Steph: One thing we found difficult in Hong Kong after all our success stories in China was finding accommodation for under 20 pounds a night (take note especially of the amazing hostel mentioned by Chris in Shanghai - definitely worth booking if you are planning a trip there). We settled eventually on the Dragon Hostel; the write-ups for Hong Kong hostels within our budget on the internet were so similar and comments had prepared us for the small size of rooms and bathrooms and lack of communal areas. Our hostel matched these descriptions: it was clean and if all you needed were a bed for the night and you’re fine with dodging toilets while showering, the Dragon Hostel could be for you. Chris described it beautifully as being more like a dungeon or prison cell than a hostel. It was, however, in an incredibly lively location with markets all around: Mong Kok.
Hong Kong is a great city. It’s buzzing with energy and it’s wonderful that people here drive on the correct side of the road (!!) and there are even beautiful double-decker buses that bring fond memories of home! Well done to the British to bringing at least these things over! We attempted on our first night to go to the horse races at Happy Valley race course but after a long journey over there found it to be closed as, unluckily for us, we had arrived two days earlier than the season beginning. Our second day took us to the lovely Clear Water beach on a wonderful bus ride but again, unluckily for us, a typhoon was coming and sand being whipped into our eyes led us to make an early departure, fearful of being caught in torrential rain in our bikinis!
Instead we went camera hunting for Chris who has been excited about buying a new one in Hong Kong for months. We did lots of research, visited many camera shops and electronic markets before returning to the Dragon to reflect.
In the evening we went to meet an old Copley school friend of mine, Mike Smith, who I haven’t seen since the grand old age of 16 when we left school.
It was great to catch up after eight years and I was very impressed with Mike’s current business man status! We went to a fab bar above the star ferry where, in true backpacker style, Chris and I dined on the free bar snacks! We took the star ferry back over to the Kowloon side in time for the light show (a nightly show where the harbour is filled with music and the buildings light up in time to the music). However, AGAIN unluckily for us, the light show was cancelled for the first time in years due to the typhoon! It was so windy but we loved it because it was a great way to cool down! We walked along the hall of fame, meeting up with Chris’ mate Bruce Lee (see photo) on the way to a great bar with live Western music.
When asked by Chris what he missed most about home, Mike replied ‘walking fast’. He told us that it was difficult to know whether it’s because the Chinese have such little legs or whether they eat so much rice (which he believes to be lacking in the necessary dietary requirements to produce the energy for a fast paced walk), but the Chinese, he says, walk incredibly slowly. I must say that I did make this observation in Hong Kong myself but I believe it to be more due to the lack of pavement space for so so many pedestrians. You can only walk as fast as the person in front of you as there is NO space for dodging or overtaking
One thing that was made even more apparent to me about myself on visiting Hong Kong was that I am truly not made for big cities like this. While I love visiting these places for a short period of time, I just cannot cope with such huge numbers of people and know I couldn‘t live here. It truly was ridiculously crowded most places we went and there just wasn’t enough space to walk. It stressed me out! I don’t think it was good for my soul!
Chris did buy his camera in the end. Of course it came with multiple accessories which we now have to lug around the world until he sends them home: a huge and heavy tripod, a case, a free Nikon cap, a free addidas hold all (which did come in handy for carrying all this stuff!) and much more. It was like Christmas day for him as he’d earlier bought himself some accessories from the computer market. He was so happy, it was great!
Before our late night flight to Delhi we took a trip on the world’s longest escalator which was BRILLIANT! A wonderful mode of transport, it winds up through different neighbourhoods allowing people to arrive home from work without having to climb the huge hill home in the humidity and heat.
Hong Kong is a GREAT place to visit and it turned out that we could have done with a few more days to see all the things we wanted to. There is so much national parkland to visit outside of the city and you really could spend at least a week exploring these places. ‘Unfortunately’ though, we had to take a plane to Delhi where we were going to attend a party the next evening…
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