Causeway Bay Hong Kong, buses & trollys

Now that we are seasoned travelers, we feel a certain freedom to hop on a bus, knowing with great confidence that it will take us where we are going.

That is not at all true! When we are certain that the bus is going where we are, we are still quite nervous about getting on: How much is it? How will we know when to get off? Needless to say, one afternoon we are trying to get home and are willing to take a taxi and I turn around and Victor is waving madly from the steps of a bus...come on get on! I can't believe it, I am the transportation manager, he shouldn't be leaping onto any old bus!

We do get on and do pay the right amount (usually a little over due to not having the right change.)

Off we are whisked from Central to Causeway Bay. One road the whole way, where every inch of scenery once you leave the downtown area of Central looks like every other inch. We are not at all sure when we should get off and keep looking for something familiar in a sea of landmarks that aren't ours.

Finally something we have seen before, the Wan Chai fire station. This means we are further down the road. We go one more stop and then get off. Dazed and confused by the swarms of people and chaos of the setting we roam the streets looking for more that might be familiar. We even asked for a little directional help and were sent 180º the other way. We eventually found this blue bridge that I remember, right in front of the bus stop that is a block from our hotel. I suppose if we had just stayed on the bus we would have saved all that walking and searching time. Ah well, we are far better trained now for the next time around. I am also thankful there is apparently only this one blue bridge!

We did know that we wanted to go to Stanley Market on Sunday, this is a half hour bus ride to the back side of Hong Kong Island. We also knew that the bus passed where we were, we just didn't know where to catch it. We walked around looking for a bus 6, 6x or 66 sign with no success, but did find the library. Having been out of computer touch for a few days, we went in to see if we could use a computer. Little miss smarty pants walks right up to the empty computers and you come into the library and tries to connect to the outside world, only to learn that this is an internal computer with access only to the card catalog system. We later have success on the 6th floor with signing on to a computer.

On our way out of the library we ask about this bus we are looking for and are sent to the front of the library where there is a mini bus station. We read all the bus routes and none are going to where we are going. We as the bus people what they think, they send us to the back of the library saying the bus will pick us up there. Off we go seeking the bus stop, again without success and decide the best way to find the right bus is to just head into central and get on the bus at the station, we know where this is.

Now we need a bus to the bus, but for this route, any pretty much any bus will do. We choose the trolly. The trollys are great fun sliding up and down the road with a clang-clang, but they are very slow. There is also a rotation process that we were not familiar with. You must get in at the back and at each stop you work your way up towards the front. When you get to the front, it is your turn to get off whether you have reached your destination or not. It is only $2, (27 cents). You can stay on until you reach your real destination, but folks will try to push you off at every stop.

When we get to Stanley, we go into the back side of the market, we are only going to one of the shops that is located right as you come out. We shop successfully for all of 15 minutes and then go have lunch. A great little dim sum restaurant just around the corner. The first I remember having this whole trip. Quite nice too.