Onwards and upwards

The Mid levels which are about halfway up the Peak, have their very own escalators to take you up.  They run for a couple of miles from harbour level up to about three quarters of the way up.  Before 10 am they apparently only come down the way to bring all the folk who live up there to work and after that they only go up.  The escalators are covered so that they can be used in all weathers.  It’s quite interesting traveling on the escalators because they start up like moving walkways and become almost vertical moving stairways.  I’m not sure that I would like to come down some of them in the morning.  Anyway I didn’t have that problem.  I just had to walk down hundreds of stairs but first of all I wanted to get up to the top of the Peak.

To do that I took the Peak tram which has apparently been running up to the top for over 100 years.  It was put in for the well to do British and European Victorian settlers who wanted to live up there in their big houses away from the. disease and squalor.  It’s a funicular train and it takes 10 minutes to take you up to the Peak.  Most of the way is very steep although now and again you go hurtling down a wee valley and then up again at some speed before the climb slows the train down.  

At the top(well as near to the top as I was going since I am not my brother) there are awesome views out over the whole of the island.

I did get my photo taken at the Lion gate but you’ll have to wait to see that.  Going back down was very interesting.  The seats were facing backwards and lets just say that you take off at some speed and don’t slow down much.  That about covers it. I’m glad I’ve done it.  I won’t be doing it again.  The wobbles in my knees walking down the stairs after that to get back to the harbour may or may not have been the amount of stairs I had to cope with.

Well that wraps Hong Kong up.  As I said at the beginning I wasn’t sure what to expect of Hong Kong but I have throughly enjoyed it( apart from the humidity).  I loved the wee Star ferry.  I think it will be one of my highlights but so was the sampan ride and for very different reason the trip up to the Peak.  However I think the thing I’ll remember most is the unfailingly polite, helpful and friendly people of Hong Kong

I'll try and catch up with myself in the next 24 hours but I DO want my photos although I know they are not brilliant.  It's a lot easier thantrying to describe things.