Hong Kong - Post #3 - The Beach

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So the days have been hot and sticky, and it keeps getting hotter... One of the best solutions to such weather and life in Hong Kong, something I would rarely do in Canada.. is hit up a beach. Its only been one week and I have seen two amazing beaches. I know in the scope of the world, for those who live in hot climates near the coast, these beaches might not be as beautiful as they can get.. but for me it really has taken the word "beach" to a new level.

A few days ago, my room mate Austin decided he wanted to goto the beach and as soon as he said the word I was on my feet ready to go..... with a couple exceptions. I have been travelling in cool weather for the past 3 months and left Canada in a blizzard..a day when every plane leaving Toronto airport needed to be de-iced. As such, my luggage is full of less than suitable clothing for beach going. I asked Austin to borrow some shorts and decided that I would just have to deal with wearing shoes this time as I didn't have any sandals/flip-flops. Tossing me a pair he said I could find a cheap pair close to the apt. We packed a few things (towel, digi camera, polariod camera, cigs, a cap, and my wallet) and we were off.

The day was sunny, perfect for the occasion. Walking only 2 blocks down the road I managed to find $4 flip flops and a pair of $5 shorts in the local clothing stores. We hung a right around the bend and another block away was a bus stop.

Waiting for the bus I turned to see a tiny vendor selling nick knacks and bizarre Chinese house/garden ornaments. Amongst his wares were what looked like real RayBan sunglasses. The man was offering them up for 100HongKongDollars(HKD), or about 10 Canadian. Austin suggested I let him try haggling so I gave him the money and watched as he talked the man down from 10 dollars to 7. Another two minutes later and we were on the bus (the #66 bus, a bus that's basically the same as any regular greyhound bus found in Canada/USA but double-deckered) heading towards our destination, Repulse Bay beach.

The bus ride starts as a 5 minute cruise through the city towards the coastal hills.


The next 10 minutes are spent ascending up a narrow two way road that leads into the bright
green densly forested mountains.

After reaching the top of its climb the bus then begins to tilt downwards and continues for another 10minute descent along narrowly twisting roads held back from the cliffs edge with nothing but a short guardrail to keep you from flying into the depths below.

As the road reaches mid level on the mountain side it slowely bends around and continues down the opposing mountainside revealing a view onto Repulse Bay.

Another 5 minutes down and around into a nest of resorts and apartment buildings nestled into their foresty surroundings, we were there.

We hopped off the bus. Walking another 50 meters we were met by the golden sand leading down to the waters edge. I changed into my new shorts and put on my flip flops. We setup our towels and dropped our gear. After about 5 minutes of sun we were ready for water.

Now, since it has been a long time since I had been to a beach, and since this beach is the best beach I have ever been too (so far) I was a bit too excited. Feeling more than ready I ran for the water, unaware that I was still wearing my brand new pair of $7 fake RayBan's on top of my head (which I was very happy to have found at that point) and jumped in backwards one second too late to hear Austin yelling,

'SUNGLASSES!?'.

Pulling my head out of the water with thumbs up I realised what he was saying, but it was too late, they were gone. The water here is nice but not perfectly clear by any means. I gave up looking after about 5 minutes and decided I was going to buy a new pair asap.

The rest of the time there was spent doing what most people do at beaches.... getting a tan, and swimming around.... a nice feature to the beaches in Hong Kong are the round floating docks situated about 150 or so feet out. They provide a good reason to go out and give you a place to rest and or perform the occasional cannon ball. Another thing that Repulse offers is free wireless internet that blankets the beach. Most public beaches here are equipped with the shark nets seen above (yellow lined parameter). That day there werent many people on the beach but there are always a few tourists. A strange thing about the Chinese tourists that arrive is that they show up and are not wearing anything suited for a beach outting..they stand around taking pictures wearing suits and hiding in the shadey bits below the life guard towers.. almost as if they're scared of the water.

Panorama - Beach #1 - Repulse Bay :

More shots of Repulse Bay:

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Deep Water Bay - Beach #2 - : The next day we made a similar venture. Austin and I decided to goto a different beach this time. One that sits in another bay just around the bend heading back into the city. This one is called Deep Water Bay. We were joined by Alex and Jasmine. Alex being my room mate(from Germany) and Jazmin his girlfriend(from Mexico).

This beach, about half the size of Repulse was packed. It was a national holiday (labour day), so everyone and their sisters children were out for a swim. I took a bunch of photos and some video, so I will let them do most of the talking.

(Above: That day there were a bunch of baptisms going on one after another)

One the way back I took a video of the bus ride.