Lamma Island

It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Hong Kong almost 3 months and we still haven’t seen so many areas of Hong Kong. Of course, going to the grocery store is still an adventure for us. However, Sunday was a perfect day to explore something new. The weather has cooled. It’s now only in the 80’s instead of 90’s. So we decided to head off to Lamma Island.

Lamma Island is the 3rd largest island in Hong Kong. It has a bohemian reputation and is known for it’s fishing villages and for the fact that no cars are allowed on the island. There is ferry service to the island, but we opted for a more adventurous route. We took a taxi to Aberdeen to hire a personal sampan. You don’t need to look for a boat. They find you.

Before we had even crossed the road an old Chinese woman had cornered us. We knew that $100 HKD ($13 U.S.) was a fair deal for the ride. So it was a quick negotiation. She led us to a middle aged woman, who led us to their dock. From there we boarded the motorized fishing boat with a man driving and set off for Lamma. It was a thrill ride passing everything from huge cargo ships to small rowboats with a single fisherman. When another boat would pass we would sway up and down. It was more exciting than a Disney ride. Since our driver didn’t speak English, we hoped that we would get to Lamma and we hoped we would get to the fishing village. We didn’t realize this is a popular thing to do and we had no worries.

We got off at Sok Kwu Wan fishing village. It’s a small village of only 300 people and is famous for it’s floating fish farms and it’s seafood restaurants. The main alley is filled with restaurant after restaurant on the waterfront. The restaurants have tanks filled with live seafood for customers to pick from. After walking the alley we chose a little coffee shop and ordered fried rice and fried noodles. I know it’s was a sin not to get seafood, but we knew the kids wouldn’t touch it and we didn’t want too much food. The food was amazingly cheap. We paid about $3.50 a dish.

During our meal we heard the beating of the familiar Chinese dragon drums. The kids got up and danced with anticipation of seeing the dragon. Sure enough, 5 minutes later a pink dragon and entourage came dancing and drumming through the main alley. Ally and Austin jumped and clapped along. We ended our meal by grabbing an ice cream cone from a cart vendor – our first mint chip ice cream since coming to Hong Kong and walked back up the way. Our senses exploded as we stared a strange sea creatures, smelled drying fish and felt the ceiling fans blow the fishy ocean air our way. We had hoped to walk to a temple at the end of the way, but realized the Central Ferry was to leave in a few minutes. So we rushed for the ferry as it was blowing it’s horn. They saw us running and held the boat for us.

We definitely need to go back to Lamma. Not only to see the missed temple, but we didn’t realize we were right next to a Fisherfolk Village Showcase that had exhibits, demonstrations and activities.

We rode back to Central on a bumpy ferry ride. From there we caught a taxi to Morrison Hill were I was able to purchase two light fixtures for the apartment. From there we walked up to Queen’s road. Just when the kids were ready to collapse we made it to the bus stops with promises of juice boxes from the backpack. We caught the No. 6 bus to Stanley. Sitting upstairs on the double decker bus, we winded up through Magazine Gap Road and the hills of Hong Kong back towards home. Exhausted and dirty we got off at Repulse Bay where we bought food to BBQ for dinner. In the store we ran into one of Steven’s colleagues who had spent the day with his family taking a sampan to Lamma and eating at a seafood restaurant!!

From the store we tried to catch a taxi, but couldn’t find a free one, so got on the bus again to Stanley plaza. From there we caught a taxi home. Home to wash our hands and sit down without moving!