s what I hope. Can’t blame this one on jet lag – I should have figured it out before we left home.

We’re told the Hong Kong economy is based on finance and retail. Shipping and international trade too, I’d guess, based on the extensive docking facilities we saw driving into town from the airport. Of course tourism is another source of significant income, boosting the high-end retail that seems to be just about everywhere.

Speaking of retail, the Peak wasn’t just a walkway with those funny coin-operated binoculars. No, there’s a fantastic viewing structure, all steel and glass, rising a good 10 stories in height. And every square meter, except the outside roof observation deck, is dedicated to retail shops and restaurants. I’ll include a picture to show you what I mean.

The green route took us to two spots we’d planned to visit tomorrow: Stanley and Aberdeen. Stanley is a relatively small bay side community that today has a market operation along the waterfront. We resisted the gift shop kiosks but did do lunch at an outside restaurant. We had dim sum and fried noodles for only 200 $HK (about $25 US) for the two of us.

We hopped off at Aberdeen, another bay side community closer to town. The deal here was an included sampan boat ride around Aberdeen harbor. Great views of the high rise skyline in the background and a collection of interesting water craft in the foreground.

Back on the green for a transfer to the red and by 6:00 PM we were on foot heading back to our hotel – maybe a half-mile or less from the drop off point. We found our way back home without getting lost (with GPS help) even once. We even found Dim Dim Sum, a dim sum restaurant our new friend Cathy told us about this morning. The four course meal, with bottled water came in at about $230 HK ($30 US), a real bargain. Cathy recommended Dim Dim Sum highly and the restaurant brags as being the best dim sum restaurant in Hong Kong and one of the best 101 restaurants in the world. We’d agree.

So it’s 7:30 PM (6:30 AM back home) and we’re fading fast. I’ve blathered on long enough and we’re ready for bed. Tomorrow we’re off to do the rest of Hong Kong we didn’t get to today. And hopefully we’ll do so with fewer unforced errors. Jet lag will last as an excuse only so long!