Monday, November 17, 2008

Boats of Hong Kong

Some pics of the boats saw while in Hong Kong.

First up, above, is the most spectacular, which saw gliding through Victoria Harbour one evening as sat in my room working on the laptop. I'd love to have been on board, but just looking at it gave a lovely feel for Hong Kong of the 19th century.

Having done some googling think its a reproduction of The Bounty that is based in Discovery Bay on nearby Lantau island. Unfortunately the only side to Lantau had a chance to see was the airport, so the sights there like this remain on my "next time" list.

Below of course is the iconic Star Ferry that are continually crossing the harbour:

For longer distances there are the fast cats - like this TurboJet preparing to leave Macau:

On the way there and back passed a couple of these fishing junks - wonder if that's where my sardines came from?

Back in Hong Kong had a chance to see the junks up close moored in Causeway Bay. It was glimpse of a traditional way of life, a bit anachronistic amongst the gleaming towers of steel and glass, but that mixture is part of the attraction of this city.

I think they can make their money taking tourists out for tours, and in which case maybe the more grimy the more "authentic".

Of course this being Hong Kong, where there are more Rolls Royces than anywhere else, there are also fleets of shiny Sun Seekers: