Well, leaving Shanghai was eventful. After making it to the train station and finding our platform waiting area, we wondered why we were told to arrive so early. When they started to let people board about 40 minutes prior to departure it all became clear. Technically we were leaving China so we had to go through customs and have our visa's marked that we had left the country. Of course, no one could tell us this in English. We didn't have a clue what they were going on about, all they could say was 'downstairs and right' which took us outside so we didn't think that was right. After showing our ticket to numerous people someone finally took us outside and through a different entrance where we had to do all the security checks again, fill in our departure forms and get through customs. We got onto the platform 15 minutes before departure which is when they stop people getting on but we were just in time. Phew. The hard seater tickets were something else. If I struggled getting on the top bunk before, there were no words for this. I had to clamber up two other bunks to get onto mine. There wasn't enough room to even sit up once there. I didn't mind so much though as Ben had the bunk opposite so we were kind of out of the way of the madness and we had the storage space at the bottom of our beds which made it easy for our bags. There were flies everywhere though and the toilets were disgusting. In the morning the squat toilets just start to overflow. On our first train to Xi'an, the toilet in the morning had me heaving, I really thought I'd be sick so I have learnt not to look or smell!!
As it was such a long train journey we got some pot noodle things for tea that everyone here is obsessed with and eat all the time, some crisps, a big bottle of water and some cakes (not as good as yours Mum!) I put the cakes and crisps in my bag and Ben had the rest. Or he did. Somewhere along the way in the panic, probably when we had to fill in the departure forms, he must have forgotten to pick them up. Ben is the most forgetful person I have ever met but someone so wonderful can't be perfect! I wasn't annoyed at him, it's just typical him and I felt partly responsible for not keeping an eye on him! So we got to take a trip to the dining carriage. It was interesting but the food wasn't so good. At least we had something though.
We also got the timings wrong, the journey was 20 hours. I don't want to go on a Chinese train ever again.
My first impressions of Hong Kong from the train was that it looked like everywhere else in China, but with some mountains and quite a lot of things in English, which felt welcoming and a bit of a relief after being an alien for 3 weeks.
It was a bit of a trek to the hostel via about 4 changes on the metro. Not much fun with a backpack that makes your shoulders drop every time they realise they will be carrying it for a while. The street our hostel is on is slightly ironic, being home to plush designer stores such as Vivienne Westwood and Burberry. I wondered what was going on. Anyway, all you had to do was look up. We're staying in a block of flats basically. The reception is on different floors to all the rooms. I was pretty nervous on the way in, all I could think of was everything I'd read about the notorious Chungking Mansions (google them-or even better I bet there's some right treats on YouTube). Whilst searching for somewhere under £20/each a night in HK, this was literally the only place showing up that wasn't connected to them or their sister towers. Finding reception, it didn't look too bad, then the guy checking us in offered us a free upgrade to a private room ensuite. I thought things were looking up. We were taken to our room on a different floor, which included 3 keys being used. Key 1 opened a steel door (to keep out what I wondered!!), key 2 opened a normal door immediately after the steel door and then a further key to our room which is basically a tiny bedsit. I reckon they had to saw some of the bed off, no way could it be an exact fit in such a tiny room. There's no window and Hong Kong is HOT. The room is a bit claustrophobic and it's a little intimidating going through all those doors and using the quiet staircases with wires hanging out and bad smells, so we've been in the reception where there is a bit of a hangout area and the internet works best (when it wants to). We went out earlier for food and had some noodle soup, it was ok but we just went for the cheapest option. It was still a fair bit more expensive then some of the good meals we've had recently though. We might go for a stroll by the harbour soon before being locked in our cell for the night.