A bus ride across town

My aunts and uncles keep telling me how enjoyable bus rides are in HK because there's so much to see along the ride. So today I decided to see the view for myself and took the bus across town from Tseung Kwan O out to Shatin. I was surprised to ride in such an empty bus on a weekend; I practically had the entire second level of the double-decker bus all to myself!

The bus ride turned out to be a nice change from my usual MTR rides, as I got to see more of the local streetscape. HK is a city built with a series of intertwining overpasses. Actually, this is one of the only places I've been to where crossing the road often requires going through a bridge or a "subway" (隧道).

Taking the 798 bus route to Shatin (Photo: CathC)

The 798 bus route also goes through the Tseung Kwan O tunnel, Kwun Tong Bypass, and finally Tate's Cairn Tunnel. Along the way I got a pretty nice views of the Victoria Harbour skyline facing the Hong Kong island side,

Another busy weekend for cargo ships (Photo: CathC)

and also the former Hong Kong Kai Tak airport international airport. Currently, Kai Tak is a cruise ship terminal for a variety of cruise ships traveling across Asia.

The site of Hong Kong's former Kai Tak Airport (Photo: CathC)

About 40 minutes later I arrived in Shatin.

Asia's first Snoopy's World at Shatin's New Town Plaza (Photo: CathC)

This canoe behind the clock is actually a ride (Photo: Cath)

After today's trip, I see that that buses can be a pretty good way to go sight-seeing around the city on the weekends. (These double-decker buses are usually filled with commuters during the weekdays). At least, you can see the different scenery of the city as you travel from one part to another. The only downside of buses is that they come less frequently than the MTR, so I probably wouldn't use to as a means of hopping on and off between sites.