So we arrived in Hong Kong to find the thriving city full of excitement brought about by the 7 million people who call this area home. Hong Kong itself is an island full of international companies and people with more money than our national debt, but it also has a larger portion of its local people located across the water in what is known as the Kowloon. Since I had been to HK before and I can speak about 3 words of Cantonese, I was asked to order lunch for the group at a nearby restaurant. It was a challenge, as they were out of everything. In the end I managed to get something for everyone even though it was not the best meal we had had during the 20 days on tour.
Since the hotel cost about $100 CDN we decided to find another more affordable hotel for us to spend the next 5 days. As we ventured through the city we could not help but notice just how busy the streets really were. We managed to find a hotel that was clean and affordable in the heart of one of the many street markets. It was less than 100 square feet, but at least it had a private bathroom and the woman at Po Wah Hotel spoke a little English. (Po Wah Hotel 2nd floor, Wing Wah Bldg, 22-22A Sai Weung Choi Street South, Mongkok, Kowloon Tel: 2388 6670 or 2770 3316)
We met up with the group at the harbour that night to take in the fantastic sites and sounds of what could be one of the best skylines in the world. We sat with some beers and some laughs as the skyline provided a light show (some of the major skyscrapers were displaying their brilliance to music). I think they must of spent more on electricity during the 10 minute show, then we have saved up for our entire trip around the world.
We left the harbour at about 11 pm to find a restaurant to satisfy our empty tummies. It was not surprising to see the streets full of people despite of the time of day, as Hong Kong is know as a city that never sleeps. Shopping appears to be the national pass time here in Hong Kong, as you can find anything and everything at any time of day. It is a total opposite the quietness that we had become accustomed to during our visit to China. We ended up at a local bar where the main attraction was our ladies and one brave gent karaokeing the night away.
The following day we moved into our new hotel and went to Lamma Island with the group for our final outing (a 30 minute ferry ride took us away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong and brought us to a more serene getaway). We spent about an hour and a half trekking through the island to a remote little beach where we all dripped in to cool off. We were all pretty mellow that afternoon as we all realized that the end of a terrific tour with some wonderful people were about to come to an end. We took the ferry back to the excitement of the city where Rav and I wandered home through some of the many streets stalls that were still open at the wee hours of the morning.
The next day we met up with the group one last time to say our final farewell, as Jess and Liz were leaving that day. We spent that night eating with Adam, Naomi and Chris on the streets of Hong Kong before they left Hong Kong on their journey Chris to Mongolia while Adam and Naomi were venturing on to Australia. We found ourselves alone for the first time in three weeks and it was a little strange, as we are now fending for ourselves once again.
With so much do see and do in Hong Kong, we filled the rest of our days there shopping, and of course site seeing, but could not help but wonder from time to time on how the rest of the group was doing in their journey away from us. Although, shopping in HK was not the cheapest to date, I was amazed to see what Rav walked away with. My favorite part of the trip was our venture to Victoria peak by public bus, where we saw the density of Hong Kong and its’ beauty by night. As the bus twisted and turned up the steep terrain of the mountain, we saw the numerous high rise apartments projecting up into the sky like trees in an old growth forest. It was a beautiful site to observe. What was even more impressive was the site from the peak, as the city below was lit up for our eyes to feast upon. It was a true source of inspiration for me as some of my favorite buildings in the world are situated here. The architecture of this place is astonishing. Perhaps one day my name will be on one.
We decided to go on another excursion to Lantau Island to see the largest bronze Buddha statue in the world on day 4 of our stint in HK. Lantau Island is the largest of the islands in HK and plays home to not only the Big Buddha but also Disneyland and the International Airport as well. It took a little longer to get there then what we had anticipated, but it was a great place to visit. On the island, we visited the astounding 202 tonne Big Buddha which stood 26 metres high and 268 steps up (yes, as if we haven’t done enough steps, we did make the climb to get an up close view of the statue) as well as the path of wisdom through a small tea plantation. The wisdom path was an outdoor wooden replica of the centuries old Heart Sutra, one of the world’s best-known prayers that is revered by Confucians, Buddhists and Taoists alike. It has been erected in the form of the symbol for infinity which represents immeasurable splendour and the concept of nothingness. On our last full day, we wandered through the markets again during the day time and sat at the harbour enjoying the magnificent view of HK before departing for the airport and await for our flight to Dubai.
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