Drinking From The Ganges

Link to Photos:

http://s271.photobucket.com/albums/jj159/Rbalthazar/Mumbai%20and%20Hong%20Kong/?action=view&current=445dc9b3.pbr 

Hong Kong is a city surrounded by a maze of buildings, shopping malls, high-end retail, fast food noodle restaurants and people moving in all directions!  Hong Kong has twice the amount of skyscrapers of New York City and has about thirty of the tallest buildings in the world. The tallest building being, Two International Finance Centre, which is 1,360 ft high.

When I first arrived in Causeway Bay (area in Hong Kong), I was engulfed by skyscrapers!  I felt the size of the people of “Lilliput” in Gulliver’s Travels…..i was 6 inches tall and the buildings were the size of Gulliver!

Hong Kong is the gateway to mainland China and used as a base to sort out visa’s into China (you don’t need a visa to enter Hong Kong).  I had previously acquired my Chinese visa in January of 2008 as a result, i only intended to stay in Hong Kong for a couple of days.  However, like many plans, they change based on circumstances beyond our control…..which is exactly what happened!  There is a five day Chinese holiday at the beginning of October, which means everyone in China decides to use the trains to travel around China and Hong Kong (picture this:  The most populated country in the world, a billion plus people, using the trains to get around their country)….chaos!  I was basically, ’stranded’ in Hong Kong, until the holiday was over and the trains had availability.  So as the saying goes; ‘if you cannot beat them, join them,’ if the Chinese were partying for a week, then I shall too!

Hong Kong is no ‘backpackers paradise,’ Hong Kong has more high-end designer shops then I have seen in any city in any country in my entire life.  Name brand retail shops abound every corner on every street.  So needless to say, ‘backpacker clothing’ just didn’t fit the mold….. My ali-baba Indian pants, just didn’t fit in with Prada, Gucci, Coach, Burberry that the ‘Hongkongers’ were sporting! 

For the six days I spent in Hong Kong, i went to Victoria Peak (a mountian on Hong Kong Island) to view the skyline, both day and night skyline, watched the very early morning Tai Chi workouts in the park, went Kowloon to view the walk of the stars -which has all the stars of Chinese cinema engraved on the sidewalk (exactly like the hollywood walk of the stars-but Chinese version), ate Hong Kong Noodles and of course went to Lan Kwai Fong to partake in the nightlife! 

Overall, Hong Kong is a great place to visit for a few days if you have money, the fever to shop till you drop, eat until you bust your pants or just need a Chinese visa.