The 8th of June and day 66 we once again spent the day killing time in Bangkok, as we our transfer to the airport wasn't until 11pm. We had a day at Dusit Zoo in Bangkok which took us up until 6pm I think, then we read and drank fruit smoothies etc. When it got time to wait for the transfer to pick us up, we were there at 10:45. Come 11:30pm we were concerned it hadn't turned up, although this is Thailand and expecting a coach to pick you up on time is a likely as a bacon sandwich in a mosque. Anyway Sarah nipped back to where we booked the transfer, and the girl who took the booking was asleep. Sarah woke her and after some calling around, it seemed the minivan didn't see us. This was bollocks as we were the only ones at the guesthouse with rucksacks and with that 'waiting for a ride' look about us. The lady tried to appease us with booking us a taxi, but advised Sarah we'd have to pay B50 for the toll roads. Sarah rightly pissed off said we weren't paying anymore, it was her or their cock-up. When I met her the girl was very frantic and frustrated at being let down. My concern was she'd say here is your B200 back and we'd have to pay B400 to get to the airport. With this in mind I agreed and Sarah reluctantly too that B50 which is about £1 is a quick way out of the mess. The girl handed over B350 to the taxi driver and I guess to her being down by B100 was a huge loss, and it may not have been her fault either. However, her angry manner where I found myself trying to calm her when it should have been the other way, did not make her endearing. I think my lesson here is if at all possible get your guesthouse to book the transfers not save a few pennies by going to a cheapy desk next to a 7 Eleven. Still we all live and learn and B250 or £5 for a 40km taxi journey is a very good deal.
My strong belief in leaving margin for error with time (which is free in travel world) proved itself as we were very early for the flight. Arriving at just before 1am on 9th June, our flight to Hong Kong wasn't until 6:30am so we had to find somewhere to sleep at the airport. I opted at first for the cold floor of Bangkok airport. Cold because they crank up the AC big time there. That didn't work, but resting against the rucksack and on the metal seats bagged me an hour of sleep. We checked in about 3:30am and were through security and onto the very comfy seats for a couple more hours until the gate was ready. I couldn't get back to sleep so spent the time reading and playing Solitaire on the iphone. I slept very well on the flight, to be awoken with the meal I ordered back in the UK. Here is another travel tip regards to Airasia; don't bother with the food. If booking in the UK the £1.99 meal choice looks excellent value, but when you've been in Asia and you see what £2 can buy you, the food inflight is disgusting.
Days 67 to 70 Hong Kong
I'm going to liken Hong Kong to the band Bloc Party. Let me explain this. At V2006 Festival, I was looking forward to Radiohead playing, I knew Radiohead would be great, because they were Radiohead. Incidentally Bloc Party played that afternoon and I'd never really heard them before apart from a few songs and they blew me away. Ironically Radiohead decided that this festival they would try out new stuff on the audience and were not as good as they have been in the past. The point was I wan't expecting Bloc Party and we weren't really expecting Hong Kong. We booked the tickets as this was the place we intended to stop to get our Chinese Visas. Of course with the rejection of the Chinese Visas we still had a flight to Hong Kong we had to use, but we were hesitant of staying in a place which is notoriously not cheap for the backpacker. For example our cost of accommodation here in a dorm in a hostel is the equivalent of a 3star hotel in Bangkok with a swimming pool. The only reason we stayed 4 nights is the flights back were much cheaper if we held off for a couple of days. Now on our last but one day, it seems what a gem of a place we would miss if we rushed this in 2 days. The place is truly amazing. Let me run through the highlights.
The shopping centre which held our guesthouse is little Delhi. If you want bags, electronic goods, SIM cards and excellent curry, this is the place. Our hostel, Paris Guesthouse is grotty but clean. The shower is dubiously rigged up direct to the boiler, but it gave me the best shower I had in ages. The room is cool and airy and gives you a haven from the intense Hong Kong humidity. Free water, free and good WIFI. Its everything you want but it looks like crap. I had my first really good nights sleep since I've been in Asia in this hostel. Another plus, the laundry is free, only the price of a good review in Hostelworld, which I have to work out how to do.
 |
| Symphony of Lights |
Symphony of lights
Every night at 8pm go to Victoria Harbour on Kowloon, and look across at Hong Kong Island and lame music is played slightly out of sync with the skyscrapers performing a light display. This is free and an absolute must for the first night.
The Star Ferry.
The chugging green passenger ships which too and fro between Kowloon and Hong Kong Island make an iconic and perfect budget travel option. Only HK$2 or 17p for the journey.
 |
| The Star Ferry |
The Peak Tram
On Hong Kong Island look for The Bank of China and HSBC Bank then look for signs to Peak Tram. The cost of the return is HK$65 but it takes you to the peak of Hong Kong Island for the iconic view. Eating up there will mean you will certainly need to take another trip to the ATM. Also Hong Kong being a Peninsular and a tropical one, means cloudy days are the norm, so getting a clear day to do the trip to the Peak may not come straight away. Just go up and wait for a break in the clouds, which always comes.
The Walled City of Kowloon is a beautiful park, with Chinese Temples, ornate Gardens and cute little bridges over goldfish infested streams. The Walled City was up until the 1990s mass of ungovernable slums with highrises against narrow streets which let little light in. One of the agreements between the British and Chinese governments in 1987, in the 10 year run up to handing Hong Kong back, was to get rid of these slums which saw children play next to heroin dealers, and improve the area. The park now sits in between some high-rise apartments, but the space given has made the place safe for tourists to walk.
 |
| Inside Walled City now |
 |
| Walled City of Kowloon before 90s (alleyways on right) |
Hong Kong in General.
Hong Kong is loud and annoying. You can't walk five paces without being offered a suit, fake Rolex or a massage. Walk down one street and you are feeling out of place as you are surrounded by Cartier, Gucci, Tiffany. Then you turn a corner and shops smelling unpleasantly of Chinese herbal medicines. Even on Hong Kong Island where the hawkers of fake Rolex and suits are not allowed, you see the suited white businessmen walk past an elderly Chinaman playing a flute. I think for me a travel moment happened. A travel moment is something that stays with you always and cannot be recorded by video or camera, it just stays in your mind. For me it was sat eating Singapore Noodles on some steps on Victoria Harbour looking at the Hong Kong Island cityline across the water. The same noodles we saw cooked before us in a huge wok of oil and fire only moments earlier. I've had many Chinese takeaways in my time but this was by far the best yet.
Alongside this dynamism and tradition is the underlying and very strong presence that this was once a British colony. The streets have names like Chater, Connaught, Nathan and South Chatham. The vehicle plates are British and they drive on the same side of the road as us, and not as the rest of mainland China. I look at it and think Britain can do some great things really, just not on its own island.
You see in Hong Kong a place that is amazing in although being such a small geographical place, it still had the power to keep hold of democracy, freedom and facebook. Some of those who believe in the power of the UK would say, Britain demanded it in 1997 as part of the handover deal, but I think its the pure wealth generated in the small island territory that dictated its future. China is more money oriented than ideology when it comes to socialism, and to that end when Hong Kong ceases to be an autonamous region in 2047, I still think China will just let Hong Kong continue to do what it does best. As Deng Xiaopeng (successor to Mao) said "I don't care if the cat is black or white, as long as it catches mice".
No comments:
Post a Comment