Hong Kong was the last stop on our trip. We heard about the SARS epidemic the day we left home and we monitored it our whole trip. By the time we got to Hong Kong, SARS was raging. Our flight to Hong Kong was only about one-third full. We wore masks most of the time since we boarded our airplane for Hong Kong. The news was that the SARS virus had inflicted another 1000 people that the world knows about and that the death toll was up to around 100 people. We suffered no ill effects except perhaps a little anxiety. We were in Hong Kong from April 7 - 10th, 2003.

Our local guide took us out right away for a walking tour. We toured each day that we were in Hong Kong. The first day, I estimated that about 60% of the people were wearing gauze masks. It was like being in a giant operating room. People’s behavior appeared perfectly normal but the masks reminded us of the potential problem. You can see Vicky in the first photo on a less-than busy Hong Kong street.

We took a sampan ride in the Victoria Harbor. Sampans are like big bumper boats and the ride is like a Disney ‘Pirates of Victoria Harbor.’ We passed and steered through the millionaire’s yachts, fishing fleets, floating restaurants, and floating housing with TV’s and dogs and everything. Below, Vicky is with our friends and frequent travel companions, Ron and Patty.

We also walked to the Star Ferry on our way to Victoria Peak. On our walk, I counted people that I passed, up to 100 people. Sixty-five of the 100 were wearing masks on their faces, so 65 percent. We crossed Victoria Harbor again on the ferry. The more I saw of the Hong Kong skyline, the more I noticed the buildings. I’m not a big fan of skyscrapers, but Hong Kong has some nice ones. They are complex and interesting looking with great variations in design, tops, shapes, color, heights, and at night, lighting. We actually went to Victoria Peak twice. The first time, we couldn’t see anything but the fog. We were told that we got lucky the second time as you can see in the photo below. We could actually see the harbor, even if just barely.

We did a lot of touring over our time in Hong Kong. We did try to do social distancing as you can see in the next photo. Some of it was made easier by smaller than normal crowds.

We stopped to meet a local family who lived in some government housing. It was a challenging experience. They were in a 12 story building made of all concrete with steel bars on the door and windows. The apartment that we visited was a little over 300 square feet and five people lived there. The family included Grandma, 83, her daughter, son-in-law, and two grandkids, ages 24 and 26. The apartment included a religious shrine, 2 TV’s, a VCR, computer, refrigerator, stove, washing machine, fan, bathroom, bunk beds, a double bed, and a couch and chairs. The housing complex did have a market with fresh produce, food, day care, an elderly center, school, and more. Laundry was all hung out the windows through the bars on bamboo poles. You can see photos of the apartment building and the grandmother.

There was no chance for social distancing in this apartment and very little in the entire apartment complex.