The Peak
Today's adventure is to revisit the Peak, for the first time in a little over 30 years, so yes, I was expecting massive changes over that timeframe.
The first thing was breakfast, which is not as simple as you would think. With Marks and Spencer being my go-to for killer pastry during both of my recent Singapore trips, my first thought was to see what the HK stores had, never know it may be just as good.
But nope, while they did have pastry, it was not even close to as good as the Singapore stores had, no idea why, I would have expected it to be the same.
So, the hunt continued, so this morning I decided to go for a walk in one of the larger shopping centres and see what I could find.
One interesting thing is, the shops here do not have the same hours as I was used to back home in Sydney; here they open between 10 and 11am and close around 10pm
The exception to this seems to be most places that sell food, although I suspect that may be down to me being in a very busy tourist area.
Anyhow, there is a City Supermarket, which has what they call a Danish Bar which believe it or not sells Japanese croissants.
Not bad, not wonderful, but better than Marks and Spencer.
Now fuelled up, it's time to head for the peak.
Getting to the Peak top
There are many ways to get to the top of the peak, but with me being in full tourist mode, I decided to take the Tram, which runs from the terminus in Central to the top of the peak.
Some trivia: back in the day, I walked up the peak; it's a long, hard walk, and not for everyone, or even me these days. I may give it a go, but not on this trip; maybe next time, after getting back into shape and getting the surgery to repair my bad knee. 😁
Getting from Kowloon was just another trip on the Star Ferry, and from the wharf, it's a fair walk to the tram terminus, and I will admit the signage is not the best.
Oh well, a combination of Google Maps, what signage there was, and following the crowd saved the day.
However, this navigation issue is made up for as you pass some stunning architecture. Just check out the bank of China tower in the foreground.
The new tower, right next door, drew my attention, as it looks way different to the usual glass box design; it looks more like an alien spacecraft hiding in plain sight.
Arriving at the Tram terminus, the first issue was where to get a ticket from, it was packed, with minimal staff to ask, so I just joined the first queue, and eventually got to talk to a staff member, who told me I was in the wrong place unless I wanted to visit Madam Tussauds, hmmm, interesting but having visited in London, I think I will pass for now.
Not a good start, so into the next queue, with the rest of the population of the city. Finally making it to the front of the queue, there was a single ticket desk open, with one very stressed-looking employee trying her best work through the queue.
Oh, well, queues are a fact of life, and at least there is air conditioning 🥶
This may be a little expensive at HK$88 return, but it is one of those experiences that every visitor to HK needs to take, and yes, I have taken this trip before, but we are talking about a little over 30 years ago.
Getting on the tram was basically like a London Bus back in the 1980s, push, shove, total chaos, with more people than seats, and yes, I was one of those who ended up standing, not that I minded, being very sweaty and not wanting to leave damp patches on the seats.
Just check out the track and how steep it is, so this is going to be an interesting trip 😀
Yes, it was interesting. I did not remember just how steep some parts of the track are, and I needed to really hang on and stand at a really interesting angle. Most entertaining, and yes, it brought back memories of the last time I did this.
Following some research, it seems these trams were upgraded/replaced back in 2019
I took this back in 1992, and it shows one of the trams getting close to the end of the line. This is a scan taken from a very faded print. Should I ever find the negative, I will replace it with a much better version that's closer to my usual quality.
In short, the upgraded trams are a great and most welcome improvement over the old ones.
Getting to the end of the line was uneventful; just hang on and try not to fall over. And yes, me being me, I struck up a conversation with some of the other passengers who turned out to be also from Sydney, it's a small world.
Anyhow, we arrived at the final station, and it was a repeat of the boarding chaos, but this time we were all funnelled into a shopping area, with various sellers pushing souvenirs. Again, it was push and shove, but eventually I made it through the mess. Not impressed 🤨
The next challenge was to find a way out of the building. Again, there was no sign of any staff and minimal signage, so I took my life in my hands and followed the flow of people heading up the escalators.
Finally, I made it out of the building, and yes, it's an interesting building, and the last time I was here, construction had not even started. From what I understand, construction started in 1993.
Enough of this, what I came to see, just like everyone else, was the view over the city.
So first thing to do is head for the Lion Pavilion, which, from some googling, is the place for the best view, and thankfully it's not too far away.
This lookout has been there forever, and I even remember visiting back in the day, although back then, the place to take photos was where the Peak Tower now stands.
Talking of the Peak Tower, it does have a viewing deck which should give stunning views; the downside is that they charge for entry, whereas the Lion Pavilion is free, and to me, offers just as good a view. The choice is yours, but to me, the Lion Pavilion is a no-brainer.
Anyhow, how's this for the first shot of the day? WOW comes to mind 🤩
Now for the comparison, and yes, I could not help myself but include the shot from 1992.
And yes, the above shot is not even close to my usual quality; it came from a scan of a very faded print and took a fair amount of Photoshop quality time to get it to look even that good. Should I ever find the negative, I will replace it with something much closer to my usual quality.
With the money shot out of the way, it's time to do the circle peak walks, which, from memory, gives more photo opportunities, and from what I can find, is only about 3km, which for me is not a problem even in this heat.
Again, the signage was less than wonderful, so after connecting to the ever-present free Wi-Fi, Google Maps came to the rescue.
Heading down the trail for the walk, the first thing I see is a distance marker, which is a nice touch and confirms that I am only doing a little less than the expected 3km.
The actual walk is quite flat, fairly well shaded; in other words, I would class it as, easy for anyone who can take the heat, yes, it is a little cooler up here than it is in the city, but still more than some people can take, but for me it's quite comfortable ☀️
Heading further along the trail, there are more of those distance markers, which, to me, are a nice touch, to let walkers know how far they have to go.
As for the trail, it's paved and not too narrow, and yes, so far I have come across several photo opportunities, more on that later. One thing I did not see was any motorcycles, which, after KL, was most welcome.
Not sure what the no entry sign is for, as to me it's not wide enough for any cars. Odd, yes, but not the only strangeness on the walk, another one which got me was the distance markers just stopped about halfway through.
Another nice touch is about halfway through the walk, at the same point that the distance markers stop, there is a picnic area, which in cooler weather I would expect to be busy, but not today; there were only a few people resting.
Speaking of people, throughout the whole walk I only saw a few others, which again I put down to the heat, as from memory when I did this walk back in the 90s, there were many people all walking.
Yes, there are many photo opportunities, and rather than include them here, they have been added to my Hong Kong Island photo gallery.
Before moving on, there is one thing I came across that shocked me for a few seconds.
Local wildlife, this time it's the first snake I have ever seen in HK in over 30 years of visits and residence. I knew they were around, just never saw one until now.
Not sure what kind it was, and it must have felt me coming as it headed for the nearest hole before I could get the photo.
After some research, it seems this snake is most likely a non-venomous and very common, Oriental Rat Snake.
Final Thoughts & Verdict top
My final thoughts on the Peak experience are that overall the changes from my previous visit are all positive, with the only not-so-positive thing being the lack of staff for managing the tram, and the signage, which, in my opinion, needs to be upgraded.
If you are visiting HK, then the Peak is a must-see. Just make sure you pick a clear day, as the Peak can be in the clouds. Just check out this image, and you will see what I mean.
The photo on the right, which I took on my last day in HK, is from the Ocean Centre shopping centre, through a tinted window.
Not my best work, but after quite a bit of Photoshop work, it's good enough to show the peak in the clouds.
As for the heat, if you are not comfortable with hot and humid days, I would recommend maybe April, May or November, rather than right in the middle of summer.
Daily stats: 37,476 steps, which Samsung Health tells me is a little over 32km