On route to South Korea, Farmboy and I had a two night stop over in Hong Kong. We were super excited to see this city as we plan on teaching there in a few years time.
To be honest, we felt quite disappointed by the end of our stay. We're not sure if it was the jet lag, the intense humidity, the impending excitement of finally reaching South Korean soil or the insanely huge number of people, everywhere ALL THE TIME.
Even with the above grumbling, we had a great time. In between long midday and afternoon snoozes, we explored a lot of this incredibly overwhelming city, and still feel that there was a lot we didn't see.
We stayed at a wonderful hostel called Homy Inn in Tsim Sha Tsui (or TST as its fondly referred to). Surrounded by boutique stores, markets, restaurants and bars there is something happening all day every day. Homy Inn was clean and easy to find, and the staff there were so friendly! The rooms are small, but with a little strategic packing there is more than enough room to be comfy. For both of us it cost us a total of HK$1320, which worked out to about R300 per person per night (free wifi was such a bonus!), very reasonable. In total we spent about HK$4000 for our 2 night stay, which included all food, bus and train tickets to and from the airport, sightseeing and one or two little souvenirs and accomodation. It was well worth it.
We are very sad to have missed the Light Show that happens at the harbor every evening at 8pm, but we did arrive in the middle of a monsoon/tsunami (it sounds way more hardcore than it actually was) but it did mean heavy rains and thick grey clouds. But the light show is apparently a must see.
We did book tickets on the Big Bus Tour which was super cool! A great way to learn more about the history of the city, while getting around everywhere quickly and with great views from high above on the top of the bus. Included in the Big Bus Tour are tickets to Victoria Peak, which has incredible views of the famous skyscrapers and the surrounding lush green vegetation, it was breathtaking! What was also breathtaking was the 45 minute queue for the tram that takes you to the top, so go early in the morning to avoid the crowds!
Here are a few 'proper' photographs (I find that now that I have an iPhone, my poor camera stays hidden in its bag...must fix that!). So here are those photographs taken with my Nikon...
Have you been to Hong Kong before? What did you think of the place? I'd love to hear your thoughts.
