Finally I've got round to writing some blog, but I have a fair bit to catch up on, so I'll keep it brief for the time being...
Other than the constant temperature abuse, being thrilled by the cheap food and staring at the skyline I did manage to see some other sights and do other stuff, including:
So, arriving in HK I immediately broke a sweat, something so far that has become a bit of a constant on my travels. Spending most of my time either seeking the refuge of air conditioning or looking up at the rather lovely big buildings, I wandered a maze of streets, overpasses, underpasses and numerous shiney shopping malls. Finding my way around though was no problem as I had a personal guide in the form of Mr. Phillips and the only time I did get lost was trying to escape a shopping mall.
With all the shopping malls (literally douzens) I managed to do absolutely no shopping, thank god. I even managed to resist the offers of genuine copy handbags and watches on every street corner in Tsim Sha Tsui. The most annoying thing was however being followed down the street with a persistent man trying to sell you taylor made suits... "I'm a dirty scrubby traveller! I have no need for a suit, Go Away" was my thought, a thought I only thought aloud once at a particularly annoying salesman. Rage
Fortunately I didn't have to negotiate any language barriers as such, most people where ever I went spoke English, plus nothing I had to say couldn't be communicated with a simple point and grunt. Especially when ordering food, you like the look of, you point, you get, all at amazingly low price! Noodles and rice with various suspect meats were consumed in great quantities and I even managed to stay off the McDonald's for a whole week.
Now my entire reason for visiting HK, oriniginated a few years back when waiting for Neighbours. News Round was on and such is it's childish journalism (it's aimed at adults don't you know) it reported on an amazing event, The Hong Kong bun festival. This coincidentally was taking place whilst I was in town. So on the ferry I hopped to it's venue on Cheung Chau island, where huge swarms of tourists crowded the streets with dancing dragons, marching bands and kids on sticks parading the town. Not being what I'd come to see, I escaped to the back streets and watched shrimps squirm on a skewer as I barbequed them alive.
What I had come to see, and the culmination of a weekend of festivities, was the grand final bun race. Twelve contestants on ropes with a sack each scramble up a 40ft tower of steamed buns, whilst collecting buns in their sack. Over in a matter of minutes, I'm still unsure what the criteria for winning were, it was the highlight of a long hot day.
Other than the constant temperature abuse, being thrilled by the cheap food and staring at the skyline I did manage to see some other sights and do other stuff, including:
- A giant bronze Buddha on the nearby island of Lantau, also a 934m hill to walk up.
- Shatin Ten thousand Buddha monastery (apparently there's 13 thousand), with loads of garish gold statues everywhere.
- Wong Tai Sin temple, had a lovely tranquil garden setting to escape HK's filth and noise.
- Did loads of walking on the surrounding hills, as I do.
- Oo, and I saw the olympic torch relay. Whoop whoop
I think bullet points are the way to keep things brief and stop me from rabbiting and you from instantaneously getting bored and tearing your eyes out. I could go on but I'll not.
Getting my visa for China proved troublesome with various restrictions in place due to the olympics etc.. meaning I had time to spare, so I decided to go on holiday to Taiwan for a bit.
