Hong Kong. An impressive city. You definitely get lost, if you don’t know how the streets and house numbers work. So did I.
It’s really easy to get from the airport to the City Centre, but once you get off the bus and you have to find your way to your accommodation, it gets a bit more difficult.
So when I got off the bus, I experienced a culture shock. I only had the address of my hostel and thought there would be some signs saying “this is your hostel”, but no. So I tried to ask some locals, but they weren’t much of a help. All the guy told me was that I have to cross the streets. That’s what I did. I figured out that there are house numbers on the street signs, so I tried it this way and I finally found the building. The next shock:
My hostel was in a huge complex. It’s incredible: There are 3 lifts on each side and then there are like 20 levels. Once you reach your level, it’s like a maze. It’s soo damn huge!! You can get lost. But the good thing is you get used to it quite quickly. The next shock didn’t take long: as soon as I reached my hostel, I noticed how little space there was. Well, you also get used to it, but it is a shock after all. What was interesting was the fact that a lot of Chinese people live in hostels as it’s cheaper for them. I saw a girl who used to live in this tiny hostel dorm for already 4 months. Incredible!!
Ok, well enough of my hostel. After being a little depressed as I haven’t met any travellers, I finally met a dutch girl: Paulien. I spent most of my time in Hong Kong with her and we became really good friends.
So one our first day we went off to get a ride up to “The Peak” to get this amazing view of Hong Kong’s skyline. On top of the hill there is kind of a shopping centre with quite a lot of things to buy. It was soo windy outside and we took some funny pictures.
After that we went to Stanley Market by bus. The bus ride was like a roller coaster, but so much fun. So many curves and bumps .
The next day we went to the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade. It was a rainy day, but we still had good fun and took some nice pictures. At night there was a light show on. Great atmosphere. Definitely worth a visit and absolutely for free. That made my best night in Hong Kong.
Another stop that I got recommended was Lamma Island. It takes you 30 minutes by ferry and it’s a cute little island that has everything: a school, little shops, a bakery, restaurants, etc. It’s so idyllic. Makes you wanna live here too. There are no road and no cars on this island. So we walked all the way to…
…well some place. It was the most exhausting day that I had so far. All those steps and stairs, but it was worth it when we reached the viewing point.
Another must do whilst being in Hong Kong is going on the Ladies Market at night. It has a lot of things (mostly fake) to offer and is just interesting to see what Chinese people find nice. We just find it cheesy.
So what can be said about Hong Kong? I think staying in Hong Kong for 4-5 days is totally enough if you mainly want to do the touristy stuff, plus it is also quite expensive compared to other Asian countries.