My Hong Kong travel was not part of any plan or a holiday. It just happened. With husband’s short term assignment in this country and my full time job, it was hard to accompany him for the four months that he was going to be away. So, we made up a plan and decided to talk to our employers about it. Luckily, we were supported. I was given flexibility to work from Hong Kong and that helped me visit this city twice in four months.
Hong Kong impressed me from the moment I stepped into the city. With a perfect blend of natural beauty and impressive infrastructure, there are a lot of tourist attractions to visit. Guided tours or exploring Hong Kong alone – you will never feel bored! Sitting and typing this from home in Bangalore, this post is at the right time expressing my new-found love for Hong Kong.
Hong Kong as you know is Asia’s World City. From cable cars that take you over mountains to high speed boats to reach another island, there is every conceivable mode of transport that you can ever imagine. However, one thing that you cannot avoid doing in Hong Kong is walking. Surprised, eh? Well, explore Hong Kong on foot and discover a new side of this urban city.
Whether you like it or not, most of the public transport is designed to take you directly to attractions and to get a bus, MTR or even a Star Ferry – you need to walk. Pedestrians are given way in Hong Kong and traffic signals are well adjusted to support crossing the roads. Commercial establishments also use public infrastructure and they connect various building and MTR stations.
Beauty of Hong Kong Trails
During our trips to various attractions, something that we found common was a trail. A trail is in the truest term a path carved out for a safe walk. It could be as long as miles and is designed to be best experienced on foot. While we were on our trip, we observed many trails and tourists exploring these trails – on the Peak, to Lantau and even the Hong Kong Park trail. These trails let people experience the natural best of Hong Kong. While on one trail that we took, there were patches of bamboo forests, a view point revealing the riveting skyline, the neat and organized harbor and then curling up the mountain. Imagine getting to see all this at one time. A perfect sightseeing moment!
The Highs and Lows of Hong Kong
Hong Kong is on a mountain and streets have been carved out of these high mountains. The areas have been divided to be known as low, central and mid-levels. Between these levels, the shorter way was to get going on the steps. Now just the steps would have been boring and the city grew up fast. Hence, these steps have become home to wet markets, restaurants and small outlets to shop. I explored the Graham Street wet market and road side street shopping on these elevated roads and steps. While I could not cover many, these short cuts are long enough to get to your pockets if you are a shopaholic.
FitBit, Hong Kong and Walking Pleasures
Walking in Hong Kong is a pleasure. Immaculately done-up signs showing distances and safe walkways add to the comfort and you never have the feeling of getting lost. A woman walking alone in Hong Kong is not at all a risk, infact it is fun – a fun I could never replicate in Delhi or Bangalore. If it’s too hot, too cold or even when it rains, you can walk within the commercial spaces that connect the city. Escalators and travellators are easily available and well maintained.
I came to Hong Kong with a new gadget, a FitBit Charge HR and I must that my progress on that has been good. With a weekly statistics of approximately 50kms, a good workout and healthy diet (wish it was) here should ensure a well maintained waist-line. Along with that walking takes you closer to a city’s culture because that’s when you get a chance to interact with the locals.
So, pack your right shoes when you pack bags for Hong Kong! You will enjoy walking here as much as I did.
This a guest blog contributed by a passionate blogger Parul
Full time HR professional during the day and Blogger after calls in the night. A working homemaker who hates cleaning and can hardly cook. A family photographer and life lover 🙂
You can find her blogging on happiness and food. Do check her blog! It is fun and sensitive.
8 comments
Thank You for writing
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Thank you Swathi! 🙂
Nice to visit Hong Kong through your words, Parul, as I mentioned earlier at your blog too. 🙂
Gitanjali, I love the background image of your blog. It just fits the word travel so well! 😀
Thank you so much Leo 🙂 Keep in touch!
Great write up Parul!! Need to explore Hond Kong one day! And yes, Fitbit is an awesome activity tracking device!!
[…] head over to Gitanjali’s blog and read about ‘Exploring Hong Kong on foot’. Hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed […]
Thank you Gitanjali. While I wanted to write usual story about Hong Kong, your recommendation to write something different pushed me to think if this. Reading my words on your blog does feel great! 🙂
Hope your readers like it! 🙂
You are most welcome 🙂 The honour is completely mine. Your story on exploring Hong Kong motivated me to walk and trust me it is the best way to explore a city.