On March 2nd, I embarked on my longest journey so far – a journey that took me through…
Times visited: 2 (1 day in 2016 and 2 days in 2016)
I visited Hong Kong twice during my 3,5-month-long Asia journey in the spring of 2016. It was actually the first country that I visited on the journey, on a long stopover en route to Jakarta. I had 17 hours available, although only one of them was in daylight. Still, I made the most of my time. I explored the centre of the city and caught a ferry that took me to the Kowloon neighbourhood. As I crossed the sea, I watched the sky turn orange as the sun set under the skyscrapers. At that moment, I felt a deep appreciation for Hong Kong. I even called it my favourite metropolis.
Unfortunately, my great first impression of Hong Kong quickly vanished during my second visit.
I returned a month later, on a ferry from Macao. I had two full days in the city, and I was excited to see more. But the challenges began almost immediately.
I’d booked my accommodation in the scummiest hostel ever in the notorious Chungking Mansions in Kowloon. Everything about it was awful; the location, the tiny shared room, the bed which was right close to some dude’s bed and the two roomies who kept the rest of us up all night arguing about the air conditioning. Thankfully, in the middle of the madness, I found a friend. We stuck together and spent the next day hiking to Victoria Peak to see the city from above, although that wasn’t too successful either as we failed to find a trail 😂
On this second visit, I got to see another side of Hong Kong that I didn’t like. It just goes to show that a few hours isn’t enough to get to know a place, or to make a proper impression.
