Hello Hong Kong!

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Hello Hong Kong!

My journey from Wuhan to Hong Kong was the usual tale of confusion, stress, and absurdly limited timelines. I had arrived in Guangzhou at around 10pm with only a vague idea as to how to cross the subsequent border into Hong Kong. I knew that I had to take a train to get there, but the city was unsurprisingly large and contained several different train stations. A kindly man from my bus judiciously dispensed advice, and offered to split a taxi to the Northern train station with me. I agreed. Unfortunately it turned out that my train departed from the Southern train station which was at least 30km across town. I had 2 hours to get there, which should have been plenty of time, however I could not find a taxi. A security guard noticed my plight and thankfully called one in, which meant that I had enough time to send my parents an email and explain that I had not fallen off the face of the Earth for the past 5 days. This conversation did not go well.

The train ride however, was meticulously clean, highly efficient, and blessedly quiet. I was able to decompress for an hour after the madness of the past week and the guilt of making my parents wonder whether I had been murdered and chopped into small pieces somewhere along my way. Never again will I attempt to traverse China so quickly and relentlessly. I couldn’t even remember the last time that I had enjoyed the luxury of a shower. Thankfully the seat next to me remained empty as I am sure that I did not smell my best.

As I stepped off that train and into the city of Hong Kong, I was overwhelmed by how clean, modern, and legible the city was. For the first time in weeks I was greeted by English signage and Western-style toilets! I didn’t have to mime for my food at McDonalds! The taxi driver refused to go until I had buckled my seatbelt! If it wasn’t for the fact that I still towered over everyone then I almost could have believed that I was back home.

I checked into a small (miniscule) room in a hotel Kowloon, across the harbour from the main downtown area. I had my own small (miniscule) bathroom and free wifi signal, however was forced to contend with the suspicious and grumpy owner every time I left the sanctity of my room.

My original plan for Hong Kong was to arrange for my Mongolian and Russian visas. The Mongolian visa was quick and easy to obtain, however the Russian visa was somewhat more painful and significantly more expensive. I wanted to take the trans-Siberian railway across Russia and into Europe where I would be meeting my mom, but after I priced out this experience to be approximately $1700 for a 5 day train ride, I decided to forgo Russia and fly to Europe instead. If I’m going to be spending that kind of money to travel through Russia then I want to wait for a time when I can relax and enjoy the experience.

I spent the remainder of my time in Hong Kong exploring the many parks, walking trails, and alleyways of this beautiful and exciting city. Some highlights included the boat cruise through the harbour, where I could enjoy the lights and music show on the busy city skyline. The walking trail at the Peak offered spectacular views of the North and South side of the island. And on my final night in Hong Kong I treated myself to a ballet performance of Cinderella.

I love this city and could easily envision myself living and working here. The only negative things about it was the ridiculous cost of eating out (I basically survived on McDonalds for 7 days), and the prevalence of Michael Jackson everywhere you look (I like him as much as the next person, but after hearing “Thriller” 24/7 for an entire week I was beginning to develop a facial tic at the sight of that red leather jacket). If you had a kitchen to cook for yourself, and a TV in order to control your own source of entertainment, then this city would be perfection itself.

Signing Out,
Jen

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Comments

[GoTraveller]

Great to see an update. I was beginning to wonder how you were. I was originally planning on taking a train across Australia from Perth to Melbourne, but the timing and the price had me flying as well. Fair Wind, Clark