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Published: February 26th 2008
"Kung hei fat choi" have a happy and prosperous new year! Just as the Chinese were heralding the new lunar year of the rat we were arriving at Hong Kong airport ready for our asian part of the trip which for us signified an end to the easy travelling.
Hong Kong during this time of year is awash with kumquat trees and bright red and gold decorations. The red represents the colour used for scaring off an old legend "Nion" who is said to have terrorised people every new year and the gold represents wealth and good fortune. The kumquats symbolise prosperity - something we wished we had more of!
We missed the new year parade however wondering around Tsim Sha Tsui we managed to see most of the parade floats on display in the New World centre. Most had a cartoon-like theme and they had certainly put some effort into them.
Being in Hong Kong at this time of year is definately interesting and has allowed us to understand chinese culture a little more although the draw back is all of Hong Kong's 6.9 million residents seem to be out on the streets, making walking from A
to B an obstacle course navigating around small walkways and lots of people pushing and shoving.
The cold snap in Southern China which had caused loads of chaos before chinese new year hadn't dispersed so we were very cold in comparison to the heat in Australia we were used to. The API (air pollution index) was high most days making the view across from Kowloon to Hong Kong island poor although it did improve as the day went on and seemed to clear during to evening in time of the Symphony Of Light show. The show is where all the buildings along Hong Kong island light up and "dance" in time to the music. Whilst walking along Tsim Sha Tsui promenade we took a closer look at the handprints and sculptures from Hong Kongs film industry dotted about although Bruce Lee was the only person we recognised.
When we weren't walking around museums and parks we were often at a market. Market stalls inhabit many of the side roads and come alive at dusk. Being here on holiday would make great shopping, nearly every well known brand and product is available somewhere. The most interesting market was the
fish market where you can buy all sorts of fish in a bag. There were even turtles which I have to say looked more exciting than the fish.
Over on Hong Kong island I dragged No up 15 flights of stairs to go to Man Mo temple. The place was filled with people of all ages and tonnes of incense coils burning on the ceiling. We only managed to stay about five minutes before being overcome with smoke but it was well worth putting up with the smoke inhalation to see a Buddist temple like this one in Hong Kong.
The immediate area around the temple along Hollywood road is well known for chinese antiques though it did give the impression there were one too many antiques that looked alike. All that pollution must come from somewhere!
We stayed at the Dorsett Seaview Hotel in Yau Ma Tai which was smack right in the middle of original, undeveloped hong kong. No was quite surprised at how knackered some of the neighbouring buildings looked. It was a nice hotel although prone to wobbling whenever a train passed by in the underground below, well at least thats what we
Year Of The Rat
Ratty, Tales Of The River Bankhoped it was...
As nearly all our budget was sapped by the accommodation we had to search a little to find cheap eats that wouldn't give us too many problems. We found a local fast food restaurant called Yoshinoya where we often bought chicken bowls for 1 english pound! The rest of our diet consisted of coconut buns and mango platters - we certainly haven't been starving.
It wasn't all fun and games, we had some serious business to deal with whilst in Hong Kong; the china and india visas. All this time I had been expecting to get a 6 month chinese visa however upon lodging our applications we were told that the government are no longer issuing 6 month tourist visas because of the olympic games in the summer - very cheeky. We had to settle with a 30 day single entry visa which cost a fortune, HK$1600 (120 pounds) between us.
Getting an indian visa in London is a job in itself, getting one in Hong Kong filled me with anticipation. We lodged the applications on monday after spending sunday afternoon wondering around Admirality trying to find the correct building. We were to come
back on friday where we would be told which visa would be granted. The lady at the embassy wasn't sure whether we would get 6 months and was of the opinion that we might only get 3. Not really any use to us as that would mean a whistle stop tour of india in 25 days, something which would not be possible.
It seems that you can't easily and quickly obtain an indian visa outside your country of residence. We had planned on getting one in Singapore however they no longer provide visa services for non nationals so Hong Kong was our last option. We left our application and waited all week for the answer whilst planning alternative possibilities.
To cut an already long story short we got the 6 month visa and a double entry one at that. At long last we were sorted for the rest of our trip.
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Morag Willsher
non-member comment
Will Alton Towers ever be enough for you now?
Oh dear - I can't see you two ever settling down now - travelling in the East looks so totally different, awesome - Any chance of bringing me back a kimono, I'll send you a cheque? Luv Ma X