28-Feb Hiking The Dragons Back

Another visit to Foodie for a dim sum breakfast (we were hooked) before catching the MTR to Chai Wan station on the east side of the island, then a bus to Shek O. Today we were hiking the Dragons Back, a popular hike on Hong Kong Island.

Shek O Beach

The trail was fairly easy, although it was quite warm (about 24c).  We paced ourselves while enjoying the views of Stanley and Big Wave Beach and the South China sea.

view of Big Wave Beach

Unfortunately in the last few metres of the hike, Jordan badly sprained his ankle and was in great pain. With the help of a large fallen branch to use as a crutch, he limped on and off buses and trains to get back to the hotel for some rest and ice.

While Jordan rested, I went to Causeway bay to see the Tin Hau Temple, picking up some beer and treats on the way back to the hotel. After some rest, Jordan felt able to go out, so we went out for dinner nearby and rounded off the evening at a really fun bar called Petticoat Lane on Wyndham St - this was the Hong Kong nightlife we had been expecting!

 

 

 

01-Mar The journey home

We packed up our things and left our luggage with the hotel concierge. We had a few hours before we needed to head out to the airport. We had one last breakfast at our favourite dim sum restaurant then walked down to the waterfront and walked through the Sun Yat Sen Memorial Park. We collected our bags and took the airport express to HKG.

 

Nanaimo

Our flight took off just as the sun was setting and in just a couple of hours we were back in Pudong for the third time this trip. Our Vancouver flight made good time and we landed about 10.5 hours later, crossing over Vancouver Island with dusky views of Nanaimo.

It has been a wonderful trip of Tea, Trains and Tropical Travels. We traveled from the hot dry coast to the cool, lush mountainous region and to the east, west, north and south coasts. We rode every class of train, experiencing everything from the air-chilling comfort of first class to the hard bumpy carnival ride carriages of local commuter trains. Drinking tea, everywhere we visited, in a gesture to welcome us by new friends, in restaurants and guest houses and as souvenirs to bring home for ourselves and to share with friends.



  

 

 

 

27-Feb Lantau Island and Kowloon

Not quite adjusted to another time change, we slept in a bit this morning. We had breakfast at Foodie, a dim sum restaurant close to the hotel, on Jervois St. - it was so much nicer than what we had eaten for lunch the previous day.

We took the MTR to Tung Chung station on the west side of the island and bought tickets for the aerial tram to see Po Lin monastery and the giant Buddha on Lantau Island. The line-up was quite lengthy by now, but moved steadily, as each car took at least 8 people. The ascent provided great views of the airport and the new highway to Macao before reaching the summit.

Po Lin Monastery

Po Lin Monastery

The village was very touristy, reminiscent of Whistler B.C and bustled with tourists who had taken the tram and those who had come up by bus. The monastery was interesting and colourfully decorated. We had lunch at the Buddhist kitchen there and sat outside in the sunshine to eat. After satisfying our photo quota we headed back down and took the MTR to Kowloon station.

big buddha

Kowloon station

The new station was a magnificent example of architecture and we spent some time studying it, both from inside and outside, walking the paths and stairways of the green roof with its views to the harbour.

That evening, we headed back over to Kowloon to watch the 8:00pm light show, an array of lights and lasers from each of the tall buildings on the Hong Kong side. We had set our destination as a vegetarian Thai restaurant, quite some distance away with good reviews. We arrived there after about 40 minutes and three MTR transfers to find that it was closed that particular day (thanks Google), so we ate at another Thai restaurant on the same street (there were many of them to choose from). We had a beer back in Kowloon, before heading back on the MTR to our hotel.

 

Kowloon high rise

 

 

Eight o'clock light show

26-Feb Hong Kong arrival

We landed at HKG just before noon and bought a MTR transit pass, which gave us unlimited travel for 3 days and a return trip on the airport express to and from downtown ($300 HKD each). We took the MTR to Sheung Wan, just a few blocks from our hotel. The room was small but efficiently laid out, with lots of storage and a view looking towards Victoria Peak rising behind the city skyline.

view from 19th floor hotel room 

Victoria park

Hong Kong trolley

We rode the MTR to Causeway Bay and had dim sum for lunch, before exploring Victoria Park. It was much cooler than we had been experiencing in Sri Lanka and an extra layer of clothing was necessary on top of out shorts & t-shirts.

We ate supper at a vegan restaurant close to our hotel and bar-hopped around the neighbourhood, but being a Tuesday evening, it all seemed fairly quiet for a city of more than 7 million people. 

Hong Kong Orchid Tree

 

25-Feb Negombo beach and departure

We started our morning with a swim, another visit to Grace Juice Bar and breakfast at Cilantro's restaurant, just at the end of the laneway to our hotel.

We wandered north along the main street and found some souvenir shops to buy gifts, tea and souvenirs. We had booked a tuk-tuk to take us to the airport for our flight later that day and arranged with the hotel owner to keep our room until 4:00pm, so we were able to have another swim before packing our bags and heading off for our 8:00pm flight.

Just over 6 hours later, we were back in Pudong (Shanghai) awaiting our connection to Hong Kong.

 

 

 

 

 

24-Feb Return to Negombo

shell shocked!

After breakfast, we took a tuk-tuk back to Palavi station for the 10:05am train to Negombo. Along the way, the driver spotted a small turtle, about 8 by 6 inches across, on the roadside and he carefully picked it up and carried over to the edge of the lagoon and safety.

southbound train

The train was the same old commuter cars as our trip northbound and we were in for another hard and bumpy ride. During the journey, vendors hopped on and off between carriages selling a variety of items. We had experienced this on almost all of our train journeys, mostly there were sellers of snacks and water, but we also saw colouring books being sold, garden hose attachments and a karaoke singers. We left the train at Kattuwa, where we had started our Sri Lankan adventure almost three weeks before and made our way to our hotel by tuk-tuk.

 

view from train

 

 

23-Feb Kalpitiya beach and diving

Jordan went off for his dive at 8:00am and I used the first part of the morning to do our laundry which should keep us going until the end of the trip. I took a walk over to the lagoon, crossing the narrow-planked bridge to the beach.



The sand was packed hard and easy to walk on. There were a few wading birds, a kit-surfer and a couple of tourists strolling the breezy beach. I saw some interesting shells on the shoreline and I sat in the sun for a while before heading back. It was a hot afternoon, so I visited one of the nearby resorts and sat poolside with a fruit juice in the shade.

our Werala Beach Resort cabin

beach puppy

Jordan got back around 4:40pm, he had had a good day of diving with Sam and the other divers out at the reef. It had been a long and exhausting day for both of us and we decided to skip dinner that evening, opting to have an restful nights sleep instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

22-Feb Pettah Market and the train to Palavi

Another early start; we caught the 06:05am train from Matara to Colombo Fort station. I gave us a couple of hours to wander the Pettah Market across from the railway station and get some supplies for the onward journey. The market wasn't too busy yet and we roamed the narrow streets, each one dedicated to a different commodity; sarees, electronics, fruit & vegetables, bags and luggage, office stationary etc.

We had another Falooda at First Bombay Sweets (#83), by all accounts, the best in Colombo .... and it was delicious, albeit a little early in the day for dessert!

Falooda (or Faluda) is a sundae glass full of a sweet concoction. Consisting of milk, rose syrup, sweet basil seeds, vermicelli, gelatin and ice cream.

Falooda

devilled fish curry

best or better?

The train from Colombo to Palavi just south of Puttalam was a slow commuter train, the carriages resembling old light rail transit or underground train, with hard plastic seats along each side and not intended for long journeys and comfort. It was hot and crowded for the first hour or so, but the train became emptier as we traveled further north. A tuk-tuk got us to Kalpetiya, $2000 LKR for the 42km trip. The scenery was much like we had experienced in the far north, dry, hot and flat with many marshlands and salt flats. We stayed at a nice resort on the beach with access to the nearby diving school. We met with the owner of the dive shop to look at options for the  next day, unfortunately, due to sea conditions, it wasn't suitable for beginners to go, but we got Jordan signed up and sized up with his gear for a dive. We had dinner at the resort, a fresh catch that day. We rounded off the long day with an Arak with ginger beer and lime soda.

 

  

 

21-Feb The southern coast and beaches

We took the scooter south today, following the A2 through Matara and Dikwella, to Tangalle. We stopped at a small juice bar for refreshments at Talalla along the way. The beach wasn't too busy with tourists and we enjoyed the view of the ocean and the quiet beach while we sat in the shade.

Pallikkudawa Beach

Talalla Beach

We bought some fruit at the market in Tangalle and started back towards Polhena, stopping for a swim and some lunch at Pallikkudawa - a vegetable roti, a chocolate roti and papaya juice. The lady who owned the restaurant was very nice and we chatted with her for a while and promised to send her a Canadian flag when we got home to add to her beachside collection.

Hiriketiya Beach

Next stop was Hiriketiya beach, one that we had read a bit about and had been recommended by locals - it was a beautiful horseshoe shaped bay, with a flat sandy bottom to the crystal clear water. We swam there for a while before the final leg of our drive back to Polhena, easily darting in and out of the busy late afternoon traffic on the scooter. We ate supper at a kiosk on the beach across from the guest house, bbq prawns with veggies, a beer and a ginger beer ($1200 LKR).