Hong Kong: Which way is Mecca?

I'm writing this in the cafe at the top of the Peak on the East side of HK. A tram climbs The Peak at an amazing angle. It is one of the many interesting forms of transport I've used in the last week. The holiday started with Qatar Airlines flying to Bangkok via Dohar. I had never flown with an Arab airline before, so had never enjoyed airline food prepared in accordance with Islamic principles, as the menu assured me. The screen at the front of the cabin were not just for safety announcements and in-flight movies (the little individual screen for each passenger showed you Superman 3). The big screen showed the plane's position, distance from destination and (most important) orientation relative to Mecca. For a large part of the flight the arrow was set roughly at the 1 o'clock position relative to the axis of the fuselage. But as we approached Doha, Mecca drops away to the South-West and the arrow swung round to roughly five o'clock. As we landed the announcements reminded us of the Ramadan fasting regulations. You knew we were not in Kansas now, as was observed in the Wizard of Oz.

We flew Emirate Airlines to Hong Kong, and they were not so emphatic on Islamic observance Emirates have huge expansion plans and are by far the biggest customer for the A380 super-Jumbo. But the menu still claimed that meals were prepared in accordance with Hallal guidelines.

Bangkok offers the joys of Skytrain travel; quick, smooth, air-conditioned and dodges the city's horrendous traffic jams. Also, unlike other cities' metro systems, you get a wonderful view of the city. The tuk-tuk tricycle taxis are noisy, nimble and great fun if you ignore the fact that they offer as much crash protection as a wet paper bag. But they are very cheap and turn in incredibly tight spaces. The river buses are ridiculously cheap (13 to 18 baht, around 20 to 27 British pence or 40 to 55 US cents) and offer easy access to many of the main tourist spots along the river. There are over 30 numbered landing stages (jump on and off quickly, as with London buses!!) and numerous "routes" link these stages in very confusing combinations indicated by the coloured flags they fly. At least it was confusing to me, not the locals.

Hong Kong has the best metro system I have seen anywhere; immaculately clean, frequent, reliable, with the simplest, clearest route information you could wish for. To take one example: a large panel on the wall of each carriage shows the whole metro network. The route your train is on is indicated by having each of the stations on that route illuminated by a steady light. The next station to which the train is heading is indicated by a flashing light and a green arrow indicates the train's position and travel direction. As if this were not enough, announcements of "next station" and other information are in Chinese and English. Of course, if you're French, German, Russian, Brasilian etc - Learn English Or Die!!

The Hong Kong people love their double decker buses; there seem to be more here than in London. Nathan Road, the main artery in Kowloon, is packed with convoys of them. And what magnificent beasts: triple-axle monsters, much bigger than the puny British twin-axle double deckers. You see why they need three axles; depending on the exact model they carry up to 143 passengers (104 seats, 39 standing). Of course, between their huge diesel engines and industrial-strength air-condiotioning, they throw out terrific heat, which makes summer time even hotter on local roads.