Shoestring Trip Around The World - First Stop - Hong Kong

So far 2011 has been a crazy busy year but somehow I secured the resources and hastily got my stuff together for a shoestring trip around the world. A three hour flight to Los Angeles for an overnight then a longer than usual 15 hour flight the following day deposited me in Hong Kong. It’s Monday morning and I’ve been here since Friday night.
I chose to start my odyssey through China in Hong Kong because it’s an easy city in my opinion. However, I did spend the first hour or so here wandering around brightly neon lit streets mildly lost in search of the Dragon Hostel located on the 7 floor of the Sincere building. With bilingual English/Chinese street signs and grid like layout the city is easy to navigate.

Hong Kong is a vertical city surrounded by mountains/big hills. I call it a vertical city because of the hundreds if not thousands of high rise buildings that accommodate the seven million people who live here. The arrangement is really quite impressive and large sections are very modern. The transportation system with subway and buses is easy and efficient. The city is clean and the people are fine. For such a large population stacked upon one another things seem relatively low key. In a way the city lacks a certain vibe or electricity I’ve experienced in other places but it remains a very interesting place. It’s kind of a cross between New York and Singapore.

As expected my room at the Dragon Hostel in closet small. I chose the least expensive single with shared bathroom. The room is tiny with no windows but very clean, comfortable and relatively quiet. I’m paying somewhere around $30 USD a night which is cheap for Hong Kong but expensive for China. I figure I’ll be paying about $10 for the same thing in China with private bathroom. For the budget traveler in Asia Hong Kong is not cheap but things can be kept reasonable by western standards. Meals are costing between $4 - $8 USD. I think I’ll be paying about half of that in China.

For the first two jet lagged days in Hong Kong I’ve done a lot of walking. Aside of walking city streets the surrounding mountains offer some surprisingly good walking/hiking and there is a nice network of paths and trails. The first day I walked up Victoria Peak for grand views of the city. The second day, Sunday, I took a ferry to Lamma Island for some really nice hiking on a sparsely environment with no cars.

Lamma Island has a network of trails that run for miles up, over, and around mountains with fantastic hazy views. No need for hiking boots as all of the trails are paved like a concrete sidewalk. Some sections even have hand rails. It’s pretty impressive. As I hiked over one peak I noticed large boulders that are shored up with concrete to keep them from rolling onto the path.

I started by taking a ferry to one end of the Island and walked across to the other side. I finished my walk in a fishing village which is popular for its seafood. I was a little hesitant about jumping into the local seafood at the beginning of my trip but everything was very fresh. Actually, still alive in buckets and tanks. I ordered a set menu that included boiled shrimp, steamed scallop, pan fried clams, deep fried squid, orange slices and a large bottle of beer. Everything was really, really, good. Oh, and it looks like I’m back to drinking a little beer. It just goes so well with travel.

Tomorrow I will cross into China and take a night sleeper bus to Yangshuo. When I bought the ticket China Travel Agency said it takes 11 hours. The guidebook says 13 hours. A message on an online travel board says a new road has been built so it only takes 7 hours but that seems too short. All I know is that I’ll arrive in Yangshuo between 3 and 6:30 am but most likely around 5 am. I paid approximately $40 for the ticket which I’m sure is more expensive than buying at the station but I figure I’ll have enough of a challenge just finding the right terminal without having to deal with a ticket line. Yes, the adventure will really begin when I cross into china as I’ll leave the comfort of bilingual signs and commonly spoken English. Until then I’ll roam the streets of Hong Kong a bit longer.

The photos below show a view of Hong Kong from Victoria peak, a city street scene, and a view from my hike on Lamma Island.