VS200 in July - Daylight?

This July will be our first time on the VS200 and my first visit to Hong Kong - realy looking forward to it [y]

Anyway, the recent thread about views has got me thinking... if we leave LHR at 22.30 and arrive in HKG at about 6pm, will the majority of the flight be in daylight? Also, looking at the blue marble mapper the route seems to be too northern for the Himalayas, so does anyone have any tips for things we might see?
Finally, what's the best bet with sleeping? Should we try and stay awake so that sleep comes more naturally in HK? We are in Economy (sadly) so sleeping might be a bit of a challenge anyway!

Thanks in advance!

Hi

There will be a few hours of darkness - mostly over Eastern Europe and the first bits of Russia. Flight is invariably too far north of the Himalayas for much of the flight - but you might get some views of Russia, the far west of China as you run in. That said if you take the 'LH' routing you'll pass over Lanzhou and clip the eastern corner of the mountains but the cloud is often very thick here with plenty of bumps. If lucky you'll get some views of HK on approach.

Hi,

Your chances of seeing the Himalayas a pretty slim. LHR-HKG normally routes too far north for that unfortunately.

Keep an eye out on arrival into HKG for the Tsing Ma Bridge, It's 2.2km's long and a rather impressive piece of engineering.

Most flight paths to HKG don't give you views of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island since Kai Tak closed which is a bit of a shame. [:D]

Thanks for the responses so far! My gf's dad did VS201 the other week and said it was dark pretty much until landing, and they flew over Siberia most of the way. Sounds like it'll be light for a good 8 hours of the 12 or so which is good.

My attitude to sleeping on that one is to try to stay awake for most of the flight in the anticipation of needing to sleep very well not that long after arriving in Hong Kong.

I don't recall there being anything terribly interesting to see out of the window the whole way unfortunately.

You will enjoy Hong Kong! How long do you have there?

Chris

Just 3 nights (so 2 full days) then on to Singapore. We've booked a 4 hour city tour through our hotel today for the first morning just to help us get our bearings and then we'll be doing all the main touristy bits I should think! The Bitches TR has been a source of useful info too!

[HighFlyer]

Feel free to ask any of the Bitches or scour the Travel forum if you want any more tips on Hong Kong. There are a lot of threads on hotels and rstaurants and I'd think many members can give you ideas on activities if your schedule permits.

Enjoy Hong Kong, its one of my favourite cities [:)]

Thanks,
Sarah

I was in HK when I replied to the OP, and am back on Saturday for my 44th visit! Happy to field any questions..

I would try and get just a few hours kip at the start of the flight and then wake up sometime over norther russia.

Not a great deal to see when we last flew it, just lots of flat, barren plains (doesn't make me want to rush over to mongolia, although saying I've been to Ulan Bataar would be pretty cool).

Hong Kong is a great city and the first time I went to there and Macau I manged to fill 10 days easily with stuff to do. Great nightlife and food too.

Cheers!

Dean

Ok here's a HK question, my gf has been asking whether we can got to see the 'big buddha' which I think is the one on Lantau island. Has anyone got any tips on how to get there as it seems a decent trek out? Also if there's anything else decent to do around that area while we're there?

Cheers! James

[HighFlyer]

You can get the MTR to Tung Chung (which gets you most of the way there) and hop on a dedicated short bus to Po Lin from there, or get the Gondola. The Gondola/cable car had been closed recently for an extension, I believe its reopened and they are marketing it as a seperate atraction as its supposed to give some fantastic views over Lantau Island and the Big Buddha while taking you right from Tung Chung to the monastery. Either way, there are a lot of visitors to Po Lin so you shouldnt have an issue getting there. There are also cabs at Tung Chung if you want to get there the easy way.

On the way back, I'd recommend heading to Central by ferry. There is a service not far from Po Lin (again, there is a cheap quick bus service to take you to the ferry port) and if the weather is nice its a very relaxing trip back to Central. You can sit on the top deck of the ferry and the views of the skyscrapers and cargo shipping lanes are pretty cool.

The Big Buddha at Lantau is certainly worth a visit. You could also twin that day with Disney if that is your kind of thing as the two places are very cloise on the MTR. Otherwise there isnt too much out on Lantau for more than a day.

Thanks,
Sarah

The Ngong Ping cable car has had a checkered existance so far, but slowly seems to be settling down. It's rather turned the Buddha into a tourist cirucs, but the views are still great. There are some other, nicer temples in HK to visit if you are look for atmosphere.

Thoroughly recommend the ferry back - in fact visiting one of the outlying islands (Chung Chau is my fav) is a great contrast to the manic city itself. Decent seafood too.

Thanks team! Great stuff - can see myself printing out this thread and sticking the guidebook in the bin![y]

Originally posted by HighFlyer
You can get the MTR to Tung Chung (which gets you most of the way there) and hop on a dedicated short bus to Po Lin from there, or get the Gondola. The Gondola/cable car had been closed recently for an extension, I believe its reopened and they are marketing it as a seperate atraction as its supposed to give some fantastic views over Lantau Island and the Big Buddha while taking you right from Tung Chung to the monastery. Either way, there are a lot of visitors to Po Lin so you shouldnt have an issue getting there. There are also cabs at Tung Chung if you want to get there the easy way.

On the way back, I'd recommend heading to Central by ferry. There is a service not far from Po Lin (again, there is a cheap quick bus service to take you to the ferry port) and if the weather is nice its a very relaxing trip back to Central. You can sit on the top deck of the ferry and the views of the skyscrapers and cargo shipping lanes are pretty cool.

The Big Buddha at Lantau is certainly worth a visit. You could also twin that day with Disney if that is your kind of thing as the two places are very cloise on the MTR. Otherwise there isnt too much out on Lantau for more than a day.

Thanks,
Sarah

That would be the Ngong Ping 360 cable car I think you are referring to? Well worth the trip. Allow several hours to take the ride there and back with suffcient time to see the Buddha. The statue itself is a not insignificant walk from the end of the ride.

If you are feeling really energetic, there is a path which pretty much follows the line of the cable car all the way from Tung Chung to the Buddha. Saw several people walking it but it is very long and I wouldn't recommend it unless you're prepared!

Great views of the airport from the cable car.

Be wary of trying to catch taxis from Tung Chung MTR station to the Buddha. We waited a long time for one before giving up and taking the cable car - which turned out to be a much better option anyway!

Chris

Yep we loved the cable car too, you also get a great view of the airport too. When we came back to Tung Chung MTR we found a reasonable factory outlet mall adjacent to the station.