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Hong Kong, China

“Lesson #2: Don’t put snow socks on when travelling in hot climates. Who knew socks have varying levels of warmth. Hiking shoes are ugly but heaps more comfortable than my normal attire.”

In many ways Hong Kong is the beginning of this journey into our new lives. It very much felt that way when we boarded the biggest plane I have ever seen. We took full advantage of the free food and wine. The daily budgeting had actually begun. We had to find a way to make this year on the road not feel like a holiday but feel like a lifestyle. At the end of two weeks holiday you begin to want to go back to home comforts. That was not possible, so we really needed to change our way of thinking. From the beginning. From day one.

Arriving into Hong Kong was an experience in iteself. I have never seen sooooo many apartments and buildings. I saw 21 40 storey apartment buildings all next to each other, all the same. To get from the plane to immigration requires a train. The airport is so big that at night time it seems like day time. The underground subway in Hong Kong is amazing. Each train station has about 5 exits in different directions which take you out about 5 blocks from the station. It takes at least 10 minutes to get to the surface. Trains are cheap and go every few minutes.

Our accommodation was in Causeway Bay and was typical ‘Hong Kong’ style. We checked into a tiny room with two beds which were very nice for backpackers. These beds were half the width of a single bed. They kindly moved us to their one bed ‘executive room’ with a double bed the size of a king single. I wonder how long we can milk this honeymoon thing. We didn’t mind the tiny room as this is what we’d expected from Hong Kong accommodation. Dave joked that you needed to do yoga to get into the toilet and shower. It was smaller than a cruise ship where you can do the ‘three S’ all at once. The hotel lounge for breakfast had two tiny tables so small you couldn’t put two dinner plates on it.

First day in Hong Kong and our first real day of doing the travelling tourist thing. We left the hotel with a map and headed for the ferry across to Kowloon (70,000 people take this crossing each day). We picked up tickets to the red hop on hop off open double decker bus, the ones with the earphones running commentary in the back of the seat. This seemed like a cheap way to see the city for the next three days ($40 each person). It included all water transportation too. First of the three bus tours was in Kowloon which is on the mainland, where we were staying on the island of Hong Kong. Kowloon is one of most densely populated places in world with 2.1 million people and the second highest life expectancy (age 84) following Japan. One of the two main religions is Buddhism with 600 temples in the city. What I took away from Kowloon was the diversity of buildings. Firstly there are 8,000, yes 8,000 apartment buildings in Hong Kong which is the highest number in the world. (New York has half that amount). It’s odd to see apartments next to each other that are very, very old and look like a fire has ripped through them, next to the brand new architecturally designed masterpieces.
We went to Harbour City shopping centre on the waterfront to search for a food hall. That concept of cheap food didn’t exist. I couldn’t believe this shopping centre had no normal shops, just four levels of designer brands. Outside there were more designer shops, each the size of an Apple Shop, with the locals queuing to get in. The ‘big bus tour voice’ said it was normal to see locals queuing. I kind of wanted to stand in the Gucci queue to see what the fuss was about but I doubt they would have let me in in my backpacking attire.

We took a boat tour around Victoria Harbour, one of the biggest container ports in the world, followed by a ride in a Sampan in Aberdeen. The Sampan took us to see the tankas, now replaced with the politically correct name ‘boat dwellers’, who live on boats called fishing junks. Once again the gap between rich and poor was clearly visible. The biggest luxury boats sat next to fishing boats and junks. After a long day sightseeing we forced ourselves to stay out for the 8pm daily light show on the side of the waterfront buildings – I can see why this truly grand show is in the Guinness Book of Records.

Our second day was spent exploring the south of Hong Kong island on the public bus. We drove past Deep Water Bay and Repulse Bay before stopping for a swim at Stanley Main Beach and visiting Stanley markets. These beaches are nestled in between mountains and are the most amazing beaches I’d seen – so far. You can tell it’s the wealthiest part of the island because there are so many expensive cars, not to mention land is $2,700 per square foot. It was so hot and sticky even the beautiful beach wasn’t enjoyable. I’d have killed for a swim in a pool with pool bar. Three quarters of the island is undeveloped, which is odd when you see 8,000 apartment blocks crammed on top of each other in the city only half an hour away.

On our last day in Hong Kong we went on the Ngong Ping 360 Cable car to Lantau Island for a boat tour of Tai O fishing village and found it worth the trip over just for that. An interesting part of the world, and the smell off a fishing village with all of the dried fish and ‘things’ will not be a smell we’ll forget anytime soon. We attempted to see Chinese pink dolphins but weren’t successful as there were no sign posts leading the way. Then we took the 250 stairs up to the Big Buddha. The heat in Hong Kong was 35 degrees with 78 % humidity and we felt every bit of that. Dave and I have terrible head colds – how is that possible in this heat?
On returning to Hong Kong we visited the ladies market, electronic market and Temple Street night market. They’re the best quality markets I’ve ever seen. It’s not pushy like Bali and it’s huge, with useful stuff – but very depressing if you are backpacking however. No money and no space. Dave has us on a tight budget which is fine if you are in the desert, but not so much if you shopping in Hong Kong.

Dave summed up why the Hong Kong people are small:
1) They do yoga just getting in and out of their bathrooms.
2) It took us 30 minutes to find somewhere to eat last night. Pictures of food everywhere but no food!
3) A lot of walking was required. Getting out of one subway takes 15 minutes before seeing natural light.

Overall we enjoyed Hong Kong more than expected, it’s clean and everything’s in English. Three days was long enough. It was our first real experience out side of the countries we were familiar with.

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