When you travel alone, as I used to do almost exclusively in my early twenties, it’s always nice to find places where one can just blend in with the environment. In Hong Kong, that would be their iconic trams.
In my twenties, I wandered around Hong Kong on my own a lot, but usually took trams when friends or family were visiting from out of town. Over the past several years, I’ve been a visitor myself and have not missed a chance to ride the trams.
On this last visit, I arranged my days around meals with friends, so found myself along the tram lines most of that week.
One afternoon I had an hour and a half to spare before meeting my friend Shannon for tea, so I decided to see the sights from the upper level of a tram.
They aren’t air-conditioned and the temperature was hot (about 90F) and the humidity high, but I was in Hong Kong. How could I complain about that?
I rode another tram with my friend Rita on my last full day of this trip. We had been on the same route almost a year earlier and passed the same outdoor markets and mega department stores we visited last fall. It was the perfect way to catch up while seeing the sites.
The only thing better than riding a tram during the day is experiencing it at night when the (quickly disappearing) neon lights illuminate the route. I didn’t have a chance this time, but that’s something to look forward next time!
Great pictures, Susan! I especially like the second one where you capture the height from the ground to the top of the beige building in the center. Were you in Hong Kong for a literary event or “just” to see friends? Sounds like you have a lot of friends in Hong Kong.
I am glad you got to return to HK a few times the past few years. I know you had wanted to go for a long time. I and my family went to London this year, my first time returning since studying in 1991. I was surprised to learn that, although my life situation had changed, I was the same person I was 25 years prior. My values had not changed.
I do not always comment on everything I see online, but I do look at some stuff. I deleted my Facebook account because I needed to spend more time in the real world.
Have a great day!
Thank you so much! So great to hear from you again! I know how it goes to return somewhere from our past. In my case, I hadn’t changed since I first arrived in Hong Kong in 1991, but had A LOT since I left in 1998, if that makes sense.