Adventure

Adventure in Hong Kong

When we won Air India tickets to Hong Kong, I was ecstatic but never had an idea that it was going to be so adventurous. The first three days went off well with good local sightseeing, trip to China and a day in Disneyland. On Day Four, we went on a trip to Ocean Park. The bus had tourists not only from our hotel but from other hotels as well and on our way to Ocean Park, our guide spoke non-stop. His talking was a lullaby for us as at 800 am HK time, we were feeling quite sleepy! Finally I heard him saying that if we do not wait in the place shown by him in the evening, he will come and pick us up the next day. We also smiled at this joke of his like everyone else and got down from the bus to enter the park.

Only after entering, we understood how massive it was. We checked the map and noticed that the famous Dolphin Show was at regular intervals of two hours. We planned to watch the show at 3 pm as it was on the ground level close to the entrance we had come through.

We then proceeded to different levels via the escalators which ran up to 3-4 levels very high from the ground and had a great time going on the rides, having a look at the various aquatic animals like sharks, sea-lions, whales and many other kinds of fish in their natural surroundings. There were not only aquatic animals but a couple of Pandas and many birds too, all in their natural habitats. Some rides were very nice but some were really scary. I refused to get into the mine train, but Ranga was very keen to go and had good fun. I enjoyed the ride on the Ocean Park tower which revolved from a lower level to the higher level at a medium speed giving us a full view of the Ocean Park. I also loved the cable car ride by which we came back to the entrance to go to the Dolphin Show.

Sharp at 2.30 pm we proceeded to the show with a huge coke in hand and found good seats. The show was great and the dolphins looked so cute. They did all the antics the trainer made them do and it was a pleasure to watch them. The show was for about 30 minutes and when it ended we came straight to the entrance praising ourselves for being prompt as we were the first ones to come and wait for the bus. Little did we realise that we will be the only ones to wait there! 4.10 pm saw us checking with the may I help you counter? about the bus. The people there were very helpful as they allowed us to make a call to the agency. Only after the call we understood that we were supposed to wait at the other end of the park. Even if we were allowed to enter the park (only we had already used the ticket to enter once) it would take a minimum of 30 minutes to cross the distance and reach the other end. We considered taking a taxi and reaching the other side by road, but it was already 4.30 pm and we remembered what the guide had said and panicked.
 

As we were wondering how to reach the hotel as taxis were too expensive to travel such a long distance, the Help Counter came to our rescue once again. They suggested that we take a bus to Hong Kong city and then take the ferry from there to the hotel. This gave us some confidence as by walking on the first two days from the hotel to the ferry, we were a bit familiar with Kowloon area. We got a bus within 10 minutes and were seated comfortably. As soon as we sat, I opened the detailed map of the city which we were given at the hotel and thanked God. I also mentally acknowledged my friend Anil thanks to whom, I had got into the habit of studying maps in detail. I followed the bus route on the map. We reached the city and enquiring once or twice, reached the ferry. After that it was quite simple to find our hotel. Though I felt that it was quite adventurous to find our own way in a strange city, Ranga breathed easy only after we saw the familiar sight of Kimberley Hotel.