Hong Kong – Plenty of people but no Jackie Chan sighting…

We landed in Hong Kong around midnight and made our way from the airport to the island of Kowloon (Hong Kong is made up of many islands) where we rented a room for the night.  The room was so small and it reeked of cigarette smoke.

The next morning we made our way to the China Travel Service center where we applied for visas into mainland China.  We were charged twice as much to get the visas expedited (normally it would take 5 business days to get the visa).

After that we made our way back to our hotel and checked out then into a better one where we were on the 11th floor, away from the smoke and noise of the city.  The hotel is called Yau King Hotel.  We absolutely love it because you have to be buzzed in by the owner after you get up the elevator.  The owners are the only one with a key (they don’t give you one-just open the door for you).  The room is small like all rooms in China with a very very small bathroom but it works well for what we need it for (see photos).

On our second day here, we went to see the 10,000 Buddha monastery.  You have to climb so many steps to get to the top.  It was exhausting because the temperature here is about 88 degree but the humidity makes it feel like it’s 110 degree instead.  One you get to the top there is a temple that hosted a large statue of Buddha with 10,000 smaller ones mounted on the walls all around.  The small statues were donations from people.

The third day was spent going to see the Big Buddha.  We took the subway (Kama’s first time in one) from Kowloon back to the airport where we rode the cable car up, up, up to the top of the mountain to get to the Big Buddha.  It was amazing (video coming soon)!  Once at the top we got ice-cream to cool down, then went up the steps to see Buddha.  The statue is 71 meters in height, sitting on top of the mountain.  The best part about being up there was the gentle breeze coming from the sea, making you feel at peace and harmony as you look down on the world.

Today is our last day in Hong Kong.  We are heading out to mainland China by train to continue our journey.  Hong Kong is a bustling city of crazy drivers, crowded streets, killer humidity, and limited space.  The dollar here doesn’t mean much as everything cost about the same as America.  The language is different (although not too difficult since a few speak English) but the general feeling is like that of being in China town.  Hong Kong cannot help but be more modernized and European like with it being a part of England until recently.  Hopefully our journey into mainland China will yield more culture (too many foreigners-crawling out at night).