HK Independent Traveller Blog

2 Feb 2014 It's the third day of the Chinese New Year.  The sun was high up.  We opt to hiking at the Dragon's Back on the Hong Kong Island, between Shau Kei Wan and Shek O .  To reach it, take bus no. 9 from Shau Kei Wan Bus Terminus and get off at To Tei Wan, Shek O Road.  Cross the street.  You will see the signage of Dragon's Back. Distance is 8.5km up to Tai Long Wan.  Time 3 hours without rest.  Difficulty: 3 out of 5 stars. The beginning of the path is mostly ascending.  Soon you will get a view of Stanley, Redhill Peninsula .  It is very beautiful.  Continue up and you will see Shek O.  It is gorgeous! Up to the peak is a pavillion.  There you can enjoy a panoramic view of the surrounding.          Tai Long Wan   The path close to Tai Long Wan is dotted with stores for drinks and instant noodle.  We had our drinks at a store facing the beach. ...

13 Feb 2014   We visited Preah Ko , Bakong and Lolei in the morning.   Our driver, James, took us through villages of red soil on the ground.  The slight rain protected us from the dirt as it minimised the splashed soil.  The journey was a bit long, around 40 minutes.  Then we stopped by a place for the tickets of touring Tonale Sap .  The offer was much off from that stated in our guidebook.   We bargained, refused, frustrated and almost wanted to give up.  We ended up paying around US$35 for both of us.  James did not help us to lower the price.  We suspected that the more we paid the more commission he would get. Our tuk tuk went further after the payment office.  We had our private boat and were taken to the river, passing the part where most of the people reside - floating village .  Sometimes we saw scattered houses and the other time houses clustered in the central area.  Houses ar...

Neak Pean is an unusually small monument, a cruciform arrangement of ponds with a sanctuary tower on a circular island in the middle.  Its position in the middle of Jayatataka boray (formerly an island) may represent the sacred Himalayan lake of Anavatapta . The cirrcular island in the middle is encircled at its base by two nage serpents.  They seem to represent the naga kings Nanda and Upananda, from which the monument name means 'entwined sepents'. On the east side of the island, a statue of a flying house rises from the water.  It represents Balaha who helped seafaring merchants from an island inhabited by an ogress. For me, the nicest of the visit is the path leading to the monument.   Wooden path over the lakes, winter tree branches dotted the way transcended a melancholic atmosphere.  The scenery is unique among all sites we visited at the Angkor Archaeological Park .