So after bribing our way out of Vietnam (they really aren't flexible on the visas - we had the wrong start dates but hadn't been in the country for more than the allowed 30 days - cost us $50 in backhanders each - that was a very smiley immigration guy and a very unsmiling Katie!), we made it to the clean efficient Hong Kong.
The weather was wet and cool - just like home - they even had a M&S!
We did have a bit of a shock on the cost there though. We stayed in a cute little hostel called the Rainbow Lodge, which was a decent sized 3 bed flat in Kowloon converted into dorm rooms with 11 beds each, for $30 a night (compared to Vietnam at $5!).
It was in a decent location - just a short Star Ferry away from Hong Kong island and with plenty to keep us busy in the surrounding area for the few days we were there, including window shopping on the Honkers equivalent of Fifth Avenue, the Avenue of the Stars and the famous Bruce Lee statue, all with a sprinkling of Santas as it was Santa Con that weekend...
View out of the window
We even attempted Victoria Peak - however it was pissing it down and starting to get dark when we got close to climbing the hill... So we stuck to the English Pub in SoHo instead, taking advantage of the happy hour beer prices, before meeting a couple of girls on a weekend away from Shanghai and going on a bar crawl of the happy hours around Lang Kwai Fong...
With added Santas - yes Santa Con had stumbled over the water to the island by this point!
The following morning we met Cat's friend at a Dim Sum restaurant to drink lots of tea and eat our way out of our hangovers...
Then we pottered around Kowloon and it's park - where we found some sculptures and the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre.
We then treated ourselves to a nice pizza dinner before watching the light show across the harbour from the Avenue of Stars, and then Cat headed to the airport on the way to Rio :(
I'll catch up with her again in Uruguay!
I had one more day left before I flew back to London for Christmas - so a free ticket to the HK Heritage Museum was a good start.
The Bruce Lee exhibit and documentary were interesting insights into his life and influence on the Hong Kong film industry.
The other exhibits including one of pottery and statues, one about Chinese opera and one of Chinese prints were also interesting - worth the MTR ride out there!
The mists that had been shrouding Hong Kong island lifted just as I was headed to the airport - we never got that view from Victoria Peak...
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