Hong Kong

We land on the famous runway of Hong Kong; famous due to it being in the middle of the sea so precarious and renowned for pilots worldwide. We found the 'Travel China' stall to enquire about our visas for China.  We had read countless stories, Internet forums and guide books about the difficulty in obtaining a Chinese visa.  We had researched that you need proof of addresses when in China, passport photos and exact dates and movements when in country; so we used 'Booking.com' to reserve rooms for the 3 weeks (as you don't pay upfront and free cancellation prior to check-in) as confirmation and evidence for the authorities.  However, when it came to filling in the forms, with the help of the lady, she was blasé about any of this required information and stated we could leave it blank. But as my OCD kicked in, I was compelled to put rough dates of towns and cities we'd be in whilst in China, just incase! 

We followed the directions given by our AirBnB owner by getting on Metro's and buses and finding the street and key safe to enable us to access our flat for the coming days! We found some food and settled in for the night in preparation to explore bustling Hong Kong the following day.

We visited the famous 'Victoria Harbour', where you are supposed to have cream tea at the Peninsula Hotel (which cost £30 per head; way too much for a travelling pair on a budget) so we bought some sandwiches, cake and tea and had our own style cream tea overlooking the harbour!! We watched the light show in the evening across the sea dividing Hong Kong Island with Kowloon which was disappointing to say the least! 

For those of you that know me; you'll know that I believe the best film ever made is Jurassic Park!! So prior to leaving the UK, I was disappointed when I read that Jurassic World was to be released whilst we are away! But not to worry, Hong Kong was screening it in English in a cinema with vibrating seats, so the next day, this was our itinerary and to say I was excited was a bit of an understatement. Happily, it didn't let me down and I now think that Jurassic World is the best film EVER made!! 

The next day we caught a ferry across to an island belonging to Hong Kong called; Lamma. We walked across the island, through villages and dense foliage to where we bought a beautiful seafood lunch! However, we didn't realise how the humidity would effect us.  It was nearly unbearable, the humidity was around 90-95%, so Rosie and I looked as though we had stepped out of the shower fully clothed by the time we reached the other side.

The following day came and we visited Victoria Peak; a mountain where views across the whole of Hong Kong were visible; very spectacular! Crossed the harbour on a 'Star Ferry' to Kowloon for some dinner: a great way to spend our penultimate day!

We had already booked our train tickets across the border into China and picked up our visas in preparation.  So we arrived at the train station, went through security (which was strange at a train station rather than an airport) and jumped onto the fast train to take us across the border!!!