1st April - Hong Kong to Bangkok

We checked out of our tenement block hotel, went for a McDonald's because we didn't have time to find something worth eating and then caught the airport bus.

The waist clip of my bag got caught in the wheel of our trolley and snapped off so we spent a short while looking for a replacement one but to no avail. It's pretty crucial to me being able to get the flipping thing around though so hope we'll find one soon.

They told us at the airport that we could get on an earlier plane if we didn't mind not sitting together so we had a shorter wait than we expected. On the plane I was sat next to a nice Indian guy who'd been in China on business. He was a little shaken because the glass shower panel at his 4* hotel had not been affixed properly and had fallen off and shattered, embedding bits of itself into his leg, foot and face and so had spent the morning in hospital and then rushing to get his connecting flight to Hong Kong. He was interesting to talk to and I got to ask him lots of questions about his life and lifestyle. Unlike many people in India, him and his wife had elected to have just one child because they felt that this was the right thing to do and so we had a good discussion about that. She was a doctor but was taking time off work to look after the baby and 'relax'. We also talked about donating to charity and he told me that he only gave things to his servants and then it was only every old stuff and not money. I asked him more questions and he told me that he had three servants and that each of them were paid about £250 per month. I stopped short of asking him how much money he made (though we were often asked ourselves so it can't be too much of an offensive question) but it was intriguing to talk to someone who was so candid about their privilege. Since he spent about one month of my wages on servants and rent alone, it started to make more sense why anyone we met with money in India could not understand that we were on a budget.

Overall the plane journey was quiye enjoyable. I got to eat Indian food and also finally got to watch my Bollywood film. Well, half a Bollywood film but I still got to see dancing, singing and lots of very cheesy cheese. And since I was sat next to an Indian guy instead of Matt, I also got lots of encouragement! It wasn't the same as watching it in the cinema without a vibrating seat and lots of overexcited Indians but it was getting there.

Arrival in Thailand was straightforward and getting our Visa was the easiest yet. We just had to line up to get through immigration and they stamped our passports with an entry permit. They didn't even hassle Matt.
We took the Airport Express Train to Makkashan. It was full of people but eerily quiet. A few stops down the line I was offered a seat by a guy but we were getting off at the next stop. It turned out that he was getting off at the next stop too and was catching the same connecting Metro as us because he lived near our hostel. He offered to help us get there and we took the chance of actually getting to our destination easily for a change.

Anji & Nath

Nath turned out to be very helpful. He was a guide at Pattaya and so spoke very good English. He also used his guiding skills to point out places of interest, give us handy tips and recommend street stalls that would be safe for us to eat at. When we got to our metro stop, Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, he asked around for us and soon deposit us safely at De Talak hostel. We offered to buy him a beer or something later and he refused, saying he just wanted to help.

We checked in and met an interesting lady sitting in the first floor shared area who started chatting to us as we made our way upstairs with the bags. She was very chatty and told us that she 'lived there' as well as filling us in on her health problems and  all sorts of stories about other peoples' exploits in the hostel. Our bags were getting very heavy so we made our excuses and left. The hostel was really shiny and clean and we had a dorm room to ourselves for the time being. We decided to head straight out and find the market that Nath had receommended to us to see if we could find a replacement clip for my bag but as we made our way downstairs we got caught again and so decided to make ourselves comfy for a 'quick' chat.

Kathleen was one of those people who just talks and talks and says whatever they think. She was 68 and had apparently decided not to bother checking herself or being diplomatic before. We got to hear more about her high blood pressure and experiences of Thai healthcare; her magnetism to men including a Thai taxi driver and an attractive old expat; her personal situation in America and life in Las Vegas; her amusement at hearing the story of a Thai terrorist who'd accidentally blown his own legs off and her very American and pretty racist opinion of terrorism and Muslims in general, just to name a few things. Half the time we didn't know what to do with ourselves and how to respond to her and the rest of the time we were biting our tongues and trying to make it clear to anyone who walked past that we were not affiliated with her. I say we, Matt was getting pretty sucked in to an episode of Junior Australian Masterchef whilst most of this was going on! The most shocking moment was when she said I would have to get used the 'bidet' style toilet system but that she quite liked it because she had the 'cleanest t**t' she'd every had! It was around that time that we'd backed away enough to make a break for it!

The first market we found in the darkness was a food market. We were glad we had closed shoes on because the ground sloshed with water from melted ice and the juices of fish, pigs and chickens and all the people working there wore wellies. There was meat at all stages of dismemberment. Groups of woman, stood around giant bowls,  yanking apart what I assumed were bits of chicken.  Carcasses of pigs also lay on slabs as men heaved and hacked to seperate them into the pieces they wanted. Younger men chopped away on small boards, piling up their work into buckets. Interspersed with these, people worked on stands, barbequing racks of meat and fish covered in homemade marinades. Matt tried some some chicken and said it was the best he'd ever tasted.

We explored the rest of the huge market, passing rows of glassy-eyed fish on trays of ice, piles of fish-related pastes and mush and all sorts of things we did and didn't recognise. Other sections had delicious looking vegetables and basket upon basket of pineapples of different sizes. The far end had chickens, piled up in cages, waiting to make their way the the other end of the market.

We left the food market and looked around for the general one that Nath had told us about but we were couldn't find it anywhere and were getting quite tired. We stopped on te square overpass bridge and watched more people at work. One woman was tackling a whole truck load of cabbages, chopping off the outer leaves before they went to market. Next to her, a group of young men unloaded box after box of fish from a lorry. The boxes were then emptied one by one so they could be methodically bashed on the head and passed down a kind of chute where we could not see what happened next. One of the boys unloading the lorry dropped a box of fish, and they flopped and wriggled across the main road, apparently trying to make a run for it. Cars and vans narrowly avoided hitting the fish and the guys trying to retrieve them. We called encouragement to one brave fish who almost made it to the other side and into the gutter before he was spotted glistening in the car headlights and retrieved. It seemed too sad to watch him end up in the chute and so we made our way back to the hostel and bed.

31st March - Hong Kong

We only had one more day left in Hong Kong so we had to forego the ferry ride to get a Metro straight to Central on Hong Kong island so we could go to the Botanical Gardens. One of the fabulous things about Hong Kong is how well they cultivate their green spaces in the middle of the city. The city has a number of huge parks and pretty areas and the gardens were quite astonishing to see against the backdrop of skyscrapers.

Crappy photo

The gardens also contain a zoo and we spent several hours looking around the enclosures. There were some realy great gibbons swinging about and playing and I could have watched them for hours. I'm not a big fan of seeing monkeys in cages but it was actually refreshing to see them acting like wild animals and not playing with plastic or eating ice-creams. We also saw lemurs, turtles and tortoises, frogs, orangutans and a few other things. The lady orangutan had quite recently had twins but rejected them and so they were being looked after by keepers in the zoo. There were twice daily sessions where you could see them so we waited around for a while. They were absolutely gorgeous! The cutest things I think I've ever seen. The only thing was that they were treating them very much like children. They were in a room with toys and playmats and tiny little chairs and it seemed wrong to see them like that. You can look up 'Hong Kong orangutan twins' on Youtube if you want to see how lovely they were.

After they'd forced us away from the baby orangutan window, we went to explore the aviary. There were so many birds there that I'd never seen before and some of them were massive and freaky! We soent quite a while looking around and spotting new ones. There was also a flamingo enclosure but we noticed that they kept raising their wings to fly and one of them had been clipped. It made us sad to see them so stunted so we left the birds and went to the greenhouse instead. We didn't stay there long because Matt was like a child and said they were boring.

We went to find lunch and came across a little cafe that looked ok. There was a McDonald's next door but I thought I'd give the food another go. Matt had roast goose and I ordered vegetables and rice. I was a little disappointed when mine came and it was a pile of just one type of vegetable but at least I got my greens for the day.

We then went to find the Central–Mid-level Escalators, which is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world. It was built to try and reduce congestion in the city in 1993 and connects the Central and Western Districts. It consists of twenty escalators and 3 moving sidewalks and 55,000 people use it per day. The total length of the escalators is 800 metres and it elevates over 135 metres from bottom to top. They go downhill in the morning until 10am and then go uphill until midnight and you pass by endless bars and shop fronts on the way. We even stopped off halfway up to pop into a supermarket. It was strangely fun making our way to the top and quite achey on the knees to take the steps back down again. It really is pretty steep and I've no idea how anyone would negotiate in in heels.

Most of the escalators pass through SOHo (South of Hollywood) expat area and the bars were full of Westerners doing what they do best and there were theme bars from every corner of the globe. Below that there were lots of markets sellling the things 'average' person needs but that aren't openly catered for in Hong Kong. With only a few days in Hong Kong you could be forgiven for thinking that everyone who lives there is rich and successful and it seemed almost out of place to see everyday items.

A bit darker during Earth Hour

Again, we took the ferry to the Avenue of Stars but this time it was to watch the opposite of last night. The Symphone had been cancelled in aid of Earth Hour and there were plans for the big companies to turn their lights off. We were there even earlier and waited for an hour until we though it was due to start. At 8pm nothing happened. There were a few stray lazers shot into the sky because they hadn't been switched off properly and then everyhting looked the same as usual. We walked off disappointed and decided to have a better look at the Avenue of Stars instead. They were holding public shows there with singers and promotion for Earth Hour and we realised that we had got the time wrong. At 8.30, the lights started switching off at the opposite side of the river and whole skyscrapers seemed to almost disappear into the skyline. It was so much more impressive that the Symphony and it was encouraging to see how many businesses had got involved. There were still one or two who hadn't bothered but their company names stood out as a beacon of indifference. It felt completely different to walk along the length of the water and not see Hong Kong Island glowing and reflected.

We walked back throught Temple Street Night Market to look for new charger because my phone was being naughty and wouldn't charge. Chargers wouldn't work so we took it to a phone-fixer man and it turned out the battery was just too flat.

We took a different route through the city to last night and ended up in King George's park watching people learn how to do Tai Chi. If we ever come to China again I think that's something we might like to try.
Back outside the hotel we had our last giggle at the 'mankee' food stand and collapsed into bed with a cracking headache.

30th March - Hong Kong

The train lady woke us up at 6am and we arrived in an already humid Hong Kong about 7am. We stripped down to basics and then froze on the metro to Mongkok because the air-con was turned so low.

Hostel Ah Shan looks like the kind of place that murders happen. We were going to book Chung King Mansions but the reviews said there were very dubious things nearby so we went more 'upmarket'. I'm glad we did if this 14th floor mock-up of a scene from The Bill was anything to go by. Matt also worried that the so-called 'mansions' were a fire hazard and at least this place does have stairs you can flee down if you don't break your neck on the corridoors of crap you have to step over.

Since we were no longer in China proper, we went on the search for something tasty to eat. We were stopped by a guy flyering for a place that served a 'Healthy lunch'. We imagined vegetables and other healthy, tasty things and so decided to give it a go. A lot of Hong Kong shops and bars etc are in the tower blocks and so he took us in the building, up the lift and through a bit of a warren.

It turned out that the guy wasn't just flyering but was franchising the business because he'd lost so much weight following the system that he wanted to be a bigger part of it. By this time we'd worked out that it wasn't going to be what we'd been looking and so were not surprised when 'Mr Alexander' told us that lunch would to be made up of three drinks: an aloe vera based starter, a fruit based shake for lunch and a tea dessert. This still sounded preferable to some of the junk we'd been eating so we were up for sharting one and giving it a taste. He then told us that we'd also qualify for a body analysis and sat with us throughout the whole thing, asking us questions. We weren't too keep on the idea but it was an experience and so went along with it. Before our 'main meal' he weighed us on a machine that told him lots of stuff about our fat levels etc and then fed back the information to us while we sucked on a 'cookie and cream' shake made using sweet potato. We were a little shocked at first when he told us that our fat levels were 'great'. What he meant was massive! He was also worried about how fat our organs were and told Matt his were at a dangerous level - not really what Matt wanted to hear, especially when he'd worked out for himself that he's lost about 15kg and probably deserved to feel bit prouder. We then drank our tea as 'Mr Alexander' showed us before and after pictures of himself and others and tried to convince us of the merits of using this system when we were home. Since there were 'better' flavours available in the UK, he also wanted us to buy them for him and send them on - which we thought was asking a bit much after he'd promised us tasty and filling fruit and vegetables but given us drinks, talked to us incessantly, told us we were fat and fatal, tried to talk us into signing us and then charged us for the trouble.

We weren't sure if it was because we'd shared a 'lunch', because drinks don't fill you up or because we were actually just comfort eating but we were still hungry.  Compared to mainland China the food was very expensive indeed and was more pricey than at home. After looking around for a while we decided that we wouldn't find anything particularly healthy or cheap and so we may as well just eat what we fancied. There was a nice looking India restaurant there and so went for that. Since we'd technically just eaten we shared a curry but the restaurant owner did not seem too impressed at all. The food was good though and I had really missed Palak Paneer!

Hello sailor

We walked past all of the incredibly affluent hotels and businesses to the Tsim Sha Tsui promenade and took the Star Ferry to Hong Kong Island. The ferry itself was pretty cool and it was much nicer to head to the island over water rather than on the underground.

We'd read in a our guide book that you get get a good view of the city from the 43rd floor of the Bank of China. It felt a bit weird going in to a massive, sparkly skyscraper dripping with money and asking if we could see their 43rd floor but after they'd scanned our bags they gave us a passcard and pointed us towrds the lifts. We were a bit surprised that there weren't more people there doing the same thing but it was nice to have the viewing platform all to ourselves, with the exception of the security man. The view was dramatic and it was an inspiring perspective from which to view the city, it was just a shame it wasn't a clearer day.

I'd used my card to try and get into a part of the bank that I shouldn't and so my passcard was blocked when I tried to get out. It didn't cause too much of a problem other than them having to release me.

WTF?

We also stopped at the strangely situated pre-historic evolution exhibit on the bottom floor and had some fun playing with the interactive displays and laughing at the models representing what they thought some of the animals would look like. There was a dinosaur bird with teeth monstrosity which looked liked somehow had made it up that we really liked.

Matt's always a sucker for a funicular so our next stop was the tram to Victoria Peak. The peak used to be a popular picnic area only accessible by sedan chair and so it sounded like quite a nice place to see. After looking around the museum section, we took the very steep ride up the hill and discovered that the top was just a huge shopping centre. There would have been some spectaculour views of the city and the harbour had the day not been so muggy. We did stay there for a while though, exploring the different view points and making the most of the brilliant tourist information that was based in an old tram. He suggested going to the Symphony of Lights tonight because tomorrow there was Earth Hour and so it would not be showing.

View from the top

Is it possible to have too many panoramas? It would appear so

Symphony of lights

We took the funicular and then the ferry back to Hong Kong and went to the 'Avenue of Stars' ready for the 'Symphony of Lights', an apparently 'spectacular multimedia show that combines Hong Kong's most famous skyscrapers in a dazzling light and sound display'. We got to the viewing platform quite early which was good because it soon filled up. The display was interesting to see but given that the array of brightly-lit, imposing skyscrapers penetrating the sky is quite a remarkable sight in itself, sticking a few lasers on them whilst a tune was played was actually a bit underwhelming. I'm sure of you watch it on Youtube it will look just as good if not better.

I loved walking through Hong Kong though. It really made me realise why I found  Pudong in Shanghai so disappointing. You still see the majesty of the skyscrapers but when you get in and amongst the base of them, they are anchored in variety and character and interest. You can see so much of every walk of life and it throbs with people and life and the sound of a million different interests. It's a mental and beautiful place to be.

We made our way back to Mongkok through Temple Street Night Market. My phone was being naughty and wouldn't charge so Matt looked for another charger and we both comtemplated the array of stuff on sale. After the markets of stuff there were markets of fortune tellers where tens of mystics sat with astrology charts and other toold of their craft. I'm scared stiff of all that stuff but did enjoy looking at the intense concentration on the faces of people who were having their fortunes told. After a brief stop to goggle at a street-karaoke stall, we made our way back to our tower block hotel.

29th March - Hangzhou to Hong Kong (at last!)

Given our experiences with the buses so far, we set off to the train station at 10am to make sure that we got to the train station in plenty of time. Our departure time wasn't until 2pm and it's only 5km but the journey had taken well over and hour before and we wanted to leave time to pick up some food for the 18hr train journey.

 We had hoped that 10am was too early for people to be leaving the parks and other tourist attractions along the route and for the first time in almost a week, the bus was not at all busy. This was a massive relief since our bags seem fuller than ever. We arrived with hours to spare and bags too big for taking them exploring.

We dawdled around the supermarket, taking pictures of entertaining signs and choosing what we wanted, before sitting outside for a bit of a picnic. We'd managed to avoid the disgusting sweet red bean paste that has plagued my search for meat-free food and found that we had bought discgustingly sweet bread instead. I'm beginning to think that nice bread was just a figment of my imagination. And even if it isn't, then I can't believe that I'm stupid enough to keep buying stuff that looks like bread. You can smell a sweet vanilla-like fragrance wafting from it whenever you bite into a long-anticipated sandwich, but it's hard to discern in the supermarket for some reason. And you can only sniff bread so much before you start to look very suspicious and gross!

At the train station it didn't take long to find out that our train didn't actually leave from the station we had booked the ticket at. It left from a station quite a long way away and no-one had bothered to mention it. We didn't even know there was another station somewhere and it was out of the area covered by any maps we had.

We spoke to a lady on the help desk and though she was actually helpful, we discovered that the station we needed was 'about an hour's bus-ride away'. As I mentioned earlier 5km by bus can take a long time and we had no idea where to catch the bus or how to say where we wanted to get off.

We spoke to a taxi driver and loaded our bags into the boot. He saw our anxiety and refused to use the meter and so we had to unload our bags again and move to the taxi behind. He also refused to use the meter at first (though he did ask for a third less money) but eventually relented. Taxi's use of meters in Hangzhou is quite strictly enforced and we didn't fancy being pulled over on the way.  Especially since he was trying to rip us off in the first place as it only cost just over half what he was asking.

We got the the East Station still in plenty of time and sat around for an hour. When the train came we chucked our stuff on our beds and decided to relax over a game of cards for a change. We were half way through our first game when a lady came and started gesticulating at us to move our stuff.  It turns out that not only did we get a ticket from a different station, we also had a different bed to the one our little Chinese note had stated we wanted. Instead of being in the middle bunk, we were in the top one, which incidentally, was closer to the ceiling than the luggage rack was so we had less room to sleep in than our bags! Also, it meant that when the occupants of the bottom bunk that we had to sit on decided to lie down at 7pm, we were forced onto our tiny shelf of a bed.

I will not miss Chinese trains and their usual cacophony of gross noises. People mindlessly crunching their way through big bags of sunflower seeds for hours and sucking the skin off chicken feet really does me in but there was toilet roll in the loos for once so it wasn't all bad.

Although they promptly turned the light off at 10pm, sleep was a lot longer coming and was quite hot and sticky. We tried to open the vent so it faced us but the guy in the bed under Matt was having none of it.