Shek O and Tai O

Shek O
This past weekend I was on my own. Troy was in New Zealand so I had to entertain myself.

Saturday I went to the Shek O beach with a new friend, Anjali. We told you about us visitng Shek a few weeks ago. It's a really small village with an awesome beach.

Most beaches we have seen are very well developed. They have bathroom facilities with showers, lifeguard stations, shark nets and several swimming platforms to hang out on. Luckily we got there early enough before the crowds.The picture below is not crowded yet. By the time we left at 5pm, it was packed!

Tai O
On a nearby island, called Lantau (we recently mentioned this island as well) is a really small fisihing village called Tai O. They like their "O" names. Pui O, Tsuen Kwan O, Kat O Chau...

I headed there on Sunday to see their neighborhood of stilt houses. While there, I stopped at a small cultural center and found out the village is over 1000 years old. It is the oldest village in the Hong Kong area.

I really didn't know where to go or what to do so I started wandering through the small concrete alleys. You could tell it was definitely a Sunday. No one was working, they were either hanging out drinking a beer or playing Majohng which is their favorite game to play. Don't ask what it is because I have no idea. I just know it involves tiles and the people get really loud when they play it.

I eventually came across a lady selling rides on a boat to see the stilt houses up close. For 10HKD ($1.20 USD), I took about a 10 minute ride up the water channel to see the old houses. It was very interseting to see how primitive the houses are and how the chinese village people live. When I was there, the tide was out. It would have been interesting to see the village at high tide.

When I returned back from the boat ride, I walked back through the small village. Up ahead I'm hearing a chinese lady talking in a megaphone. I'm thinking, is it some kind of demonstration or protest? No, it was a another Chinese tour group with the leader holding a flag to lead her fluorescent capped tourists through the village. It is always interesting to me that the Chinese like to tour in these huge groups - even in their own country.

After I finished my boat ride and found a different direction to walk, I came across other ladies selling more boat rides. For an extra $10 I could have done a 30 minute ride to see the pink dolphins. If I had known that in the first place, I would have gone to see the pink dolphins.

To see more pictures, visit the alblum at SnapFish.