If you want to experience the best of Hongkong and understand it's culture and history, there's no better way than signing up and taking a ride on the iconic BigBus. I can vouch for it. The bright red double decker open top buses give you a joyride around the city and cover pretty much all the important points in the Island as well as Kowloon (Does not cover Lantau Island though). This is especially useful for those who are on a short trip to HK.
I had already shared the link to BigBus, but here it is again: BigBus Tours HongKong
The BigBus covers 3 Routes - Kowloon, Hongkong Island and Stanley & Aberdeen. We took up a Deluxe 48 hour package which included a Night tour of Kowloon as well. This included a complete tour across routes and also had provided us with free passes for Peaktram (or Sky100), Harbour tour and a Sampan ride. It cost us 69 USD per person and worth every penny.
The thing about BigBus is that you can hop on and hop off at any point wherever and whenever. When you buy the tickets online it is valid for anytime in the next 6 months, but once you "activate it", you need to use it within the next 48 hours. But the free ride passes like the Harbour tour need not be used within the 48 hours.
After getting back to the hotel from Disney, we freshened up and then set out once again towards the Peninsula office block (which is where the Kowloon Night tour kickstarts). It took us a while to find out the exact place where the Bigbus was located, but once we reached, we identified a bigbus volunteer who activated our tickets and gave us all the necessary passes.
We gleefully got to the top of the bus (which was open top), and settled down to marvel at the Night scenes of Kowloon. It took us through the heart of Kowloon, through Tsim sha tsui, Jordan, and Mongkok. We were able to understand the history of these places by tuning into the pre recorded audio guide via earphones provided by the bus.
The tour was for an hour and we got back and took a cab on the same route - but this time we were headed to the Ladies Market in Kowloon. The market is open until midnight with streetside shops selling bags, shoes, clothes, electronic items, souvenirs and pretty much everything else.
You can bargain heavily at these places and the shopkeepers themselves expect this.
We picked up some stuff, mostly gifts, ate at a local restaurant there and got back to the hotel. The next day we were going to the Island. Click here to read Part 5
Here is the link to the start of the blog: HK and Macau - Part 1
I had already shared the link to BigBus, but here it is again: BigBus Tours HongKong
The BigBus covers 3 Routes - Kowloon, Hongkong Island and Stanley & Aberdeen. We took up a Deluxe 48 hour package which included a Night tour of Kowloon as well. This included a complete tour across routes and also had provided us with free passes for Peaktram (or Sky100), Harbour tour and a Sampan ride. It cost us 69 USD per person and worth every penny.
The thing about BigBus is that you can hop on and hop off at any point wherever and whenever. When you buy the tickets online it is valid for anytime in the next 6 months, but once you "activate it", you need to use it within the next 48 hours. But the free ride passes like the Harbour tour need not be used within the 48 hours.
After getting back to the hotel from Disney, we freshened up and then set out once again towards the Peninsula office block (which is where the Kowloon Night tour kickstarts). It took us a while to find out the exact place where the Bigbus was located, but once we reached, we identified a bigbus volunteer who activated our tickets and gave us all the necessary passes.
We gleefully got to the top of the bus (which was open top), and settled down to marvel at the Night scenes of Kowloon. It took us through the heart of Kowloon, through Tsim sha tsui, Jordan, and Mongkok. We were able to understand the history of these places by tuning into the pre recorded audio guide via earphones provided by the bus.
The tour was for an hour and we got back and took a cab on the same route - but this time we were headed to the Ladies Market in Kowloon. The market is open until midnight with streetside shops selling bags, shoes, clothes, electronic items, souvenirs and pretty much everything else.
You can bargain heavily at these places and the shopkeepers themselves expect this.
We picked up some stuff, mostly gifts, ate at a local restaurant there and got back to the hotel. The next day we were going to the Island. Click here to read Part 5
Here is the link to the start of the blog: HK and Macau - Part 1
No comments:
Post a Comment