Day 21: Saying goodbye to Lucy and bussing along
The morning started with a busy and hectic breakfast at Lucy’s because everyone was there. Sadly no banana pancake for me. As a comfort I got to bananas for lunch with me. After saying goodbye to the Lucy crew we left with the bus to go to Guangzhou. It was 6 to 7 hour trip. Not much was done in the bus. We were just eating, sleeping and reading. We arrived in Guangzhou in the afternoon. After a fresh up and a relax moment in the hotel I went for a quick shopping for the day after. In the evening the group went out for a last meal as the whole group. In Hong Kong people will go their own way and one of us was not going to Hong Kong. As usual the food was delicious. After dinner every one went back to their room because the next day we all had to get up early.
Day 22: Bye bye China, hello Hong Kong
At 7 am we had to check out for the ferry to Hong Kong. The trip went pretty smoothly. When we arrived I noticed that we left China. Hong Kong is so completely different. There are big shops everywhere. At also: Hong Kong has good toilets.
After a short fresh up in the hotel I went with two of the group for a quick geocache around the corner. Afterwards we took the cable car to Po Lin Monastery and the Big Buddha. It was very busy to get into a cable car. Luckily while waiting in line I could enjoy the free WIFI without the Chinese firewall!
At the top I had to say goodbye to my two group members. I viewed this 34 bronze Buddha all by myself. Also the monastery was a nice temple, with beautiful statues and buildings. Before I went downwards again I had nice Japanese food with two beers. To return again to the main island with the cable car I had to wait in line again. Luckily on top there was also free WIFI.
I returned just in time down town to see the Symphony of Lights: a light show done by the 44 buildings of the Hong Kong skyline. They were using their lighting, billboards spot lights and lasers. It was quite fun to see but to be honest I expected a bit more, like lighting the buildings with beamers and such. After the show I took the subway back to the hotel after this long day.
Day 23: Sweating a day in the largest mall of the world
A mall: that is a good way for me to describe Hong Kong. There are shops and escalators everywhere. There are also a lot of foot bridges for pedestrians to be above the cars and with a roof above their heads. I started the day with breakfast in the small mall below the hotel. I met a couple of the group in the lobby and I went with them to subway. I had to get out earlier because I wanted to take the famous Star Ferry to cross to Hong Kong Island. I walked to The Peak Tram after a fun ride. Again I was in for a long wait: about one and a half hours this time. And there was no free WIFI either, so I settled with my book on my tablet. After the steep and short tram ride I arrived at the top… in a mall. On the peak I took photos of the beautiful view and I found a geocache as a bonus. I did not want to wait in line again to go down. So I walked back on a steep road into town. At the end of that road were the Zoological and Botanical Gardens which was a small zoo in the middle of the huge city. Birds and monkeys could be found in this little zoo.
I continued my walk down town until I got hungry. Luckily I spotted a MacDonald’s. Satisfied I continued my tour to the Man Mo Temple which to me was extremely small compared to what I was used to back in China. But it was pretty nonetheless. I apparently missed the famous 800 meters of escalators. After finding it I stopped halfway for a beer in a bar. It was a nice Japanese beer.
I walked back to the subway to go back to the hotel. Poor fellow passengers near me. I was very smelly of all the sweat on this warm day. Back at the hotel I could finally shower and pack for the next day to head home.
Day 24: Going home
After three weeks of adventure it was time to go home. After a relaxing wake up with my last instant coffee I said good bye to two of the group who were not going with our flight. We arrived nice on time on the airport. Where I went for another MacDonald’s before I entered the plane for the 12 hour flight back to The Netherlands.