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It was a short ride on the MTR subway over to the Central station, where we had to walk a few blocks to get to the Peak Tram. It’s incredible how cheap it is to take the tram here (less than $4 round trip) - for example, compared to the $25 ride on the train up Pikes Peak and $19 for the Table Top mountain tram in South Africa. :) We got out tickets and rode up to the top. It was a very steep incline going up.
We first checked out the horses parade for the 1st race. We had picked out our winners already for races 3-5, but decided to pick winners for races 1 and 2 just to see how good our horse-picking skill was. We moved over to the outdoor seating to watch the race and Tom’s horse, "First Baby", ended up winning! Too bad we hadn't placed a bet :( We got a delicious noodle lunch from inside our A/C Champion Circle area and then watched the 2nd race - Mario’s pick won (again no bet). We put bets on the 3rd, 4th and 5th races, and in the end, picked 2 more winners. We only put bets for the horses to place (1st, 2nd or 3rd place), so we didn't get as much as we would have if we picked them to win (the "should have" syndrome :)). All in all, we walked away with maybe $3 - haha. It was a fun time, and the first horse race either of us have ever been to.
We wandered out into the nearby shopping district for a quick dinner at an organic food restaurant. The whole wheat pizzas were great! After that, it was time for the final light show over the harbor. We decided we'd better make the extra effort to walk over to the water and see the show from the water's edge (along with the other hundred people who thought that was a good idea too). It was good, but I think we've had our fill of the light show for now :) Off to bed and no agenda for tomorrow except sleeping in and getting ready for China. View Hong Kong (& Macau) Photo Gallery Day 124 - Macau < | Index | Photo Galleries | > Day 126 - Wrapping up Hong Kong © 2007 Blue Ocean Studios, LTD. All rights Reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Services | About | Contact Prints | Return Policy | View Cart World Travel Galleries | World Travel Blog | Links |
We woke up to a partly cloudy day today - the best sky coverage we have had so far in Hong Kong! We decided we'd better take the opportunity while we had it to go up to the top of the peak overlooking the city. It had been cloudy and rainy all week, with no sight of the peak. We got up extra early and met downstairs at 8am. No breakfast for us, as we were hoping to be able to have something to eat while we overlooked the view of the city below. 
At the top, we enjoyed the views for a while at the many lookouts. The day was still pretty hazy, so our pictures are not the best, but we were just glad that we could see anything at all! There is a huge shopping center up at the top, which fits right in with the rest of Hong Kong - shopping seems to be a major past time here. We found one restaurant that was opening at 9:30am (weird none of the restaurants were open for breakfast this early except this one, and this one was only open so early on Sundays!). We were rewarded with an amazing window-side table overlooking the city. We checked out the skyscrapers and had what Tom says is the best breakfast experience of his life!!
After the peak, it was time to hit the races. We had found out that there was a horse race going on this afternoon, so we thought it would be a fun thing to do while in Hong Kong. They love their horse racing and gambling here - as we found out during our time in Macau. We took the KCR rail from Kowloon up to the Sha Tin Racecourse. Somehow we lucked out and got set up with one of the racecourse workers specializing in taking care of tourists. She told us it was free entry for tourists into the race, but we could pay a little ($3.50 each) to get into the air conditioned part of the seating. There, we could place our bets, enjoy some food, watch the horses parade in the back area, and watch the races either inside on one of the many flat screen TVs, or outside in the "Champion Circle"-only seating area. She said "Asians love their air-conditioning", so we would have no problem finding a seat outside whenever we wanted! And it is true - we've found the A/C to be on full blast (even too cold for us) in many places around Hong Kong :). As if walking us around and giving the tour and the lay out of the land here wasn't enough, our tourist guide person went the extra mile and had some headphones lent out to us so that we could listen to the commentary in English (it was all in Chinese). This was a 1st class way to spend our day at the races!
Next stop was the Temple of the 10,000 Buddhas in Sha Tin. We took a short cab ride there from the racetrack. The temple is placed high on a hill surrounded by a thick forest. We had to climb up many many stairs to get up to the temple. Luckily, every few feet along the stairs were golden Buddhas to keep us company. Each Buddha was unique and we enjoyed studying them as we climbed up. Also along the path were some monkey friends, hanging out in the trees, and one even hanging out with a Buddha :) We made it to the top and entered the main temple. It was lined with what I can only imagine are the remainder of the 10,000 Buddhas all along the walls. The temple was covered top to bottom with miniature golden Buddhas, again, all (from what I could tell) were in unique positions. Next to the temple was a stunning red pagoda that looked out over the mountains. After making our way around the rest of the temple complex, we decided to call it a day and headed back to the hotel. 
We took the KCR train back and had a few hours to rest up before dinner. The public transportation in Hong Kong has really impressed us. Not only is it very convenient to most anywhere we have wanted to go, but it is super clean. In fact, the entire country has been cleaner than anywhere else we've been so far. There are fines for littering, spitting and other public offences and it seems like the people really abide by those laws. Even the public bathrooms are cleaned many times per day and are spotless!