Crowds, Glitz and Expensive

We are happy to be in Hong Kong and think 3 days will be enough. We are spending a lot of money here, and not because we are shopping.

In the morning we took the tram to The Peak where 360 degree views of the bay and islands are beautiful. Next we experienced The Travelator, a 1.5 mile long escalator that goes up the hillsides of the city to restaurants, shopping and apartments. Late in the afternoon we rode the Star Ferry for an hour-long Victoria Harbor tour.

95 percent of Hong Kong residents are Chinese, and it's obvious they have had sufficient nutrition for at least a generation. They are MUCH bigger, both in height and weight than their Vietnamese and Cambodian neighbors. We don't feel like over-sized mooses here.

The array of very tall, very modern, very showy buildings is unlike anything we have seen anywhere. This place is very dense and fast-moving. The subway and buses are pretty easy to figure out, and very fast and easy once you do so. Jim J if you are reading this: on our way into town from the airport we passed a bus operating base, which included a 5-story structured parking garage for parking buses, not cars. Land is very pricey here.

The most expensive home in the world is here. It sold for $950 million in 2007, but only half that much when it sold again recently. All of you who are underwater on your home mortgages can be glad that is not the home you bought.

The air is very smoggy. And hot, but not as humid as Vietnam or Cambodia. There are, of course, no water buffalo or elephants here.