Before boarding our cruise in Hong Kong we stayed a couple of nights at the Marco Polo in Kowloon and then made an excursion into China.

While its not The Peninsular, it's still quite nice; and it's very convenient to both the Ferry to Hong Kong Island and to the Metro (that goes everywhere in HK).

The Club Lounge

In the morning we caught the Kowloon Ferry over to the City and a bus to the top of Victoria Peak on the very winding and precipitous road - quite an adventure - not for those afraid of heights.

As often seems to be the case, it was misty, restricting the view, so we caught the tram (actually a cable-funicular, a single track with the up and down cars passing in the middle) down.

We eventually returned to Kowloon, after a bit of on-foot exploration, using the Metro.

  More images around town

According to my phone I had walked 12 km but Wendy was not yet done. She was off to the markets.

At night we took a stroll to see the New Year's lights.

Noticeably less people in Hong Kong speak English. We were told that many English Speakers have left the Colony, now that China has gained more control here. One country one-and-a-half systems.

The following day we were off to China ourselves, just to Shenzhen across the border.  Conveniently, the two metro systems have stations on either side and thousands of people a day cross from one to the other - many are daily commuters who have credentials that allow them to pass through quickly.  Foreigners, like us, have to go through all the usual border controls, like passing from one country to another.

Apart from running on the opposite side, like the road traffic, the two Metro systems are very similar, with electronic displays and announcements in Chinese and English. While both are very inexpensive by our standards, the Metro on the Chinese side is free to persons of a mature age, including us.