Today we spent exploring Kowloon, the mainland part of Hong Kong. The theme of crowds continues with today feeling the most crowded so far. Everybody on the MTR ( mass transit rail) are using their smart phones ranging from two year olds to 82 year olds. It is so bad that the stations are continually playing warnings for people to hold on to escalators and not use their phones. We started in the flower market and then on to the bird market, followed by the ladie...

It is still a Chinese holiday today and we decided to visit the Big Buddha and Po Lin monastery. We took the metro after a leisurely breakfast and arrived at the 4.5 mile cable car to the top of the mountain. The place was swarming with Chinese plus a few westerners. We decided to join the queue despite the 105 minute queue sign. The line snaked around eventually terminating at an escalator. We got to this point after 2 hours, only to find this was the start of ...

Back in Hong Kong and what a contrast to New Zealand. There are 7 million people compared to 4 million in all of New Zealand which is hundreds of times bigger! There are people everywhere! We decided to take a ferry to go to Cheung Chau Island. It was complete chaos at the ferry terminal with hundreds of people pushing and shoving whilst we tried to figure out where and how to buy a ticket. These were priced at £1.50 each, a bargain when you consider Isle of W...

Arrived in Hong Kong yesterday afternoon and successfully found hotel via train and subway. The MTR app scanned via QR Droid whilst waiting for bags is excellent. Today struggled to wake up since 8am is midnight at home. Spent leisurely day taking tram to the peak of Hong Kong Island. The views are great but visibility today was limited as weather like a British summer Tupperware day. The large number of skyscrapers is amazing. There are no houses only vast bui...