On a Junk Boat from Yau Ma Tei to West Kowloon

To end our photo trip in Hong Kong that day, our friend Andi offered us to ride on a junk boat from Yau Ma Tei typhoon shelter. "Is it the same Yau Ma Tei with Yee Shun Milk company?" I asked Andi because I remember on our itinerary we'd like to try the famous milk pudding in Yau Ma Tei area.

Andi looked at his watch, we were late for our lunch already. A tour to Stonecutters and Tsing Ma Bridge had made us skip our lunch. Maybe he thought I was asking the milk pudding because I was hungry:p "No, it's a different Yau Ma Tei" he answered. Then he continued, "Let's grab some fast lunch at MTR station and continued our journey to Yau Ma Tei".

We had a take away Sushi at the nearest MTR station, then took MTR to Olympic MTR Station. We followed Andi to the exit and walk about 10 minutes before we reach Yau Ma Tei typhoon shelter. Then we saw the junk boats with an old man and a lady inside. "Look, those people live on the boat!" When I saw a plant on the top of the boat, I knew Andi was telling the truth.

An old junk boat with skyscrapers as the background


We approached the boatman, then Andi and Deasy started to make conversation with him using Cantonese, English and body language. However, it seems useless, the boatman could not understand our request to get on the boat, crossing the river to the Sky 100 Building. We wanted him to understand that it was not going to be a return trip, only one way. And we also wanted to know how much it cost for the ride. 

The negotiation was on progress

Miracle happened, we both agreed to pay HKD150 for one way trip. We didn't bargain the price at all, seeing the boat condition made us feel so sad, that we wanted just to give him the price he requested. Our journey started after the negotiation was settled:p

The boatman welcome us to his boathouse

The wife was busy inside the boat. We saw bottles of soft drinks, a stove, and even their bed inside the boat. Too bad that we couldn't make any conversation with the boatman and also his wife. Actually I wanted to ask how do they manage to live on the boat.

They have everything on the boat
Look at those cans of soft drink!

We enjoyed our ride with the view of Hong Kong's skyscrapers, including the tallest building in Hong Kong: Sky 100.




After about 10 minutes, we have reached our destination at West Kowloon. The boat headed to a shelter, we alight and waived goodbye to the boatman and his wife. "Bye-bye.." he said while waiving his hand to us. Guess that's the only English word that he could speak.


The shelter

Thank you Andi and Deasy for such a great day:) If you wish to do a photo trip in Hong Kong, you can contact Andi at his webiste: www.andreas-images.com


written on December 14, 2014 by @tesyasblog


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A Photo Trip to Tsing Ma Bridge

2 comments:

  1. bukannya di hong kong yg banyak tinggal dikapal itu di areal Aberdeen ya? gw baru tau di Yau Ma Tei jg ada, pdhl sering nginepnya di areal YMT

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    1. Iya Kak, actually banyak yg tinggal di typhoon shelter, Aberdeen dan Yau Ma Tei salah satunya. Kapan2 cobain naik deh, kasian banget mereka ini.

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