I know i said i wanted to do as little flying a possible but hong kong wasn`t initially on the itinerary either, i hoped to just train it from Kunming or Nanning but the national day had changed all that and extending my visa seemed to involve opening a Chinese bank account and having money frozen for something like 2 months, this meant hong kong became my only real option. Thankfully Laurens flight to Bangkok was from HK so we thought we`d train it together again and part ways there.
Day one and i don`t remember at all what we did, i think we just eat! oh actually i do remember we took the star ferry across to hong kong island to see the lights and had a little wander around the place. It was strange being back to a big western style city, allot of suits walking around, european style pricing, english speaking. It wasn`t a negative first impression it was just so different to what we`d got used to.
The following day we did Victoria peak which i guess is the most iconic of all hong kong imagery. We went up when it was only dusk and at the top found out you can`t go up and down freely :) this meant a few hours freezing at the top waiting for sunset. We did manage to get a 30 min toilet break though.
The view itself is spectacular, despite a layer of mist covering the horizon, it`s 100% worth the ride up, and gave you that feeling that your actually standing somewhere you`ve looked at and imagined being while researching the trip (kinda like the great wall, but colder). Once back on our own side of the river we explored the neon craziness that is "Nathan street", grabbed some food and explored the night market. Hong Kong really does only come alive at night, it`s like it`s having a nap during the day waiting for people to finish work... which is lucky as the next day we ended up waking at half one and putting an end to our plans of seeing the Buddha before we`d even set off.
We were meeting some of Laurens friends for the races at 6 (night time horse racing is this big thing ever Wednesday over there) so we only had a bit of time to explore Soho and a look down the antique street. Before u know it though we where having drinks and placing bets..... and winning. Nothing big, we were betting the equivalent of a few quid each time. But we went 3 for 3, including an outsider taking 1st, so it paid for our drinks..
I haven`t really made my mind up on Hong kong, even now 3 days after.
The view of the skyline from both the boat and the high point was pretty awesome. But it felt a little to much like being back home, i liked feeling like i was actually travelling in China and here i was just another person in a big crowd. Lauren could probably make a desert in Iraq fun, so there was no chance of not enjoying myself, i just don`t know how much was down to the city and how much was due to Company.
Saying that we`ve parted ways now so it`s back to solo travelling, China was amazing, it really was, and if i can meet similar people from here on out then i think i might be extending my trip.
...onto Vietnam
1 comments:
nice one buddy - hope you're having fun :)
let me know if you run out of cash!!!
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