Hong Kong Islands

Being an exchange student has its perks, one of them being that the school goes out of its way to organize various cultural trips and sightseeing tours in Hong Kong. So instead of spending Saturday doing some much needed school work, I went on one such trips.

The excursion of the day was a trip to two of Hong Kong's 260 outlying islands: Lamma Island and Cheung Chau. Located south west of Hong Kong Island, they offer a bit of local-island culture, some spectacular scenery, and some much needed peace and quiet from the bustling city. The 45 minute boat ride from Tsim Sha Shui (the southern-most area of the Kowloon peninsula) took us first to Lamma Island. The village of Sok Kwu Wan is a small cosy fishing-village, which has attracted laid-back expats, mainly due to lower property prices. There is a magnitude of seafood restaurants (in which we had delicious lunch), an old shrine to the goddess of the sea, and a stunning view with the Hong Kong skyline in the horizon.

Cheung Chau, located further west, was reached around 4 PM. We went to the local temple, walked the busy promenade with seafood restaurants, crafts shops and western influences such as McDonalds. After spending a quick 45 minutes we boarded the boat and headed back to Tsim Sha Tsui.

Hong Kong's islands have a surprising cultural heritage, often lost by tourists who instead spend time in the city. Granted, Hong Kong Island, Kowloon and N.T all take weeks to fully discover, but the hour-long ferry ride is worth it to gain a day of fresh air and another side of Hong Kong. An example are the "kamikaze caves", a dozen or so caves hidden by the shrub on the beach, a couple of meters wide and up to 10+ meters deep. Used by the Japanese when they invaded Hong Kong in December 1941, the caves contained a couple of speedboats fully loaded with explosives. They were a means of defence against the expected British re-enforcement from the sea. When the ships approach Hong Kong, the speed boats would be dragged into the water and rammed into the British ships. But the surprisingly weak British resistance meant that they were never actually used.


By the time we reached Tsim Sha Shui, it was around 6:30 PM. Arriving in Victoria harbour by sea at dusk is quite an experience, with the skyline drenched in light and feeling that the city never really sleeps. It invigorates you and because something is always happening, you never really feel like you want to go home. So a couple of GLOBErs headed to Tsuen Wan on the western part of Kowloon to see a lantern festival, get some food, and spend time in a new part of the city. School work had to wait another day.