Hong Kong …

What child hasn't dreamt of Hong Kong? Already, with a name like no other, this town was destined for a special fate. The English call it “the fragrant city” as spices fill the air...
Today it is a financial hub and the cargo ships have replaced the thousands of wooden sampans which once covered the waters of the port...
And so we're off! The start line, positioned outside the city to the south of the eastern channel, was crossed at 1555 local time amidst an atmosphere of general happiness. With it came an end to the packed streets and the stifling air as we head out into fresh breeze. We're turning our back on this mushrooming city whose furiously vertical habitat, coloured by hundreds and hundreds of towers standing at least 50 floors high, is rapidly disappearing over our horizon. The last skyscrapers are evaporating behind a whole bunch of lush green Chinese islands which surround the former British trading post. Under blazing sunshine, freshened by 15 to 18 knots of SW'ly breeze, we head due south towards our fate, across the infamous China Sea. 1,000 kilometres to our SW lies Vietnam and, to our SE, the Philippines. A little further to the right, Malaysia and Singapore, and to our left the island of Borneo, sliced in half by the equator. Next, due south in the Java Sea, lies our first goal, which we're set to reach in a week's time.

Soon these beautiful pages in the atlas will become a reality!

Dominic Vittet

The content that appears on this website is protected by copyright.
Any reproduction or representation is strictly forbidden.

For further information, please refer to the legal notice section.
Enter at least 4 characters...