Hong Kong

We arrived at our hotel in Hong Kong at around 3pm- our train had been delayed and it took a bit of time to get everyone through customs and make our way to our hotel. In the afternoon we just had a walk around as we didn't have that much time before all meeting for our farewell dinner (this was the last night of the actual tour) Our last dinner was great and we all sat round a big table on the street and ate our favourite Chinese food- we'd eaten egg fried rice pretty much every night but our favourites were sweet and sour pork, sizzling beef and there were lots of good vegetable dishes too like aubergine and garlic broccoli. Interestingly, I didn't come across a single prawn cracker or chow mein the whole time I was in China so I don't know where that comes from in England. Ricky was saying that the Chinese from China don't regard the Chinese from the various China towns around the world (London, San Francisco...) as real Chinese and that they call them Bananas as they're yellow on the outside and white on the inside! I found this pretty funny!!

After saying our goodbyes to Ricky we set off to find a bar. We'd been warned that Hong Kong was very expensive for drinking and found an Irish pub which was supposed to be a bit more reasonable. It wasn't. A beer was still the equivalent of £6! That turned out not to matter too much as some random American guy came over and tried to befriend us (I think he just wanted to look popular) and he insisted on picking up the entire tab on his company card... That's 3 rounds for 13 people at £6 a drink... you do the math!!


As the next day was my last whole day in Hong Kong, I was determined to cram in as much as possible. Went with Joe, Laura and Jess over to Hong Kong island where we caught a tram up to Victoria Peak. We spent a little while looking at the view over Hong Kong which is very impressive and then caught the tram back down. Next on our list of things to see was the Giant Buddha on Lantau island. To get to the Buddha, you take a cable car for about 20 minutes over the hills. Unfortunately we didn't have time to climb up all the steps to it which was a shame (although it was a hot day so part of us was quite relieved as there were a lot of steps!)


Fiona and Jess and I took our bags and checked in at our new hostel which was... interesting. You had to walk all the way through a random, indoor, quite sleazy market to get to a lift which would take you to the 12th floor where the hostel was. Then we headed to the ladies market which just sold the usual bags, scarfs and belts and wasn't too impressive. After browsing for a while we headed to the harbour where we got on a boat for a harbour tour. It was already dark so the view over the island with all the sky scrapers was great. Then at 8pm every night there's a light show which is put on by the buildings surrounding the harbour. The buildings flash different colours and in time with music which is played on the boat. Being on the boat is definitely the best way to see this as although you can watch from the shore, you can't see both sides of the harbour properly.


On my final day I took the bus to Stanley which is on Hong Kong island as I had some shopping to do and had heard this was the place to go. I'm not sure if I missed something here as I found a market but it was pretty crummy and it wasn't that big. Never mind, I managed to buy a couple of things and then got on the bus back. The bus journey to Stanley is great as you pass by some beautiful bays and it's not long until you feel a long way away from the busy city. After doing a spot more shopping I said goodbye to the remaining members of our group and set off to the airport to catch my flight to Brisbane.

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