I re-worded Nicki Minaj’s ‘Starships’ because, well, I could and it fits in this situation. Sort of…
The Peak in Hong Kong is the one stop that you need to make on a trip to Hong Kong. If you only have one day, go to The Peak. If you have two days, make one of them about going to The Peak. If you have three days…you get the idea, and yes, the ‘t’ in The Peak is capitalised because it’s that important so clearly you must go there. If you don’t then you are missing out on one of the best views of Hong Kong, scratch that, make that The best view of Hong Kong.
Now, I made my way up from Central Station and I saw signs that directed me to The Peak Tram. It’s very simple, I followed them. Sure, I went around and up and down and over streets and even through a church parking lot, but I found my way there as long as I kept walking uphill.
On an unassuming street corner, except for the tourism signs that point to it. There is a large stone-tiered fountain with ‘The Peak Tram’ in large brown letters just at the top of the fountain. This must be the place. And since I happened to be really lucky I saw a long long long line wrapped around the fountain and into the building. My journey then continued up along and on the road because I decided to walk from there. I wasn’t going to wait in that line, this isn’t Disneyland – although it is only a 40+ minute ride on the MTR away – I thought walking was the right choice. Was it a good idea or bad idea? I’ll let my sore calf muscles tell you that answer. But their answer is different from mine because they don’t have a brain – so they don’t have an answer… It was a good idea.
After sweating up a storm in the nighttime humidity that is Hong Kong, which even saw me take off my shirt so it would not get soaked through with sweat (yeah, gross I know, sorry about that image I just put in your brain…or am I?), I finally made it up to the top where the steady, and heavy, wind dried me off (another nice visual for you). Once there, I was treated to an awesome view of Hong Kong at night.
Apparently there’s a viewpoint where you can pay to go on top of a building and get the same view of Hong Kong (that’s just a little bit higher) as opposed to a spot that is free… What sounds better: A free view or one where you have to pay? The answer is, almost always, free. So that’s what I did. From up there I could see the 2 IFC building, the Bank of China Tower, the ICC building, the HSBC building and most of Kowloon across the water. It’s a great way to see the city and even better at night because the the city is literally lit up and you can see that it is alive. Even if it was foggy, I am sure the lights would shine through just like Rudolph’s red nose.
Once I was done taking in the view I made my way back down the road because the line for The Peak Tram was over 45 minutes long and it was deemed that the walk back down would take as long as the wait at the top. It was also less sweaty on the way down and a great way to end my first night in Hong Kong.
John Kidde Writes 