We left Guilin in the worst thunderstorm we have ever seen. Even though it was still very warm and humid outside, we found ourselves in our coats and paddling across roads with our rucksacks. However, it made for an interesting overnight train journey as we watched the flashes of lightning through the window from our middle bunk sleeper beds.

The train pulled into Shenzhen station at 11.30am, 14hours after we had got onto it and so we were relieved to get off. The weather was still around 25 degrees and the sun was out. We walked from the station to the Chinese border, went through passport control and got stamped out of China and into Hong Kong. We caught the subway across to Hong Kong Island and checked into our hostel at Fortress Hill, which was on the 5th floor of a skyscraper (reception was on the 15th floor??).

We spent the remainder of our first day exploring the central area of Hong Kong, which is very western and has plenty of upmarket shops and department stores (they even sold Rice Krispies!!). We had tea from a deli counter and ate this outside overlooking the piers. And of course, before going to bed we got ourselves back on facebook after being restricted in China!! The following day we purchased tickets for the peak tram which took us up the large hill/mountain (The peak) in the centre of Hong Kong. The tram ride up was very steep and we held on to the rails as we inclined, it didn't feel right for a tram to be at such an angle. At the top we went up to the 360 degrees viewing platform and looked out over the skyscrapers of Hong Kong. We had our lunch in a cafe with large windows to show off the spectacular views and then walked around the pathways encircling the top of the peak (spending most of the time chasing large insects and trying to photograph them). As we were so high up it wasn't long before cloud started to move in and intrude on the views and so we headed back down via the steep tram ride. We ended up back at the deli counter for tea where we got half a chicken each off the spit roast (aah just like being back at home in tesco). The counter opposite served us up a delicious dessert of hazelnut and chocolate frozen yogurt with various toppings.

The next day was not a good day for me! I got a horrible eye infection and both my eyes swelled up and closed (I panicked quite a bit). Ben got me to the nearby hospital where we got drops and tablets, which helped with the swelling. He then took me starbucks for a latte and cinnamon toast to cheer me up:-)

With Ben being an excellent guide we spent the rest of day at the avenue of the stars, looking at the different stars and handprints on the pavements and admiring the views of the skyscrapers across the water.

In the evenings we visited the nearby night markets where stalls with jewellery, clothes, crafts and souvinirs lined the streets for a good couple of miles. There was also a golfish market with stalls full millions of goldfish for sale. We also returned to the avenue of the stars one evening to watch the light show where the buildings across the water are lit up with different colourful lights, which change with music.

Just as we left Guilin in the rain we also departed Hong Kong with a storm over head. The sky went so black that all the street lights came on in the middle of the day.

We then set off on our furthest overland journey to date: we caught a 3hour train back across to China and then boarded another 14hour overnight train to take us to Nanning, China. We got off the train in Nanning the next morning and booked onto a bus to Hanoi, Vietnam. We had to wait several hours for the bus to depart and then we set off on an 8hour bus journey, which included the border crossing into Vietnam. - nackard!