After I left Darragh in Koh Lanta, I knew that was the end of my travels as a "backpacker." I met two lovely English girls on the trip back up to Bangkok, and had a depressing realization that these were the last "travelers" I would be meeting on this particular journey. There's something to be said about the people you meet when backpacking... Perhaps with the help of my broken hand (see, everything happens for a reason!), I met loads of interesting people from all over. Everyone has a story, everyone is traveling for a reason... I knew and know for sure now how much I will miss those people. I will miss that immediate bond, that unspoken understanding, " yes I know you needed to disconnect and process for a while... whatever your reasons were, I understand, because I am doing the same." Don't get me wrong, not ALL travelers are this way... I have had some unfortunate encounters with "gap year tragedies," 'nough said. Right, I've digressed yet again.
Back to Hong Kong. The amazing thing about Hong Kong is ho
w the city combines qualities of some of my favorite cities in the world. It has the nature and the hills of San Francisco, the bustling cosmopolitan atmosphere and skyscrapers of New York, the European feel of London and even Paris in some neighborhoods... all of this with a rather major Chinese twist! A truly fascinating city indeed.I was mainly hosted by Mariel - an excellent hostess, I might add. Unfortunately, for most of my time there, the weather was rather grim... But to be honest, after 2 months of non-stop
sweat, I was certainly not going to complain! That first day we spent schlepping across town to the fascinating UPS main office to pick up my new bank cards, fun! We then had some local Chinese food, it felt all the more 
authentic as we were in Zeno, Mariel's Chinese boyfriend's company. He of course took care that we had only what true locals would order. Later that day, we took the touristy Star ferry across back to Hong Kong island. We took a picture on it - it's a very "I was there" kind of photo. We then headed down to the other side of the island to Stanley, a charming little port on the water.That night we had some delicious Peking duck with Mariel's friends. I had a nice time that night, but woke up the next morning... surprise surprise... violently ill. I think I'm destined to be ill around poor Mariel - or anyplace I travel to for that matter. Luckily, she is a saint and took excellent care of me. So there went my Saturday in Hong Kong!
The next day we met Dominique and Hamish, who as always
, were in high spirits. Dominique invited us both to her family cottage on Lantau island. I spent my last night in Hong Kong there where we cooked and played cards in front of the fire. You would never know you were in Asia in this very cozy home. Apart from a lovely walk in the spectacular Lantau mountains and Dominique and Hamish's lovely company, the highlight of the sojourn was the hot water and the bath tub - so amazingly luxurious to me after living out of a backpack for 2 months that I had two baths in less than 24 hours.I am
happy to report that my time spent in Hong Kong, apart from being bed-ridden for 24 hours, were spent relatively drama free. I did, however, go on a mini hike in the Hong Kong hills alone and nearly got lost... Let's be honest here, I'm not sure I can go anywhere without a bit of adventure. I was walking along this trail determined that it would link up with some bigger road that would lead me back to civilization, but after an hour or so, I reluctantly gave in and turned back... ah well... I guess I felt I had had enough excitement for a while.
As I had imagined when I booked my ticket to Hong Kong, my five days spent there provided the perfect transition back to the West. I was still in Asia, but in a 1st world city heavily westernized. I had been looking forward to my visit there for months and I was not in the least disappointed. Print this post
1 comment:
lookin' good babyy!
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