Hong Kong : If you can dare the crowd and bear the heat

As a travel freak, we (family) always make it a point to visit a new place every year. Last year has been an exception as we were awaiting the arrival of new member. So, this year, to celebrate my first son’s fifth birthday, we zero’d in on Hong Kong. Achyut (my first son) was always craving for Disney land. I had no idea how he gained the knowledge about Disney land even before he reached 5. At this age, I think the maximum I craved for was a trip to my grandparents next street : ( Never mind,  such is the globalization (eh ??)

Hong Kong is again a small country (may be around 3 times the size of Singapore) and located on the South Eastern border of China. The country is formed out of Chinese people moved out of mainland china (I don't wanna go in to the political reasons for good reasons) Macau, for your information is not a place in Hong Kong. It is another tiny country located 30 KMS away from Hong Kong. I came to know this only a month ago ; ) Hong Kong is predominantly crowded with Chineese and Filipino Tourists. People their hardly speak English but you won’t be completely lost as in case of Austria or Prague.  After our tough and exciting experience, here is the perfect info to help you plan your trip to Hong Kong

The evening tour of City and Victoria Peak:

This is all about depart at evening (around 4 or 5 PM) reach the tram station in the bottom of the hill and take your tram to the Victoria peak. The tram ride is about 8 minutes and the view from the hill is just beautiful overlooking the HK skyliners where you can walk around, take pics and visit the famous Madame Tussads Wax Meusesum. This is the meuseum chain in London, Paris etc., where you can find real life size wax models. This is the best chance to take pic with celebrities. You will definitely love your visit to Victoria Peak. After this, get back down and visit the Clock Tower which is a huge stretch along the bank where you can walk around and enjoy HK skyliners at night. There is a laser light show at night you may want to watch. (Total duration : 4-5 Hours)

Lantau Island-Tai O Village:

HK is composed of 3+ main islands. Lan tau is the one where Airport, Disney Land, Buddhist monastery and Tai O Village exists. The Lan Tau Island is a blissful Cable car ride (for about 30 mins) to the top of the hill and relax yourself under the giant Buddha statue. The monastery is one of the main attractions and nothing much other than that. From there it's a 15 minutes’ drive to Tai-O village. To me, this village is the real Hong Kong with some history.  The villagers are the original HK residents and the main trade was fishing those times. You can still find the living village who stick with the old houses on the banks rejecting the housing facilities provided by the govt. This, over the years turned out to be tourist attraction. You can pick Tai O village only if you are interested in history and exploring HK culture (Total Duration: 4-5 Hours)

Disney Land:

The gigantic-huge-stuffed Disney land is the chief attraction of Hong Kong. I would suggest you not to target those silly thrill rides. Instead, spend your quality time in the shows they conduct over there. Here is the list of items (in the order of top priority to the least) for your pleasure in Disney land

- The evening parade that stars at 3.30 PM where all Disney characters comes out in the main street. This will be damn crowded and you need to be there atleast 40 mins prior to the start to secure a decent view spot. The parade will be for around 30 minutes but a high quality one. Mind you, it will be scorching heat there and be prepared with umbrellas and hats.

- The fireworks at 9 PM around Castle area. This is a beautiful fireworks show and again, you got to be prepared well ahead and after this, people start walking off and call it a day

- The Disney characters (Light year, woody, Stitch, Mickey etc.,) will be wandering everywhere and you can take pictures with them. The kids will absolutely love this. Achu was so thrilled to find his fav. Light year buzz and still thinks that is the place the actual Buzz lives.

- The well-organized shows in each land are mind blowing. The lion king show was my favorite. Stellar performance, well air conditioned auditoriums and all were like minimum 30 mins duration.

- Of course, there are rides everywhere. Doesn't matter how crap is the ride, you have to be prepared for at least 1 hour wait

I will strongly suggest you to try and spend 2 days in Disney Land if you are a Disney lover or if you are with kids. Most importantly, plan these 2 days over the weekdays and make sure there are no China or HK school holidays that time. We were horribly stuck in the school holidays time but knowing this ahead wouldn't have mattered as it was Achyut’s birthday : )

Ocean Park:

This is one place where tourists generally over look. I should say this was surprisingly a good visit. This is again a huge theme park with not as much crowd as in Disney land. You can meet lots of fishes, animals etc., here and there are elements of attraction for all ages. You definitely need whole day here. Google for Ocean park website to know more.

Macau Island Trip:

We chose to skip this as the chief attraction of this trip is the flowing Casinos everywhere.

Overall, 4 nights trip to HK is the ideal suggestion for any one irrespective of age group if you chose HK as your holiday destination. I wouldn't say its out of the world but definitely worth visiting.

Here is the video composition (shot and edited by me) for better understanding :) Enjoy travelling : )