Day 28 - "Hong Kong? What do you mean Hong Kong?" "Hong Kong, it's in China!"

Hong Kong's neon scene.

Day 28 - 21st July

So an early rise at 5:30 am saw me escaping my dormitory like a scene of a crime. By the time they'd discover the clogged toilet, I'd be long gone! 

I checked out and took the 18 metro stops to the airport. I checked in, no hassle, went through security and the immigration check without a hitch. I even received more money back an I thought on my Chinese Quan to Hong Kong Dollar exchange. The day was looking good. I picked up a gift for my niece on the way through to my gate so I was in high spirits.

When I boarded the plane and sat down, we had ten minutes until our scheduled departure time. I'd be at Chung King Mansion before I knew it. My luck was in, happy days . . . of course it wasn't going to continue. The Aussie pilot comes over the announcement system to tell us that due to weather conditions, only one plane every fifteen minutes would be taking off. That didn't sound too bad. Then he added we were some way down the pecking order. Nuts!

Two and half hours later and we're off. We were given some awesome biscuits and water and with 40 minutes, we were in Hong Kong.

I took the light rail into Kowloon and then a free shuttle bus to The Peninsula Hotel. It looked stunning and I was hoping my £9 a night hostel would follow suit. As soon as I spotted it, I spotted trouble. A wave of Indian guys accosted me as I entered the 16 floor Chung King Mansion on Nathan Street. "Cheap room, fella?" Yeah, I've got one pal. "Suit? Nice shirt to go with it free!" I'm a backpacker, mate! "Hookah, weed, coke?" Have you got any, Sprite?

If we have an earthquake, I'm buggered!

Where's the health and safety officer when you need one?

It's cosy, I'll give them that.

So I get into the lift, go up to the 16th floor, having to get out at the 13th floor because there are no buttons above that, and check in at The Delta Hostel. It looks OK, before they lead me into my room. It's a box with four beds. To make matters worse, mine is the top bunk with a massive beam going over the top of it, about 18 inches above my head. My roommates were a Dutch guy called John and a Korean guy called Lex. Another Korean girl was in the other top bunk but she was out and about somewhere. The only saving grace was the window next to me that Alex and I shared. From there, I could see a fair amount of Nathan Road and the building in the distant that Batman jumped from in The Dark Knight. Win win I'd say!

This will be fun . . . the three 's' can be done all from the toilet seat.

Then I go to take a shower and find its a wet room, (for those unfamiliar, it's basically a toilet, a sink and a shower head - go nuts!) and its small as hell. Somebody dislikes me!

So I headed down to the streets to wander around, losing myself in the local neighbourhoods. I had a couple of homemade samosas from the finest Chung King establishment, Butt Fast Food Centre for a modest 12 HK dollar (£1.20). Nathan Road and the surrounding areas were crazy; I must have been offered ten suits, five offers of drugs and a two prostitutes, at the same time for 200 HK dollars. Safe to say, I was aware I was in Hong Kong!

I retired early and headed back for sleep. It had been a long day!