Ceci est le cinquième épisode de notre voyage en Asie, après les préparations, les vaccins, le premier jour à Hong Kong et la découverte de Kowloon.
L'île d'Hong Kong
Pour notre deuxième jour (complet) à Hong Kong, nous avions l'intention de passer la journée au parc Disneyland, mais après la fatigue de la veille, et une autre nuit en partie insomniaque, nous sommes restés trop tard au lit et que nous avons préféré poursuivre la visite de la ville. Après la partie Kowloon, nous avons exploré l'île de Hong Kong, avec tout d'abord un tour du quartier financier où les gratte-ciels rivalisent de hauteur et de luxe. Le trafic dans les rues est plutôt intense mais sans exagération, car il y a au final peu de voitures et beaucoup de transports en commun - notamment des trams à deux étages plutôt amusants. Ce quartier est un peu compliqué pour les piétons car les grandes artères se traversent en utilisant des ponts ou des sous-terrains qu'il faut trouver, et puis se ballader le nez en l'air pour tenter de profiter un peu de l'architecture est fatiguant au final ! Mais ce lieu ressemble tellement à Manhattan que c'en est bluffant.
Dans le même coin, nous avons vu la cathédrale Saint John, relique de l'époque coloniale, et le parc de Hong Kong, avec ses jolis poissons et sa magnifique volière pleine de perroquets. C'est amusant comme la nature peut être luxuriante en plein milieu de la ville !
The Peak
Dans l'après-midi, nous sommes monté jusqu'au Peak. Il s'agit d'un haute colline qui surplombe l'île. On y accède grâce à un petit tram de plus de cent ans d'âge qui grimpe une pente très, très raide pour un trajet d'une grosse demi-heure. Tout en haut, il y a un petit complexe avec des boutiques, des restaurants et une tour panoramique. La vue d'en haut porte sur la ville d'un côté et sur les paysages plus naturels de l'autre côté de l'île. Nous y sommes restés jusqu'au coucher du soleil, histoire d'avoir des photos de jour et de nuit.
Au moment de descendre, il commençait à faire un petit peu froid, et la file pour le tram du retour était vraiment très longue... Alors Mr Ours a eu l'idée saugrenue de redescendre à pied. Et il a bizarrement réussi à me convaincre. Nous voilà donc le long de la pente raide, sur une route qui serpente, dans la nuit. Au début, il s'agissait d'une rue pour voitures bien éclairée, mais au bout de quelques centaines de mètres, un chemin pour piétons bifurquait vers le bas. Heureusement pour nous, le passage était étroit mais macadamisé et bien entretenu, car il n'était pas éclairé et entouré de végétation qui nous cachait les lumières de la ville en contrebas ; autrement dit, il faisait noir comme dans un four ! Ceci dit, la petite aventure a fini par être plutôt agréable, surtout quand on est à deux, que la température est idéale pour un peu de sport facile, et qu'entre deux arbres l'on distingue la vue sur l'une des plus belles villes du monde. Le vent apportait des odeurs de mer, de poisson, et de temps en temps, un parfum de fleur très subtil que je regrette vraiment de ne pas avoir pu identifier. Finalement, la promenade impromptue et nocturne fut plutôt une bonne idée !
Disneyland
Le soir, nous avons mangé relativement tôt dans notre petit fast food chinois du premier jour, et le lendemain matin (mercredi) nous étions en pleine forme pour la fameuse journée à Disneyland. S'y rendre est très facile puisqu'il y a une ligne de métro spéciale qui y mène (avec des rames spéciales aux fenêtres en forme de Mickey...). Le terrain où il se trouve est situé près de l'aéroport et fait partie des terres récupérées sur la mer.
Disneyland, c'est toujours Disneyland, et comme à celui de Paris les décors sont soignés et tout est fait pour créer la magie de Disney qui nous fait retomber en enfance. Mais par rapport à Disneyland Paris, celui-ci est beaucoup plus petit et il y avait très peu d'attractions "à sensations" pour adultes : le petit train de la mine, le Space Mountain qui était en maintenance, un train aux rails très courts et un "pilier à parachutes". Tout le reste, y-compris les spectacles, est avant tout destiné aux enfants. Après avoir essayé toutes les attractions qui nous intéressaient, nous avons fait plusieurs tours sur le petit train de Buzz Lightyear à cause de son système de tir sur cibles qui nous amuse tous les deux (d'autant plus que j'ai battu Mr Ours deux fois sur trois) et nous avons assisté à deux spectacles ("Le Roi Lion" et "The Golden Mickeys") et à la parade, mais au milieu de l'après-midi nous nous ennuyions déjà. Nous sommes donc rentrés pour une nouvelle sieste et comme nous nous sommes réveillés trop tard, nous avons sauté allègrement le dîner.
Dernier jour, l'aventure du check-in
Le lendemain (jeudi 8 novembre) était le jour de notre départ pour la Thaïlande, mais notre avion ne partait que dans l'après-midi et il fallait libérer la chambre avant midi. Nous avons donc pris notre valise et l'avons emmenée à la station de métro centrale de l'île d'Hong Kong, où un ingénieux système permet de faire sur place le check-in pour le vol, de laisser ses bagages qui seront transportés à l'aéroport et de prendre soi-même un train direct plus tard. Le problème c'est que le check-in en question n'était ouvert que quatre heures avant l'heure du vol, ce qui nous a obligé à déposer notre valise à la consigne le temps d'aller faire une nouvelle ballade à Kowloon. Puis au moment du check-in, problèmes techniques : l'employé semblait tout perdu parce qu'on était l'un des rares clients à voler sur Ethiopian Airlines (un vol qui faisait une escale à Bangkok en reliant Hong Kong à Addis Abeba).
Le check-in a finalement réussi, mais on m'a également demandé, une fois à l'aéroport, de me rendre aux comptoirs de la compagnie aérienne pour signer un papier authentifiant le paiement - c'est la toute première fois qu'on me demande un truc pareil ! Après un dernier tour dans le centre d'Hong Kong et un bon repas, nous avons donc pris le train jusqu'à l'aéroport et sommes partis à la recherche des comptoirs d'Ethiopian Airlines. Sur le chemin, nous croisons un attroupement assez comique avec une longue file de caddies à bagages surmontés d'énormes paquets emballés dans du cellophane, et seulement cinq ou six hommes pour les encadrer. C'était tellement comique que Mr Ours a pris une petite photo souvenir... puis on s'est rendu compte qu'il s'agissait de la file pour le check-in de notre avion ! Petit moment de frayeur concernant le poids de la soute... Mais je vous rassure, tout s'est bien passé !
Hong Kong, c'est fini pour le moment ! Pour le prochain numéro, je vous emmènerai à Bangkok :)
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| Pour voir notre album d'Hong Kong, cliquer sur cette photo / To see our Hong Kong photo album, click on this picture |
This is the fifth episode of our trip in Asia, after the preparations, vaccinations, our first day in Hong Kong and our discovery of Kowloon.
We intended to spend our second (full) day in Hong Kong at Disneyland, but after the fatigue of the first day and another partly insomniac night, we stayed in bed too late and we chose to continue our city tour instead. After Kowloon, we explored the island of Hong Kong, with first a tour of the financial district where skyscrapers compete for height and luxury. The traffic in the streets is pretty intense but not unbearable, because there are ultimately few cars and many public transports - including double-decker trams which are rather fun. This area is a bit complicated for pedestrians because large arteries can only be crossed using overhead or underground passages that can be hard to find, and then strolling with our nose in the air trying to enjoy a bit of architecture is tiring! But this place is so much like Manhattan, it's stunning.
In the same area, we saw the St John Cathedral, a relic of the colonial era, and the Hong Kong Park, with its lovely fishes and beautiful aviary full of parrots. It's funny how nature can be luxurious in the middle of a city!
In the afternoon, we climbed to the Peak. The Peak is a high hill overlooking the island. It is accessed by a tramway over a hundred years old that climbs a very, very steep road for a good half hour. At the top, there is a small complex with shops, restaurants and an observation tower. The view is wonderful, with the city on one side and the more natural landscape on the other side of the island. We stayed until sunset, in order to get both daily and nightly photos.
When we decided to get back to the hotel, it was getting a little cold, and the queue for the tram back was really long... So Mr Bear had the bright idea of walking down. And, strangely, he managed to convinced me. So here we are along the steep, winding road in the night. At first, it was a well-lit car street car, but after a few hundred meters a footpath forked down. Fortunately for us, the passage was narrow but covered with a well maintained tarmac because it was not lit and was surrounded by vegetation that hid the lights of the city below, ie, it was pitch-black! That said, the little adventure ended up being pretty good, thanks to a pleasant companion, ideal temperature for a bit of easy sport, and occasional glimpses of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The wind brought the smell of sea, fish, and occasionally a very subtle fragrance of flowers that I really regret not having been able to identify. Finally, this impromptu walk in the night was a pretty good idea!
In the evening we ate relatively early in the small Chinese fast food we had discovered the first day, and the next morning (Wednesday) we were ready for Disneyland. Getting there is easy as there is a special metro line (including special trains with Mickey shaped windows ...). The land where it is located is near the airport and is part of the land reclaimed on the sea.
Disneyland is always Disneyland and like in Paris, decorations are neat and everything is done to create the magic of Disney that brings visitors back to childhood. But compared to Disneyland Paris, it is much smaller and there were very few rides for adults: the usual mine train, Space Mountain which was down for maintenance, a train with very short rails and a "parachutes pillar". Everything else, including the shows, are intended primarily for children. After trying all the attractions that interested us, we did several laps on the train of Buzz Lightyear because of its system of target shooting which amuses us both (especially since I beat Mr Bear two out of three times) and we attended two shows ("The Lion King" and "the Golden Mickeys") and the parade, but around the middle of the afternoon we were getting bored. We went back to the hotel for a nap and as we woke up too late, we unwillingly skipped dinner.
The next day (Thursday, 8 November) was the day of our departure for Thailand, but our flight was leaving in the afternoon and we had to leave the hotel room before noon. So we took our suitcase and carried it to the central metro station on the island of Hong Kong, where an ingenious system allows on-site check-in for the flight, as your luggage will be transported at the airport and travellers can take a direct train later. The problem is that the check-in question was open only four hours before the flight and we were too early, so we had to drop our luggage while we had another walk around Kowloon. Then at the time of check-in, technical problems arose: the employee seemed lost because customers flying on Ethiopian Airlines were rare (our flight made a stop in Bangkok en route to Addis Ababa) .
The check-in was eventually successful, but I was also asked to later go to the airline counter at the airport to sign a paper authenticating the payment - this is the first time I was ever asked such a thing! After a final tour in the center of Hong Kong and a good meal, we took the train to the airport and went searching for Ethiopian Airlines counters. On the way, we passed a comical crowd with a long line of baggage carts carrying huge packages wrapped in cellophane, and only five or six men to push them. It was so funny that Mr Bear took a small souvenir photo... then we realized it was the queue for check-in to our flight! We were for a while a little worried about the weight of the cargo... But I assure you, everything went well!
That's it for Hong Kong. In the next issue, I will take you to Bangkok :)
Hong Kong Island
We intended to spend our second (full) day in Hong Kong at Disneyland, but after the fatigue of the first day and another partly insomniac night, we stayed in bed too late and we chose to continue our city tour instead. After Kowloon, we explored the island of Hong Kong, with first a tour of the financial district where skyscrapers compete for height and luxury. The traffic in the streets is pretty intense but not unbearable, because there are ultimately few cars and many public transports - including double-decker trams which are rather fun. This area is a bit complicated for pedestrians because large arteries can only be crossed using overhead or underground passages that can be hard to find, and then strolling with our nose in the air trying to enjoy a bit of architecture is tiring! But this place is so much like Manhattan, it's stunning.
In the same area, we saw the St John Cathedral, a relic of the colonial era, and the Hong Kong Park, with its lovely fishes and beautiful aviary full of parrots. It's funny how nature can be luxurious in the middle of a city!
The Peak
In the afternoon, we climbed to the Peak. The Peak is a high hill overlooking the island. It is accessed by a tramway over a hundred years old that climbs a very, very steep road for a good half hour. At the top, there is a small complex with shops, restaurants and an observation tower. The view is wonderful, with the city on one side and the more natural landscape on the other side of the island. We stayed until sunset, in order to get both daily and nightly photos.
When we decided to get back to the hotel, it was getting a little cold, and the queue for the tram back was really long... So Mr Bear had the bright idea of walking down. And, strangely, he managed to convinced me. So here we are along the steep, winding road in the night. At first, it was a well-lit car street car, but after a few hundred meters a footpath forked down. Fortunately for us, the passage was narrow but covered with a well maintained tarmac because it was not lit and was surrounded by vegetation that hid the lights of the city below, ie, it was pitch-black! That said, the little adventure ended up being pretty good, thanks to a pleasant companion, ideal temperature for a bit of easy sport, and occasional glimpses of one of the most beautiful cities in the world. The wind brought the smell of sea, fish, and occasionally a very subtle fragrance of flowers that I really regret not having been able to identify. Finally, this impromptu walk in the night was a pretty good idea!
Disneyland
In the evening we ate relatively early in the small Chinese fast food we had discovered the first day, and the next morning (Wednesday) we were ready for Disneyland. Getting there is easy as there is a special metro line (including special trains with Mickey shaped windows ...). The land where it is located is near the airport and is part of the land reclaimed on the sea.
Disneyland is always Disneyland and like in Paris, decorations are neat and everything is done to create the magic of Disney that brings visitors back to childhood. But compared to Disneyland Paris, it is much smaller and there were very few rides for adults: the usual mine train, Space Mountain which was down for maintenance, a train with very short rails and a "parachutes pillar". Everything else, including the shows, are intended primarily for children. After trying all the attractions that interested us, we did several laps on the train of Buzz Lightyear because of its system of target shooting which amuses us both (especially since I beat Mr Bear two out of three times) and we attended two shows ("The Lion King" and "the Golden Mickeys") and the parade, but around the middle of the afternoon we were getting bored. We went back to the hotel for a nap and as we woke up too late, we unwillingly skipped dinner.
Last day and check-in adventures
The next day (Thursday, 8 November) was the day of our departure for Thailand, but our flight was leaving in the afternoon and we had to leave the hotel room before noon. So we took our suitcase and carried it to the central metro station on the island of Hong Kong, where an ingenious system allows on-site check-in for the flight, as your luggage will be transported at the airport and travellers can take a direct train later. The problem is that the check-in question was open only four hours before the flight and we were too early, so we had to drop our luggage while we had another walk around Kowloon. Then at the time of check-in, technical problems arose: the employee seemed lost because customers flying on Ethiopian Airlines were rare (our flight made a stop in Bangkok en route to Addis Ababa) .
The check-in was eventually successful, but I was also asked to later go to the airline counter at the airport to sign a paper authenticating the payment - this is the first time I was ever asked such a thing! After a final tour in the center of Hong Kong and a good meal, we took the train to the airport and went searching for Ethiopian Airlines counters. On the way, we passed a comical crowd with a long line of baggage carts carrying huge packages wrapped in cellophane, and only five or six men to push them. It was so funny that Mr Bear took a small souvenir photo... then we realized it was the queue for check-in to our flight! We were for a while a little worried about the weight of the cargo... But I assure you, everything went well!
That's it for Hong Kong. In the next issue, I will take you to Bangkok :)
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| Pour voir notre album Disneyland, cliquer sur cette photo / To see our Disneyland photo album, click on this picture |
Sympa tout ça et ça a dû être quelque chose de voyager sur Ethiopian Airlines ! :)
ReplyDeleteTes albums photo sont superbes !!!!
ReplyDeleteC'est vrai qu'il faut être en forme pour visiter Disney land, cela ne se fait pas comme ça :) En tout cas j’espère que vous avez pu visiter autres choses dans la ville, il y a tant de chose à voir!
ReplyDelete