Heading inland...

Sunday 1st April 2007

A very early start precluded breakfast but we were bussed to the ferry departure pier quickly and through baggage.  Before long we were on the hydrofoil and having a munch.  It gave us an opportunity to chat to the others as we were seated all over the place in the boat.  V took the chance to catch up on some sleep missed from the previous night but I stayed awake nattering the whole time, quelle surprise!

After collecting more passport stamps coming through Chinese immigration we were introduced to our guide, Eric, immediately.  On the bus trip to Guangzhou he gave us a fascinating mini history lesson, before we dumped the bags in a local hotel and headed for lunch, a lovely mix of Canton meat and veggie dishes, with the egg & shrimp and pork & cashew nuts proving very popular!

After a brief stop at the supermarket, during which we had our first experience of the 'fresh' food on sale (live frogs, turtles and tanks of fish) and picked up some supplies for the princely sum of about 80p we headed back to the hotel to pick up the bags and then bundled into taxis for the train station.

Our first experience of taxis in this country preceded our first experience of Chinese railways.  Both are quite something.  Lanes on the road are a state of mind while the train station was just heaving!  The amount of people there was just staggering!  Our group had to form a kind of scrum to get through!  It was a bit like being part of a tiny stream becoming part of a torrent, where personal space just doesn't exist.  Couple this with the heat and humidity and you've got some sticky moments!

When you make it to the door it's the quickest security procedure ever as you whip off your rucksack, get shoved through and chuck it on the X-ray machine, run through the scanner and collect it on the other side before someone else gets there.  Eric managed to blag his way into the special lounge for us, which is apparently reserved for pregnant women and the like, where we took a breather before re-joining the heaving mass of humanity heading for the train.

On the train and suffice to say it's nothing like the trains here, for all the criticism we (rightly) give them.  Check out the pictures at the top for an idea.  Like a long corridor, each cubicle has 6 bunks and a very thin corridor at their end.  Being a hard sleeper the beds lived up to their name, and I won't even start on the toilets... for now.  Let's just say they go in for the whole unisex toilet idea here in a big way!

Oh well, this is travelling, China-style and we love it!

Sunrise over the Himalayas...

Friday 30th March/Saturday 31st March 2007

All well so far, the trip to Heathrow went pretty well, the flight to Amsterdam fine although the landing was a bit bumpy, bouncing into the air again on touchdown!

The transfer was easy enough though there was plenty of security to get through.  Food the usual plane fare but V as usual seems to get the best of it with the veggie option... must remember that for the next time we fly!

...skip forward a few hours, the usual in-flight "entertainment", snoozing and all that, until...

End of flight, 8.30am local time in Hong Kong on Saturday 31st March, we arrive looking and feeling like death warmed up (plenty due to the temperature).  Thought largely uneventful the highlight of the very long flight was waking up to sunrise over the Himalayas!  WOW! (on the other hand, the lowlight was the turbulence reminiscent of Airplane!).

On arrival in HK airport helped out by a woman from the tourist office who took pity on our bedraggled state and gave us a map, pointing out what to go and see in our brief visit there, where to eat, that kind of thing.

Got to Booth Lodge and checked in by 10.30, having to pay a HK$200 deposit for everything, seemingly including paying for the deposit (not too sure about that...).

We fought through the jet-lag and the overwhelming desire to sleep for the first time in what felt like weeks and headed off down Nathan Road, where I was approached by about 100 tailors all offering to make me a suit.  Seriously, look at me, do I look like the kind of guy who wears a suit?!

Got to the Star Ferry and sailed for Hong Kong Island, from where we took the bus to the Peak Train then the incredibly steep tramway to the Peak (see pic at top).  We had lunch there in a relatively expensive (hey, it's all relative around here!), swank-ish hotel despite looking like vagrants.

Back to Booth Lodge for the first meeting with the rest of our fellow travellers and a briefing (i.e. opportunity to pay more money I think!) before a quick nap and a shower (at last) and then off for a wander around the famous Temple Street night market and dinner.  Deciding that when in Rome... we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe for a final bit of Western food for a while!

After this we meandered back up the ever-busy streets to Booth Lodge for an early night before an early start as we went inland...