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Hong Kong.
This is actually only a small portion of the skyline, but it shows the Bank of China building (triangular design) and on the right the disappointingly titled Two International Finance Centre, currently the tallest building in Hong Kong. On the overnight train to Shenzen we pass the time by reading and playing backgammon. This has been one of the features of the trip as Don had brought a travel board with him. Those of us who hadn't played for years soon found ourselves hooked again and those who were new to the game were soon learning the benefits of double throws and setting up blocks.
We arrive in Shenzen at 11:30am and after carrying our heavy bags for miles we make our way through customs and immigration into Hong Kong. After a 40 minute metro ride to the Kowloon peninsula and a brief taxi ride we check into our hotel and prepare for what will be the official last night of our Intrepid trip, even though most of the group are staying longer.
During the afternoon I manage to block the toilet in our bathroom. I try to rectify the stricken loo with little success. In fact, I only succeed in flooding the bathroom floor. Although amusing at first, eventually it simply isn't funny anymore. I admit defeat and ring reception, who promise to send "an engineer". He duly turns up with a plunger and sets about
his business with gusto. He makes me feel better by flooding the floor again and also being forced to remove the lid from the cistern. Throughout this process Nic and I are helpless with silent laughter in the bedroom as the poor guy battles away. Eventually he prevails and the blockage is cleared. I give him what I hope is a generous tip which he accepts without hesitation.
That night we go out for a final meal together in the Temple Street night markets. We have been very lucky with our group as every one has got on and we've all had a really good laugh. Although Beijing seems a long time ago, in other ways the time has flown by and we are sad to be parting company. After the meal, we walk down to the harbour for our first view of the vast Hong Kong skyline, a truly spectacular sight. The best view is from the south tip of Kowloon over the bay to Hong Kong island, so we take a few pictures before boarding the star ferry, an institution in itself, over to the island.
We walk up to the bar district, stopping off outside
a Mexican restaurant, where a lively salsa band are playing to the enthusiastic crowd. Don decides that the excellent music merits some dancing, so up he gets. Soon Anastasia joins him, others from the crowd join in and an impromptu street party starts. After this we take up residence outside a bar, where some people drink beer bought from the establishment, but others, including me, buy cheap cans from the seven-eleven shop instead! We reminisince about the trip and agree to meet up for dinner again the following night, as everyone will still be in Hong Kong. This duly happens, and the following night we are all back in another bar, eating, drinking and having a laugh as we have been doing all through China. We say our official goodbyes and promise to meet up once back home.
The next day Nic wakes me and reports that the toilet is once again blocked, of it's own accord this time (she claims). This is the final straw. I put on my best dissatisfied customer face and storm down to reception to demand that we are moved to another room. They give us a room on the top floor with a
much better view. Later on I bump into the engineer who had fixed it the previous day. He seems to explain that the room is no longer being used due to the faulty loo.
On our final full day, Nic and I decide to do the touristy thing and catch a boat over to Lama island. We walk across it from the east coast to the west, stopping briefly in a village where Nic picks up some second hand books in an animal support shop. We get a ferry back to Hong Kong island and alight at the fishing port of Aberdeen. A bus takes us back to Admiralty after we've had a brief walk around. Once back in the hub of the city, we board the world's longest escalator which takes us from the lower levels up to the mid levels of the island. I have been looking forward to this and am most disappointed to find that it itsn't a continous escalator, but rather a collection of small ones connected by walkways. It does, however, weave it's way past shops and bars and the section through Soho is particularly atmospheric. At the summit we walk back down
to the lower levels and board a tram to take us up Victoria peak, where we will look back down over the city skyline. The tram ride is bizarre, as it goes up so steeply that the huge buildings seem to have tilted 45 degrees. This illicits many 'oohs' and 'ahhs' from the Chinese tourists on board. At the top we take advantage of our new wide angle lens attachment purchased at a local camera shop to get some shots of the cityscape by night.
The following day we board a bus to the airport. This proves to be another example of how impressive the organisation in Hong Kong is. The transport is quick, clean, efficient and well co-ordinated as indeed it needs to be for a city with so many people packed into a relatively small space. The city is also clean and safe.
We are sorry to be leaving China, as it has been a fantasic month and not at all what we were expecting. The country is far more advanced than one might believe and the people are warm, welcoming and hard-working. The food has been most enjoyable and of such regional variety that we
have not become tired of it. We shall also miss the people in our tour group as we have become good friends over the course of the trip.
The flight to Singapore will be the first time that we have left the ground since we flew in to St. Petersburg in March. The journey between there and and Hong Kong has been completed entirely over land.
We arrive in Singapore, which is a good place to chill out. It is a fine place to indulge in retail therapy too, if one is so inclined, and there are many cheap suits to be had if you so desire. The people are also quite proud of their tough measures on anti-social behaviour and quite rightly so. There are sizeable fines for spitting, littering, chewing gum and many other things. You can even get t-shirts that proudly depict all the things that are banned. Far from being oppresive, this has resulted in Singapore being one of the cleanest, safest places you could ever wish to visit. Again, like Hong Kong, it is also very easy to get around as the underground system is excellent and the taxis are numerous.
We
don't do much worthy of mention in Singapore, save for Nic enjoying a reflexology foot massage and both of us spending quite some time choosing books in Borders. We also enjoy a fine curry in Little India. In fact, during the latter, one of the other tables orders a sizzling platter of something, except it sizzles a little too much and fills the restaurant with acrid smoke. Many of the other diners rush out of the door for fresh air, although everyone (including the staff) finds it very funny.
After two nights we leave Singapore for Perth, from where we will be flying onwards to Karratha to stay with Tony and Janie for some chilling, Western Australian style.
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Zoe
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Another Treat !
Thanks for latest Blog It's such a treat when they arrive ! China looks fascinating ( when you weren't looking down the loo !! ) Must have been hard to say good bye to the group after sharing so much. Keep enjoying ! Z