With two weeks in Hong Kong, I had plenty of time to explore. In addition to seeing the main sites on the island, I headed out for a few offshore excursions, including a couple small fishing villages and a former Portuguese colony.
Lei Yue Mun fishing village
Just a short ferry ride from busy Hong Kong is the tiny fishing village of Lei Yue Mun. I got there by taking Hong Kong’s Island line metro to Sai Wan Ho station. From there it’s a five minute walk to the ferry terminal. Being a little harbor hopper ferry, there isn’t much of a terminal. I tapped my Hong Kong Octopus card and passed through the turnstile into the waiting area with a few other people.
The ferry runs every 30 minutes and the crossing takes about 15 so you’re never waiting long before you’re on the boat. After the crossing, you have to make your way clockwise around a rectangular shaped harbor. It’s filled with colorful fishing boats which make for great pictures and a nice introduction to the village. Once you enter the fish stalls, however, it all gets a bit confusing.
There is not really a clear path to get through the stalls, and I did go the wrong way at one point. I was quickly corrected by a local, who didn’t want me wandering into the more residential part of the village. He pointed to a red arrow painted on the wall, and I realized those were to be my guides through the dark maze of fish stalls.
Once out the other side, it gets a lot easier as there is a single path that works its way around the peninsula. There’s a cute little lighthouse perched upon a rock as the path begins to turn and a nice gravel beach with views of downtown Hong Kong. Once you turn your back on the city, however, you go back in time to a simple life where people get around on foot or by bicycle. The narrow path doesn’t allow for more.
As if to remind you of how long the fishing village has been there, you have to pass through the Lei Yue Mun Tin Hau Temple built in 1753. The path continues through another fishing village before opening up to the ruins of an old rock quarry. Some of the stone structures resemble a military garrison, and I confirmed my suspicion later.
After climbing around the ruins, I began to scale the steep rock face that dropped into the ocean at a 45 degree angle. As I followed the cliff edge, I came across a few gun turrets. They were overgrown with vegetation, but the views from them justified their position guarding the entrance to the harbor.
I followed a narrow path through the trees that seemed to be heading in the right direction, and I was pleased when the path dropped me right in front of the temple. I made my way back the way I came and caught the ferry back to Hong Kong island. The whole trip only took a couple hours, but I had traveled back in time many years!
Tai O and Big Buddha
Lantau Island makes a wonderful day trip from Hong Kong or even a short visit during a long layover in Hong Kong. From Hong Kong, you can either take the Tung Chung metro line to the end or the ferry from Central Pier. From the airport, you’ll need to catch a bus or cab to Tung Chung station and transfer to the Tai O bus from there. If you want to be more creative, you can do what I did the first time I visited.
I had a seven hour layover in Hong Kong, and instead of just hanging around at the airport, I decided to get out and explore. A five minute taxi ride took me from the terminal to the Tung Chung Development Pier. I’d looked up the schedule online, and the ferry timing should have been just perfect. Sadly, when I got to the terminal, they told me the ferry was fully booked for the only trip that would have worked for me.
I appealed my case explaining this was my only chance to see Tai O, and the dock attendant told me I could wait to see if there was room. I was pretty sure I’d said enough to get him invested in my success and was grateful when he found a way to get me on board. 30 minutes later, I arrived at the little fishing village of Tai O.
It is a quaint place that is well designed to sell fish and photographs to its many visitors. After walking the length of the town, I came to a hiking path which led up to several pagodas that crowned the hill above the town. It is a nice loop that took me about 45 minutes to walk and offered expansive views over the wide mouth of the Pearl River.
With a significant amount of time still left, I decided to board a bus to Ngong Ping, home of the Big Buddha. It’s no surprise where this gets its name. At 111 feet and perched just below Hong Kong’s second highest peak, it can be seen from almost anywhere in Hong Kong. Even from the base, you must climb 260 steps to reach the Buddha. The views from the top are even more amazing. You can see Hong Kong, Macau, and China as you walk around the statue.
There is also a large red temple on the site with beautiful architecture and if you want, you can pay a couple dollars for a vegetarian meal. There is a tourist center with numerous gift shops and a short trail to take you to the Wisdom Path, a collection of 38 wooden monuments that reminded me of totem poles with their tall narrow stature. Instead of carved animals, the monuments are carved with Chinese characters.
Of course, if you continue on the trail, you can climb the hundreds of steps to Lantau peak, but I didn’t have the time or knowledge of this excursion on that visit. Had I been visiting during the right season, I could have caught the gondola back town to Tung Chung station, but unfortunately, it was not running.
Instead, I caught the bus back to the station and transferred back to the airport. It should be noted that I did this on a weekday. Weekends on Lantau island are extremely busy, and had I done it then, there’s a chance I would have missed my onward flight. Fortunately, I arrived with plenty of time to eat dinner and board my flight.
Macau
Macau is most easily accessed by a one and a half hour ferry trip from Hong Kong’s Central pier. Well, that’s not exactly true; you can take a 15 minute helicopter ride from the same building, but it’s significantly more expensive. Still, if you have the money, it’s a great sightseeing trip over the harbor. Finally, you can take a bus. However you go, don’t forget to bring your passport.
Like Hong Kong, Macau is a Special Administrative Region of China. Both operate under the “two systems, one country” principle. Regardless of what that means politically, for the visitor, they need to be treated as foreign countries. Your passport will be stamped in and out of each as you pass through customs. Because of this, don’t forget to allow extra time when arriving for the ferry.
As my ferry pulled into the harbor at Macau, I was surprised that I could read the signs. It took a few moments before I realized why. They were in Portuguese, which reads a lot more easily than it sounds, at least for someone who can read Spanish. I learned that Macau had been a Portuguese colony for over 400 years before becoming part of China in 1999. The familiarity didn’t stop there.
A 15 minute bus ride from the ferry terminal brought me to the colonial center, Senado square. I was surprised to see the streets were made of stone laid out in mosaic patterns like you see in Europe and Mexico. The buildings surrounding the square had European facades, and of course, a Catholic church dominated one end of the square. There were more to be found as I climbed my way up narrow winding cobblestone streets.
Perched above the city is the Monte de Forte, basically Mountain Fort. It has a view that allows vigilance of any approach by water. Today it simply functions like a pit boss overlooking the casinos in the distance.
Macau is most famous for its casinos although I didn’t visit any of them during my short visit. I go to Las Vegas several times a year, and I had no need to see replicas of replicas, like the Venetian. Instead, I traversed the city’s hills to Guia Hill Municipal Park, the largest and highest park in Macau. It is locally known as the green lung.
Compared to Hong Kong, I actually found Macau to be cheaper and more livable than Hong Kong. You hardly hear horns honking, there are wide sidewalks and dedicated pedestrian pathways, and it just runs at a lot less hectic pace. The only reason I’d prefer Hong Kong ove Macau is the access to nature and great public transportation system. Macau is basically only a city center.
Probably the most significant thing the two have in common is that you can use your Hong Kong dollars in Macau. They do have their own currency, the Macanese Pataca, which conveniently has a one to one exchange rate with the Hong Kong dollar. Just be careful because your change is given in Pataca, which cannot be spent in Hong Kong.
Aside from a vicarious trip to Portugal or Venice, there is not much to do in Macau, so I headed through the mile long tunnel that runs underneath the park and connects almost directly with the aerial walkway back to the ferry terminal. The services inside are minimal so if you do manage to clear customs quickly, as I did at mid-day, there’s not much to do but read a book or look out over the harbor.
Hong Kong is expensive, but it does offer a lot for its price tag, and I definitely think it is worth the trip. There are a couple of hostels downtown, and a few reasonable AirBnBs. Meals are only expensive if you eat Western food. There are plenty of budget noodle shops everywhere. The best value though is Hong Kong’s excellent transportation system, which takes you anywhere on or around the region for a very reasonable price.