Picasso comes alive and I am Alice in Wonderland!

From what I gathered on my first international visit to Hong Kong, the city/country is a place that would not feature in a person's 'places to visit' list unless it is for work. 

It is not one of those holidaying locations that you can hope would give you some solitary time out from your otherwise maddening routine. In fact, with its tall standing skyscapers and fancy cars whizzing past, the city conspicuously demands sheer business.

The bustling city life in central Hong Kong. 

Double-decker buses whizzing past Des Voeux Road in cental Hong Kong. 

It's not like the city has any dearth of scenic sights or tourist spots. There is Disneyland, Lantau islands with adventurous cable car rides, an array of flea markets et all. But, (I am borrowing this line from one of the travel websites) if you can visit only one place in Hong Kong, it has to be the Victoria Peak.

The highest point in the city, the Peak, located right at the centre of all the urban hustle and bustle, will be your respite. For me, this place was a horizon where man and nature united in perfect harmony.     

I don't say this praising the impressive "development" that this tiny island country has undergone, because I am not a fan of glass buildings miraculously reflecting the world around them. I say this because, standing at the peak I was witness to the immensely popular tower-studded city skyline. 

The tower-studded Hong Kong skyline as seen from Victoria Peak. 

What I saw was spectacularly breathtaking, but not for the clusters of rooftops. It was how the serenely blue waters of the South China Sea breathed life into those tall concrete structures that stood on the edges of the Victoria Harbour, with lush green mountains guarding them from around.          

The magic of the peak lies in that unlikely sight of the grey shades of "development" diffusing effortlessly into the overwhelming blues and greens of nature.

The sea, the skyline and the lush green mountains.  

Also, since I did not get an opportunity to foray into the city to explore the flea markets, the Peak market was where I picked up little souveneirs for friends and family back home - chocolates, chopsticks, fridge magnets etc.

However, it will not be the skyline that will remain etched in my memory. The show stopper for the 4-day-long trip has to be the peak tram ride that I took to get to the top-most point. 

The 120-year old service that has evolved over time, took us up a steep mountain in a red colonial era looking tram, driving us through a dense forest, as we tried hard not to topple over with gravity pushing us down (literally).

The evolution of  the Peak tram over the last century. 

Our ride up the steep mountain to the Victoria Peak.

Looking outside the window was mind boggling and the entire tram was in a frenzy witnessing a world that was almost upside down. 

The skyscrapers which were built on the slope of the mountain were titled by huge angles. My years at school studying geometry and physics came crashing down as I saw high rises standing tall and firm while cutting through gravity. It was, in the true sense, unbelievable. 

The view from the peak tram. The photograph certainly does not capture even an ounce of what I actually saw. The   camera is parallel to the rails of the tram window, showing that it was not the picture that was clicked at an angle but in fact the skyscrapers are tilted. 

It seemed as if one of Picasso's cubist buildings had come alive and I was Alice in wonderland, caught in a dream that was real. 

It has been a week since I came back. And, it did not take me long to leave Hong Kong behind and get going with the new projects that lay in front of me, but that ride up to the Victoria Peak continues to baffle me, and words have often failed to articulate the 'once in a lifetime' experience.