America of the east... Hong Kong!

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So after making the easy decision to head straight to Hong Kong from Lijiang we were excited. We had heard in Hong Kong things would be a tad bit more western and people spoke English. We were excited for this- I think we needed some western love after eating noodles and fried rice for so long.

We caught an early morning flight from Lijiang to Kunming and then another flight to Guangzhou. From there we bused it to the train station and were on a quick train to Kowloon in Hong Kong by 4pm. We arrived in Hong Kong around 6pm, as the sun was setting, and went to find accommodation. There are two main little areas that have cheap accommodation in Kowloon. We had made reservations at one place (where Derek and Andy stayed), but since they didn't have much info on me, we decided to check out some other places. We headed to Chungking Mansion to try to get a room. Immediately when we were in the area we were approached by tons of people asking us to stay at their "guesthouse." Chris stayed with the bags while Jeff and I followed a lady through a shopping center, up some stairs, into an elevator filled with shady people to a room the size of my closet. It had two beds that she wanted us to push together so the three of us could sleep on one big bead. We kindly said no and ran back to tell Chris how bad it really was. We knew the accommodation in Hong Kong would be small, but this was crazy. We ignored all the other people and went straight to the building where there was a place recommended by my book. You still had to go through a shopping center, a bunch of shady people, and up an elevator with smelly people only to find out the place was booked. We decided to walk 5 floors up to another place and finally got a room. It had one double bed and another twin with a TV/air con and the smallest bathroom ever, but it was clean so we took it.

Besides the crappy room situations, Hong Kong is an amazing city. Since we got in at night we immediately went to the harbor to look at the skyline. It was all lit up and looked gorgeous. We took in the views and a small light show they put to music where all the lights on the buildings dance and then we headed to the Olympic Park. Currently, all the equestrian events for the Beijing Olympics are being held here so the city has some cool things going on. After the Olympic Park we went to do the only thing we really wanted to do in Hong Kong... SEE BATMAN! So, we found a movie theatre that had the movie in English and went to a showing of the Dark Knight! After all our friends hyping it and wanted to see this movie for over a month- it did not disappoint. It was awesome and if they don't give Heath Ledger the Oscar for his Joker portrayal they are lame. Finally, it was like home (with a twist!).

The next morning we woke up to gorgeous sky and decided to take the ferry across to Hong Kong Island and head up Victoria Peak for views of the city, but first it was time to stop at the Vietnam consulate to get our visas for our trip to Vietnam. After that was taken care of, we went to a cable car that takes you to the top of the peak. In an effort to save money in this EXPENSIVE city, we chose the one way ticket and decided to hike down. Well, Jeff was feeling sick that day and my ankle was in pain from the Tiger Leaping Gorge trek so being the gimps we were it took us quite a while to get down. The view from the top was amazing though. Perfect weather and you could really see the whole city. (Not to mention all the building we saw the previous night in Batman, since part of the movie was set in HK)

After the hike down, we did the thing we wanted to do second most in Hong Kong- go to McDonald's. I know it sounds bad, but we had been missing a hamburger! Jeff was feeling more and more sick so Chris and I ordered and as we sat down Jeff told me he had to throw his hat away. "Why?" I asked- "Because I just threw up in it!" Um... apparently Jeff was more sick than I thought. We decided that walking around in the heat was not the best thing for Mr. Sicky so we hopped the ferry back to Kowloon to relax. We planned on having a few more days in HK so it was no big deal. Jeff continued to get worse throwing up massive amounts at the ferry dock before we got him home. From there in continued "out of both ends" for the entire night. Around 4pm, Chris joined him and the two of them battled it out for the toilet the rest of the night. Thank God the Olympics were on and we had a TV or else I would have been bored. I did also manage to catch a glimpse of BBC news which said there was a Typhoon (aka Hurricane) coming towards Hong Kong. Um... in this shady little hotel room, I'm not sure we can ride out a hurricane!?

We still had plenty of the city to see the next morning however so we woke up early and decided not to tell the hotel we were staying. Not until we figured out what was going on with this hurricane. We woke up and decided to do some sightseeing around Kowloon. We went to the Avenue of the Stars, which plays tribute to all the Hong Kong movie stars like Jackie Chan and Jet Li. It was cool, but NOTHING like our Hollywood walk of fame. We did manage to take some incredibly cheesy pictures there and found a sweet factory type store with tons of sour candy (for those of you who know me, you know this was my heaven!). We also, managed to talk to a woman who said the typhoon was expected to come in the next day and was going to be a T3- a decent size. Since Hong Kong was an expensive place to get stuck in and I didn't feel like riding out a hurricane in our dodgy hotel we decided to catch a train to Guangzhou to get farther away.

After finishing up as much sightseeing as possible we caught a train to Guangzhou getting us there around 8pm. Our plan was to find a hostel and then catch the 7am train to Nanning the next day. After walking around trying to find the hostel, we were once again lost. A lady began directing us in what we though was the right direction, but she was just leading us to her hotel. Since it was late we were able to bargain with them and get the price down to the same as the hostel would have been, but we had a huge triple room with TV and bathroom. NOT BAD! The boys were still not feeling so good so we went to bed because we had to wake up early to catch our early train.

Well the dreaded sickness got me the next day. I awoke to catch the train, throwing up twice in the metro station on the way. Once on the train I literally did not move out of my upper bunk unless it was to get up to use the nasty train bathroom to throw up or go #2. It was not pleasant. This continued the entire 12 train ride to Nanning. When we arrived all I wanted to do was find the hostel and sleep, but the hostel we were planning on staying at did not exist and instead had to pay a bit more money to stay in a hotel that was in its place. I wasn't complaining since we had a nice room and our own bathroom. Perfect for being sick! So we are now in Nanning waiting to get our 7am bus tomorrow to Hanoi, Vietnam.

Ending thoughts on China: I am glad I came and saw. The history and architecture is amazing. I have not enjoyed pushy people spitting on the ground or chewing with their mouths open. The general lack of respect for others is something that I am still not used to. However, we have found most of the Chinese people to be extremely nice, which I know is a contradiction from their lack of respect. I guess it is just different and you have to come to see. I am not sure I would rush back to China, but it definitely has been a great experience.

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Photos

Finally arriving in Hong Kong
Jeff is in heaven, all he wants to do is see Batman

I won the gold! Just call me Nastia!
In Olympic Piazza in Hong Kong- yes that is sweat- it is freaking hot and humid

Hong Kong island at night
Looking from Kowloon over Victoria Harbour

Me and Mr. Director getting cozy
Avenue of the Stars, Hong Kong

Jeff with Bruce Lee
Look at those moves!

Comments

[Cheryl]

Icky
Oh, poor Jeff and Chris! That sucks so bad. Did they serve noodles or rice at the McDonalds? Its not that lame going to a foreign McDonalds. Its actually interesting to see how they all differ. Shoot, in Hawaii they serve spam and rice! And in Greece they served Greek salad and a pita sandwhich!

[nins]

im glad you managed to still take good pics blehhhhh hope you all feel better