Hong Kong

September 10th - September 15th 2011

Star Ferry

We flew from Beijing to Hong Kong and got to our hostel in Kowloon which was situated in Chungking Mansions. The place is notorious among backpackers as everyone on a budget stays there as it's the only affordable accomodation in Hong Kong. It was being held up by scaffolding and was surrounded by people trying to sell you suits, knock off watches, hand bags and even drugs. It definately does not make a good first impression!

We were told by the manager in reception that they had no room in the dorm that we had booked but not to worry as we were very lucky and would get a 'special' private room. He then showed us to our 'special' room which was actually the tiny computer room with the worlds smallest bunk bed in it. It was as small as a broom cupboard and had the added touch of a security camera in the corner which they didn't bother to turn off. We wandered down to the harbour and caught the Symphony of Lights show before going to bed.

Symphony of Lights

We had the worst nights sleep ever but woke up with a brand new city to explore. I had visited Hong Kong very briefly on a stop over trip and had so much that I wanted Craig to see. Our first day we dcided to venture to the top of Victoria Peak which has panoramic views of the City. We took the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island and walked through the city to the tram which would take us to the top. The further up the tram travelled the more amazing the views got. We went to the top of the Peak Tower and enjoyed the breathtaking scenery before making our way back down again to have a look around the shops and taking the tram back down to the city.


View from Victoria Peak

We wandered to the Botanical and Zoological Gardens as it was close by and I had read that it was free to enter. It was really peaceful so we sat and ate ice lollies in front of the water fountain with a view of the architecturally famous HSBC building and Hong Kong skyline. We looked at the animals and birds in the gardens and walked back to our ferry. We got back to our hostel and moved in to our dorm room which was just as bad as our previous room, four tiny bunk beds crammed into a room with no space to put your bags and a dirty bathroom. And this place is three times the price of our nice Beijing hostel!

Orchids in The Botanical Gardens

Another sleepless night ensued as we were sharing with people who got in in the early hours and decided to keep everyone awake laughing all night. Not only that but the manager decided that 3am was a good time to barge in and start shouting at everyone making sure that they had paid. He did this again at 7am. We decided to escape our dorm as early as possible and took a bus to Aberdeen which was once a small fishing village. We took a Sampan boat out to the harbour and took lots of photographs of the junk boats, house boats and restaurant boats. My Hong Kong paintings from uni are based on this place so I made sure I took lots more photographs for future paintings.

Junks in Aberdeen Harbour

After Aberdeen we got the bus back to the city and went to the Space Museum where we saw an Imax movie and did a moon walk simulation which was pretty fun!

Day three in Hong Kong we decided we would take the ferry and bus to Stanley and spend some time at the famous market and relax on the beach. Again we successfully caught the right bus and got to Stanley fine, we sat on the top deck of the bus and got to enjoy the views of Repulse Bay from the winding roads which were spectacular.

We walked through the markets but being on a very strict budget managed to walk away empty handed, an achievement for me! We walked along the seafront to St Stephens Beach where we relaxed under the shade of a tree as it was so hot and humid.

We decided to head to the museums on a Wednesday as they are free and so we explored the very interesting Museum of History and Science Museum. Both were pretty good and even better as we didn't have to pay for them and got a days activity for free which is usually quite hard to come by.

Me and Craig in Aberdeen

Hong Kong was another amazing city. We knew that it would be expensive but didn't realise quite how expensive it was. As nearly half our budget went on accomodation we had to save money with our food and ended up eating in Mcdonalds a lot of the time. Of course being vegetarian all I could have was fries and an apple pie so for about a week that is what I survived on and Craig had a Big Mac meal nearly everyday as it was the cheapest thing they had. Next time we go to Hong Kong we will go on holiday with lots of spending money so that we can take advantage of nice hotels and the amazing food that is there but unfortunately out of our price range.