Transport in Hong Kong: taxi, train, MTR, tram, shared minibus, walking

I used the airport express, the underground train, the shared minibus, the free outdoor escalator.

The Airport Express Train
We bought the return ticket because it was cheaper than two single tickets.


The Octopus card, equivalent of London's oyster card, can be used on the train and the buses, including the shared minibuses. the shared minibuses depart when full.



Underground Train and stations

Taxi
Taxi drivers don't speak much English. Best to get a local friend or hotel staff to explain the destination. Ask for a receipt.

Shared Minibus
Surprisingly easy. The buses and minibuses have stops with the stopping points in both Chinese and English.

Free Outdoor Escalator
Walking diagonally up to the Sun Yat-sen museum was easy for the first half of the trip. The roads go diagonally so they are not too steep. But the five minute walking distance were told on the internet turned out to be forty five minutes if you are zig-zagging rather than taking the escalator.

The other problem is that the escalators are going up and not down at certain times of day. If you've ever been trekking, you'll know that running downhill may be faster but you are more likely to lose your footing and tumble over unstoppably. Sorry to sound like a sourpuss. Walking is a delightful and inexpensive way to travel, but do allow extra time.

Tram
I didn't take the slim tram. I am not keen on trams. Trams and trolley buses share the same advantages and disadvantages. Like trains they carry lots of people. Like trains tearing along the East coast of America and hitting people on level crossings, trams and trolley buses and pedestrians and cars don't mix.

Trams are bumpy, noisy and scary. Riding on the ones in San Francisco are pretty but pretty scary.

We got rid of the ones in London and now people want to bring them back. Their main disadvantage is that they are like unstoppable trains. But trains are on tracks while trams and trolley buses are almost always in busy pedestrian streets with cars and pedestrians crossing the line. Trams are even more dangerous than cars because they don't slow down, nor stop, nor turn, when pedestrians are seen stopped, stationery, or running across the track.

I nearly got run over when photographing a statue from an empty road in new Zealand. Two trams approached me from different directions. The next day I saw a smashed up car which had been hit by a tram at an intersection.

Compared with a tram, a taxi or shared mini-bus seemed to me a luxury.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author speaker.