July 8th
After waking up at 2AM, realizing that this was a bit too early to wake up, we both were able to catch a few more hours of sleep, getting up at 5AM. The breakfast buffet provided by the hotel was wonderful, some western items, and a few local dishes. 99 more people traveling as part of 3 other CCAI travel groups arrived just as we finished breakfast. We found Kevin and Caroline Lewis, and Phil and Beth Noto. Fancy meeting them half way around the world!

Today was the tour day in Hong Kong. We visited Victoria peak, the tallest mountain in Hong Kong. From hear we were able to see Victoria Harbor on one side and the South China Sea from the other. The next stop was the Aberdeen fisherman village. Here complete families live on the water - one boat for living in and another for making a living. We rode in a sampan boat around the village and realized that these people are very committed to passing on their traditions to future generations.

The next two stops were for shopping pleasures. We visited Stanley Market, which seems to be pretty much like a large flea market, a Chinese Flea World. A jewelry factory came next where the craftsmen work with jade, pearls, and gold. It was very interesting to watch the pieces of rocks turn into beautiful jewelry. The showroom was large with many different types of items, pendants to bangles, and necklaces to rings. We ended the tour of Hong Kong with a very nice Dim Sum lunch with the travel group. Cindy is still trying to master the use of the chopsticks.

So far, access to the web and e-mail has been good from the room and hope this continues in Chongqing and Guangzhou. We will try and keep up with e-mails. We miss everyone and look forward to reading e-mails.

Victoria harbor taken from Victoria Peak

Cindy and I riding in a Sampan through Aberdeen village