Nighttime HK – so different to Hong Kong by day!

One of the must-dos here in Hong Kong is an evening boat cruise. Get ready, for here come a ton of photos. But first – I need to tell you about which boat to take…

If you just ride the regular ferry from Kowloon, you can catch some cool views. But if you hop on to one of the tourist boats and then spend two-and-a-half hours cruising back and forth along the strait between the islands – that’s a whole different story: much, much better.

The strait… what’s it called again? The internet reminds me it’s Victoria Strait, but that’s the British name (they used to name everything after their queens (and kings) back then). What was it called originally? And here’s where the internet stumbles, telling me, “The Victoria Strait in Hong Kong does not have a historical Chinese name”! But that can’t be true! Alas, I’m not great with Chinese search engines so the question regarding the Strait’s Chinese name remains unanswered.

Back to our evening cruise…

On a Sunday evening, the sizable tourist ship we were on was only around 10% full:

Why so empty? I was told that Sundays are generally quiet as everyone’s getting ready for the start of the working week. But I wasn’t having that. Locals only ride on these tourist boats maybe two or three times in their lifetimes – like, for a coming-of-age party or graduation, or some other special occasion. Indeed, “locals” the world over tend not to do touristy stuff where they live themselves.

Anyway – for whatever reason, Sundays are quiet: no crowds; therefore, I recommend a Sunday for your boat ride. Here’s why…

When we were getting ready for this boat trip, I imagined a small vessel, like for 20 people or so (and the description in the program did say “boat tour”). But then…

Surely this counts as a ship, not a boat? And only one-tenth full – both inside and out:

I don’t even know what to comment on henceforth, so here’s mainly just photos:

Construction/industrial areas:

Meanwhile, our boat keeps cruising along the Strait whose Chinese name I still don’t know. We’re moving away from the business districts toward the residential neighborhoods. Lots of other boats here too – against a backdrop of high-rise apartment buildings:

How many floors? 40? ->

Meanwhile – sunset!…

It was rather cloudy, so the sun didn’t shine through. But the way the clouds cast shadows was just a masterpiece! ->

Ok – no words; just pics! ->

Simply amazing!

Night falls, and the world around us starts playing a whole new melody:

There’s also some kind of laser show put on after dark. We sampled it last time and weren’t too impressed. This time was no better…

But all the other sights – just magical!

So – now do you see why I recommend it? :-)

And here’s the “boat” itself – by chance sporting our corporate green! ->

And that’s all for today folks. But I’ll be back with more from Hong Kong tomorrow!…