China; Thursday, 09 April, 2026

I had breakfast in the hotel before heading out and catching the Ding Ding Tram a couple of stops round to a very different tram – the Peak Tram, although technically it’s actually a funicular railway, to catch it up the side of Victoria Peak, the tallest hill on Hong Kong Island which rises up right behind the main part of the city. This is a popular attraction and despite going out early there was still quite the scrum for seats as soon as the gates were opened and we were allowed onto the platform, so I’m still not quite certain how I managed to get one of the coveted forward facing seats on the right hand side from where there were spectacular views down over the city as we climbed up the hill.

Not that you need to worry too much as once you get to the Peak Tower at the top there are even better views out over pretty much the whole of Victoria Harbour, Kowloon, Hong Kong and further – though most of the visitors on my train appeared to be more interested in the shopping complex and the Madame Tussauds wax works, so I had the views almost to myself.

I stepped out of the shopping and attractions of the Peak Tower and headed out onto the route of the Peak Trail, a 3.5Km walking route that runs around the hill at the same level as the Peak Tram reaches, about ? of the way up the hill, as you make your way around the hill there are changing views out over the harbour, towards the New Territories and then, once away from the very densely populated area of Hong Kong nothing but lush green tree covered slopes, with signs of habitation only really reappearing in the last couple of hundred meters before you get back to the Peak Tower.

I quickly grabbed a bite to eat from one of the many food stalls, and popped into the 7-Eleven to stock up on water before heading off on the next stage of the walk, which is to head up to the Victoria Peak Garden, located just below the peak of the mountain, a good 200m or so further up the hill which is reached via a 20 minute climb that would be pretty strenuous in most locations, but was even more so given the humidity in the city.

The climb was well worth it though, as the views from the top were excellent and it felt like I had the place almost to myself. Down at the Peak Tower there were hundreds of people milling around, up here there was barely a dozen people.

I spent a bit of time up in the gardens wandering around before starting the descent back down the hill, which is probably even worse on the knees than the ascent was, arriving back at the Peak Tower just as the staff were setting out the queuing system for the evening. At the time I joined the queue there was just one line of fixed barriers, by the time I was getting ready to board the tram down the queue was snaking backwards and forwards and filling up rapidly, I was very glad I’d come down when I did and not left it any more time.

Back down in town I wandered back via St John’s Cathedral, located close to the Peak Tram base station. The Cathedral looks exactly as you’d expect an Anglican Cathedral to look, just slightly out of place in the tropical Far East surrounded by lots of skyscrapers. I had a bit of a look around the cathedral before making my way back to the hotel to freshen up and a change of clothes.

Once sunset had come, I headed back out of the hotel and grabbed a bite to eat before making my way over to Central to ride one of Hong Kong’s strangest forms of transport – the Central-Mid-Levels Escalators. A series of 20 escalators and three travelators which from 7am to 10am each day whisk the residents of the tightly packed Mid-Levels down to Central for the metro, trains, ferries and all the offices. At 10am the whole system is thrown in reverse and from then until midnight runs uphill allowing you to climb up a significant way through the Mid-Levels area of the city.

From the top of the escalators, I had a long wander back down through the city towards the Admiralty area before hopping on a tram back to the hotel and my well-deserved bed.