Hong Kong 20th-23rd March

As leaving for China was such a last minute decision I did not have sufficient time to get my work visa before leaving. Fortunately this meant I had to take a trip to Hong Kong to change my tourist visa into a working one, and with the school paying for my flights and half the hotel I couldn't really complain! Flying direct from the Shiz into HK along with Cerri, who had come along for the same reason, and her son David, the first job was to drop our bags and head straight for the visa office. The whole process was relatively painless, only an hour and a half wait to be called and then 10 minutes at the window, with another visit needed to collect it the next day. With my task now completed I had 2 days completely to myself to explore as much of HK as I could.


My first point of call was the metro underground to Central station on Hong Kong Island (the hotel was in Kowloon on the mainland). As I walked out the exit I wandered straight into a small park and was completely surrounded by huge buidings. The main attraction is the Bank of China building and its odd shape, follwed by the HSBC HQ, designed to be inside-out. On a short walk up from here to the Peak Tram station I also had one of my highlights of China so far. A bright yellow Lamborghini Murcielago, 6ft away, going past me at full chat! I then caught the tram up Victoria Peak, which overlooks HK and Kowloon from the south. As you can see above the views from the top are amazing, even if it was a little hazy. After taking a lot of photos I left the crowds and took a walk through the parks and forest across the top of the peak. Back down, I wandered around the HK zoological and botanical gardens and then HK park. Although free and worth the effort to go, they would both have been better if the birds were free from bird flu and therefore on display rather than locked away. It was then briefly back to the visa office and on to the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre, with its 7 storey glass facade and where the handover took place in 1997. I took the tram up to Victoria Peak once again at night for the view of the skyscrapers all lit up. The view was something special but because of the haze and my old camera the pictures haven't come out as well as hoped.

For my second day I thought I would take in the sights of Kowloon before heading back over to HK Island. After a breif visit to the only climbing shop in HK, I walked the whole length of Nathan Rd and through the 'Golden Mile' (most cities now seem to have one!) past all the shops, museums and tailors HK is famous for. From the tip of Kowloon I caught the famous 'Star Ferry' across the harbour, for all of 8p for the 10 minute trip. Back on HK Island I moved on to the Causeway Bay area and its large malls and designer shops. As I was wearing shorts and had my rucksac, I didn't hang around too long and instead headed for Victoria Park.

The Wan Chai area is where the main nightlife is in HK and despite being alone it was still interesting to walk around, seeing a mixture of western residents, tourists and the HK locals all out and dressed up. I headed for the Convention and Exhibition Centre again for more photos before finding the quietest bar so to catch up on the cricket. I was on my own after all and so couldn't really go to the nightclubs! Flying back the next day I realised that one, I had walked a long way in the last 2 days, and two, that HK was the biggest city I have ever been to and now my new favourite. There is still a lot more to do with more time, as I basically just follwed what my Lonely Planet recommended for a 2 day trip! Things didn't go that smoothly at the airport though, Cerri and I had a mix up over meeting times and so I went through security without them, thinking they had already gone through. This wasn't the case and so involved an announcement to the whole airport, and the delaying of our and several other flights. They were not best pleased with me!