Another epic day starting with a 6am alarm in order to call Ni'mah for her Birthday.
Because this was such a busy day - here is a summary of our ventures:
- FANLING: Fung Ying Seen Koon Taoist Temple; Heritage Trail walk to see Shang Him Tong Hakka Lutheran Church, Shek Lo Mansion, Mo Wat Wai walled village, Lo Wu Walled Village, Tong Chung Ling Ancestral Hall, Tin Hau Temple (another one). Had a lovely few hours walking this trail which went even further and we would highly recommend this little escape from mainstream, modern HK. We saw people on bicycles at last, a variety of housing with veggie patches etc - a historical look at HK's past.
- TAI PO MARKET: got lost (had no map) while trying to find a couple of Colonial sites so sat in the square people watching, while enjoying a cake from a Chinese bakery.
- SHAI TIN WAI: Walked to Hakka Village - a village that was most recently used by Hakka people though little evidence of that now, it was still very interesting. We were concerned about going inside the walled outer to explore but when a tour turned up, we tacked onto the back of them and followed them through - avoiding the dog poo!
- DIAMOND HILL: Chi Lin Nunnery and the spectacular Nan Lian Garden adjoining the Nunnery. With a Japanese theme, this enormous 'park' was a joy to explore- from the vegan snacks to the huge variety of Bonsai and water features.
- LOK FU: Kowloon Walled City Park - took us ages to find this as missed the pink tourist signs and went a few blocks too far. From the outside, it doesn't seem to interesting however, internally there was a great deal of information about this spot over the decades which was educational.
Both our legs were absolutely aching by this point - from village streets, to staircase after staircase - every muscle had had a good workout. Luckily we stumbled across a bus going directly to Tsim Sha Tsui to get The Star Ferry home.
Today we caught The Star Ferry twice, 2 trams, a double decker bus, a local green minibus to the Heritage Trail and boarded trains more than 10 times. It was , yet I say, another epic day!
After resting our weary bones, we metro girls - always up for a bit of night life- strolled out, amongst the crowds, to find somewhere for dinner. We highly recommend The Red Ant for inexpensive dinner sets - 3 course meals for under $10AUD including refillable glasses of hot water! We opted for a la carte which was even cheaper as weren't too hungry, just longing to lie down and fall asleep. Once back, we watched a movie instead - hope we get some recovery time when we return home.
