Day 116 and 117 October 18 and 19 Hong Kong

Day 116
Today we meet up with Felix, Eve and Christine at the markets in Stanley, on the other side of Hong Kong Island. We are treated to a fabulous afternoon of hospitality at their appartment and enjoy a swim in the rooftop pool and a delicious supper of spag bol and curry! A real treat to be in home surroundings  and, more importantly, again we have been fortunate to meet another fabulous family, who share their home with us and extend the hand of friendship to us.

Day 117
It is with mixed feelings that we leave China and start the next leg of our journey and head to Thailand.

Day 115 HONG KONG 17 October

We arrive at Shenzhen on the Chinese/Hong Kong border and must go through immigration. It feels very strange as we cross over a footbridge and are directed through passport control to leave China to cross into Hong Kong - and go through the same process to enter - especially as it is technically the same country.

 Our last days in Hong Kong are to be spent in the luxurious and slightly over indulgent surroundings of the Royal Plaza Hotel - only possible as we got a last minute cheap deal! We dont even have to go outside to get there as, after a 30 minute metro ride direct from Shenzhen, we find the hotel is conveniently located above the metro atation within an enormous shopping plaza.  The girls enjoy the rest of the day in the outdoor 8th floor pool, complete with underwater music and Nicole enjoys a loooooooooooong sauna and steam! 

We take full advantage of the concierge services who duly find a large box for us to send home, they then also organise for it to be taken to the post office so we dont have to!

Day 114 GUILIIN to HONG KONG 16 October

Our last day in China "proper" is spent packing up, dividing up  our belongings into "hot weather" and "send home" bags. The girls take advantage of some last "down time" before returning to Hong Kong, via Shenzhen on the sleeper train.

Day 91Fr 23 Sept Hong Kong Day 3

   

Sadly we have to relocate for our last night in Hong Kong so we pack up and trek down Nathan Road (for what seems like forever) and check in to the Garden Island Guesthouse for the night.  

 

A short trip on the metro across to Hong Kong Island to the Mid Level Escalator - the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. 800 metres (2,600 ft) long with a vertical climb of 135 metres (443 ft). The total travel time is twenty minutes, but most people walk while the escalator moves to shorten their trip. Due to the geographical situation, the same distance is equivalent to several miles of zigzagging roads if travelling by car. It consists of twenty escalators and three moving side-walks. These escalators together form the longest outdoor covered escalator system.The escalator daily runs downhill from 6:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. and uphill from 10:30am to midnight. Apart from serving as a method of transporting, it is also a tourist attraction and has restaurants, bars, and shops lining its route. There is an entrance and exit on each road it passes, often on both sides of the road.

   

At the top we are a bit bemused as there is nothing to see and the girls wonder what all the fuss has been about. We have fun travelling back down though! 

  

At the bottom, at Rowan's request, we catch a tram to Causeway Bay to stock up on supplies for our first overnight train journey into China. 

Day 90 Thurs 22nd Sept Hong Kong day 2

David is sent off to buy train tickets for the start of our China train journey and also to the Post Office to send another big parcel of bits and bobs home to try and get rid of a bit of our excess baggage! The girls embark on a walking tour around Mong Kok and encounter an array of sights, sounds and smells along the way!

  

Everywhere you turn in Hong Kong, on every street and down every alleyway, there are snack stalls, preparing, cooking and selling a dazzling selection of food. To our untrained eyes - most is unrecognisable -apart from the unmistakable smell of tripe! We probably ought to have been braver - but content ourselves with just looking! The tour is supposed to take us to the "goldfish market" but it becomes obvious very quickly that this is the pet shop area. Unlike the UK there is no limit on what can be sold and we see sad little faces of every conceivable "pet" staring back at us. Initially the girls ooh and aah but rapidly this changes to distress at the conditions and the realisation of what they were looking at.

  

There were also fish and aquatic species of every shape and colour - but again the rows and rows of tanks and suspended bags on every doorway become just too much for us and we quickly move on to the next stage of our trip.

 

Our next stop is to one of Hong Kong's most colourful street markets, the Flower Market is a jungle of exotic blossoms, luck-bringing houseplants and sweet scents to be found in more than 50 shops. and the displays of every conceivable plant and flower on offer are beautiful.

    

Our last stop is the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden.This charming Chinese-style garden is the favoured gathering place of Hong Kong's songbird owners, who carry their beloved pets around in intricately carved cages. All manner of beautiful birds can be seen here, as well as a selection of traditional bird-keeping paraphernalia. Located on Yuen Po Street in Mong Kok, the garden contains some 70 songbird stalls

 

  

The girls loved looking at the birds and especially the bags of various insects ready to be fed by chopstick to waiting beaks!

 

The tour ends with a well deserved, slightly extravagant, chocolate milkshake! but ssssh.... dont tell Daddy!

Day 89 Hong Kong Weds 21 September

We start our day with a trip on the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island.  I say "start "- but by the time we have breakfast, unpack and sort out and generally adjust to  our surroundings it is way past lunchtime so more an afternoon trip out! The views from Kowloon are breathtakingly mad! The high rise is well and truly king here and there are building designs of every shape, design and proportion, each vying to outdo their neighbour. 

  

The juxtaposition of old and new is also amazing - a reproduction junk offering "tourist" cruises, nestled alongside the historic star ferry, a variety of other craft on the water set against the skyscraper skyline.

 

We buy our tickets which cost 20p each and climb on board and make our way across. The girls are delighted to see the staff wearing sailor suits!

 We reach Hong Kong Island - a journey that now only takes 5 minutes we take the bus to the Victoria Peak Tram station. We have read that within 20 years, at the current rate of reclamation of land from the sea Hong Kong Island and Kowloon will be joined up - the pace of change is HUGE and construction and reconstruction is taking place everywhere.

  

Victoria Peak prides itself on being the most popular tourist attraction in Hong Kong.

Perching on The Peak at 396 metres above sea level, The Peak Tower boasts the highest 360° viewing platform - The Sky Terrace 428. Standing at 428 metres above sea level, the Sky Terrace 428 offers spectacular panoramic views of the vibrant city – from the stunning cityscape to the tranquility of greenery landscape. 

The views certainly are breathtaking - although we can see a thick layer of smog hanging over the city as we look back and down on the rattly tram as it makes its way up and down.

 

 The girls enjoy a bit of tourist "kitsch" and write "I love you" messages to hang on the enormous "I love the Peak because..." hearts at the top of the viewing platform.

 We  have arrived just as the evening is closing in and watch the slow progression of lights coming on back on Kowloon. It is almost unimaginable to consider the amount of electricty being used and the number of people associated with each twinkly bulb!

   

    

We head back down the hillside and end our day arriving back to Kowloon in time for the free "Symphony of Lights" show-a synchronised building exterior decorative light and laser multimedia display, featuring 44 buildings on both sides of the Victoria Harbour accompanied by music, now named the 'World's Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show' by Guinness World Records.