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Published: April 11th 2008
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We had a nice short flight into Hong Kong and got a bus into the city centre to where our hostel was. Deaks found and booked this hostel on the net - it was to be our first hostel experience and it was really cheap but had good reviews. Hmmm. We arrived at what looked like a derelict tower block - it was disgusting! We went in and up to the 13th floor and were shown in the dorm room. We had booked to go in the mixed 12 bed dorm. We went through a little curtain and into what was only as big as a hallway with bunk beds on either side. I have never seen anything so small, there was nowhere to put backpacks, people were just walking in and out and using the few computers in there whilst people were trying to sleep! I have never slept in a hostel before but this was not what I was expecting! Deaks has stayed in loads and said this was the worst she'd ever seen! We then found out that we'd have to be split up into separate dorms - I was on the verge of crying myself to sleep
as it was at having to stay in this pit, the thought of being in there on my own with loads of strangers was more than we could bear!!! I think the lady sensed that we were 3 tired, hormonal girls and said we could have a private room for 60p more each a night. Excellent we thought!! We paid the money and were taken by a man to our new room on the 8th floor. We walked in and it was a double room with no room to swing a cat let alone put a third mattress in there! We protested that this was not what they promised and refused to sleep in there. After traipsing around we were taken to another room which had a double (which was more like a larger single) and a single. It was the tiniest room I have ever seen but it was only for 2 nights so we weren't too distraught about it. We were just about to unzip our backpacks when the man informed us that we would have to change rooms for the second night. Tempers were very fragile at this point so we all got stroppy and stormed back
up to the lady on the 13th floor and demanded to have our money back so that we could go elsewhere instead of keep being messed around! Eventually she put us in another room which we could stay in for both days. It was very similar to the last one - absolutely tiny but anything was an improvement on the dorm! The shower consisted of a shower head resting over the top of the toilet - nice!!!
We only had 1 full day in Hong Kong as it was only a stop over so we got up early the next day (the sooner we were out of that hole the better!) and went for a walk. We got the Star Ferry around Victoria Harbour to Hong Kong Island and stopped at Central Pier where we got a bus up to The Peak where we admired the great views and then got the tram back down. We explored for a bit and then got back on the boat to the other side. The weather was lovely and it was nice on the boat. Once back, we went shopping to get a new camera for Suzanne. We had been informed that
we could barter here for electrical goods by an Australian couple that we met on the bus. I could hardly contain my excitement!! There were Sony shops on every block and we must have been in about 12, all of them wanting different prices for the camera she wanted, they just pick a random high price and hope for the best, it was ridiculous!! After bartering one shop down to £80 with a free memory card (loads cheaper than home!) we were informed that they didn't have any left and then they tried to sell us a loads more expensive one. This happened in 2 different shops so is obviously one of their scams. She ended up getting one off a nice man in a local shop with fixed prices. He told us all about the scams there and said that you can tell the police if you get overcharged here which is handy.
In the evening we went out for a lovely Chinese meal and then on to Aqua Spirit Bar which had been recommended to Suzanne. The bar was amazing. It was 30 floors up and had brilliant views of the city all lit up at night.
Very posh though - we were champagne travellers that night!! They actually have a minimum spend per person in there but despite our best efforts to look good, we obviously still looked like backpackers with little money and they said we could just have the 1 drink each!!!!! After that we walked back to Victoria Harbour and admired the view - very beautiful.
I really liked Hong Kong, obviously a lot more expensive than what we're used to but a great place. Could have stayed a day or two more but it was still good all the same.
Early start tomorrow for our flight to Japan.
xxx
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Betty!
non-member comment
OMG!- The Bed....
OMG i didnt realies it was THAT small!That is just so tiny! god job none of you are really really tall! ;0) xx