Route 6 Rollercoaster

I was sitting in the front seat of the upper deck of the #6 double-decker bus, heading from Central to Stanley Market.

An older tourist couple occupied the seats across the aisle. The husband took one look out the expansive window and exclaimed, "Magnifique!"

What they didn't know is that riding the #6 is like being a ping-pong ball inside a little red wagon towed by a toddler: one bounces around a lot.

After clearing the Central and Wan Chai districts, the bus first made the steep climb up Stubbs Road, and then merged onto Wan Chai Gap Road about halfway up Mount Nicholson.

The couple held an animated discussion in French as the wife was trying to take photos with her point-and-shoot digital camera while the bus jounced and swayed.

Beyond the apex, Wan Chai Gap Road became Repulse Bay Road, where the bus driver navigated the narrow serpentine roadway, with a sheer rock face or trees on the left, and opposing traffic (including other large buses) on the right. Those unaccustomed to this route tend to white-knuckle it, using the handrails to steady themselves and to pray that the bus doesn't sail off the edge of the cliff.

When Repulse Bay Road converted to Stanley Gap Road, the bus made a rapid descent toward the junction with Tai Tam Road, where the driver had to make a sharp, right-hand hairpin turn onto Stanley Village Road, which led down the peninsula.

The tourists went white when the bus slowed and swung toward a short retaining wall. Upon viewing the dropoff beyond, the wife muttered, "Mama Mia!", which is Italian for Indeed the view is magnificent; I may have wet myself.

I smiled at them as I headed for the staircase, thinking: you'd think the Swiss would be used to roads like these ...

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