And they’re off……. (1/21/06)
Saturday, January 21st, 2006We have arrived at the first destination on our 8-mo world tour. We couldn’t have asked for an easier beginning. Hong Kong is great. Quick customs, simple transportation, lots of English speakers, and (keeping us in our element) rain like Seattle. After an arduous (14hr) yet extremely smooth flight on Cathay Pacific (2005 Airline of the Year), we slipped onto the public train and made it to our hotel in a breeze. Thanks to Russ (sister’s fiance) we are staying in a nice starter hotel, the Salisbury. Everyone should do this to ease themselves onto the road. In attempting to acclimate to new cultures, timezones, and travelling partners…. a comfortable, no-hassle hotel is hands-down the best choice even if it costs a little more.
We can’t upload pics on this internet connection so you will have to mentally picture our first day in HKG. We got some needed sleep, a needed coffee….and headed to HK Island across the way from our hotel (Kowloon Island). We had a great time walking thru the streets of old HK and window-shopping (the only kind we can do on this trip). We had our first taste of real Chinese food for lunch and learned a little Cantonese as well. I won’t attempt to spell Happy New Year in Chinese but I can say it. We are going to catch a laser light show over the harbour tonight and then hit the sack as the jet lag is kicking our ass. We are hopeful to make it to mainland China tomorrow (Yangshuo via Guangzhou) and then back in a week to celebrate the New Year (Year of the Dog)with the Hong Kongers.
We hope to entertain you all with our postings and pictures. Please forgive us if we aren’t as witty as normal ….. the 14hr (up for 25 hours straight) jetlag is taking me down as I’m typing. Thanks to both MOMs for their recent posts. We are so happy to see they are so technologically-inclined. We hope to hear from all of you soon……
Jeff and Becca