Hong Kong 10-19-09

Hong Kong is technically a part of China, but requires a separate visa, uses a different currency, and is full of city life, westerners, English speakers, and sky scrapers. It was nice to have a change of pace and see a big city.

Finding a hostel in HK is one of the easiest things to do, as you walk down the street wearing a backpack, it seems as if ever person in HK is offering you accommodation. We were warned of the scammers ahead of time and knew what to expect. On the way to our hostel (that we booked in advance) a few people would ask us which hostel we were staying at, when we answered, they would say “yes, this is the reception” and they would try to check us in and collect our deposit. Only when we said “we already paid in full online” would they direct us to where our hostel really was.

Another thing about the hostels in HK is that they are super small and pretty dirty. Our room had two beds in it and little room for anything else. The shower was above the toilet in a corner of the room and the door to the “bathroom” was broken and didn’t close all the way. Also, the hot water only worked from 7am-12pm or 7pm-12am. So, we had to shower on a schedule.

And in addition to all that, the street vendors on Nathan road (where we were staying) were relentless! As soon as we stepped onto the street we were mobbed with people saying “Rolex, would you like a Rolex, nice watch?”, “Suits, custom suits, we make for you”, “handbag my lady? Discount for you.” “Foot massage, one hour for 99 HK dollar”, “dinner here, special price, come look at our menu”. It was ridiculous! And looking around, there were more westerners/tourists than HK or Chinese residents. It was so odd to not stand out.

The city is really cool though. Rich and I took the Star Ferry across the bay to HK island and saw the skyline at night. We checked out night markets (similar to the silk market in Beijing), and took a skylift up to look over the city. The skyline was really nice to see, but unfortunately, it was a bit overcast the four days we were in town, so it looked a bit foggy.

Our last day in HK we met up checked out the antique street on HK island and walked around Soho. Later we headed to the race tracks (famous in HK) and met up with Rosalind, a friend of one of my friends from back home (Carolina). When Rich and I first got to the races we bought some beer and placed our bets after asking someone who worked there which horse he thought would win this race. We bet (for place or show) and watched in shock as our horse came in first! Rich entered a chugging beer competition, finished a pint in 5.23 seconds, and we placed our bets for the next race on a horse I thought would be lucky, and placed an even larger bet for win only. Our horse, number 5, was in 4^th place the entire race until in the final stretch he inched past the finish line first! We won 150 HK dollars and were so excited!!

Rosalind got to the races just as we won this race and gave us passes to get into the member’s only section. We were only allowed in for a little while until we were eventually kicked out because we weren’t wearing suits and business attire. Apparently flip flops and shorts don’t count as business dress. Who would have thought? We had a great time though and were so happy that we did so well betting on the races.

The next day Rich boarded a flight for Vietnam and I got on my plane to Thailand. It was really sad to say good bye after traveling together for over two weeks now. Rich is one of the most generous, fun loving, and easy going people I’ve ever met and I’m going to miss him and our photo taking competitions and constant jokes We plan to meet up again in Cambodia or Laos.. but if not, he’ll be in New Zealand in April when I get there, so we’re bound to cross paths again.

Time to explore Thailand.. land of beautiful beaches, full moon parties, jungles, temples, and cheap pad thai. Thailand here I come!