If one might want to stay away from the core noisy city area recently, Tai O fishing village on Saturdays and Sundays would be a good option. It is full of fun, foodie, green, tranquil, romance and more…though one should be spending 50 mins starting from Tung Chung downtown or simply 15 minutes away from the Giant Buddha. The walk at Tai O was nice and leisure (except on weekday which is comparatively quiet, but the scenes are still worthwhile to explore). We started in the afternoon at 3pm on Sunday, following a US$3 boat ride on dolphin-watching (luckily enough, we saw 3 or 4 jumping up), strolling along and taking snacks inside the village, capturing the sunset moment near the stilt houses and a fantastic dinner in a glass house at Tai O hotel. What can one ask for more to share this wonderful tour together, with families, friends around you?
We were so hungry and decided to take a light lunch in the huge outlet shopping mall where the food, of course, just so-so. The queue at the cable car station was acceptable, but we would like to do something away from the core attraction area. We lined up at the bus station and it was luckily that we could catch up the bus to Tai O, costing US$2 something. The ride was about 50 minutes, and we took a nap before we started the long walk. Once we got off, the man waving hand and asking us to ride on the boat for dolphin watching, just waited 10 minutes something we started our water tour. We saw the construction of the Hong Kong-Macau-Zhuhai Bridge, and not far away, there was really something jumping up with something pink. That was the dolphin, and even three times altogether. Of course, it was not a close-up, but with US$3, it was just a trial by luck. Walking on the right hand side, we crossed the blue bridge and saw the snack store around, and they were of course for the Chinese stuff. I recommended to try the sponge giant fish ball and the barbecue squid. Crossing the fence, that was the lovely sunset as the backdrop of the stilt house. Just another 10 minutes, we arrived the far end and finally reached the famous Tai O Heritage Hotel. Though it was nearly closed at 6pm for general public, we decided to take dinner so that we could stay longer as the customers. The dinner set was about US$30 per head with 3 courses, and it was really worthwhile with the lovely ambiance, especially the glass windows and glass facade surrounding. We even took the glass lift back to the ground level, which I thought, should be shortest lift I had never tried.
When we left, it was round 7pm but still, the whole path was bright with the lamppost all along, and villagers seem to have a break to take a breath from our outsiders. I could still smell the shrimp paste, dried egg yolk together mixed with the light breeze and the sea water. That’s no need to rush, just another 15 minutes there would be another bus coming. I really recommend to take this tour for those who could afford time away from the busy, hustle city scene.