Having done very little planning ahead we touched down in Hong Kong and realised it was getting on for midnight and that we had not made any arrangements regarding accommodation. This made us feel less guilty about splashing out for plush air conditioned room in a nice hotel. To be fair though being in South East Asia meant it was comparable in cost to some western hostels.

When we arrived we got a few curious looks from other guests in the lobby area. Cleary they are not used to getting too many backpackers in their hotels. After dropping our stuff off in the room we went for a little explore and although the pool was closed we had the gym to ourselves. I did lift a few weights but it was thoroughly depressing and I shall be back to square one when I get home.

The next morning we had a huge breakfast and then headed for the station. I had not noticed it the night before but now it was midday and it dawned how hot the next few months were going to be. It was well over 30c and around 85% humidity. Despite this after getting the train into the city we decided to do a 45 minute walk to where we thought hostels were so we could see a bit more.

Eventually we wound up at a place which we thought had sounded quite nice - a hostel located in Chung King Mansion. This is without a doubt the most complicated building I have ever set foot in. The entire ground floor was a poorly laid out sprawling market and as we had rucksacks we would be stopped every few seconds to see if we needed somewhere to stay. There was not just one hostel above the market but about 20 made up from flats knocked into one another as well as homes and rooms used to store stock for the market. Further complicating things was that there were six lifts, randomly located throughout the market, each leading to different blocks and each one only stopping at certain floors. They had so many people trying to use them that there is a guard to try and keep some order as stool owners try to monopolise them with bringing new stock down.

Having located the correct lift for the hostel we wanted we went up to the 8th floor and booked ourselves in. I can't complain about the standard I guess as it was in keeping with all the hostels there but it was a pretty tiny room with Asian sized beds. Still the owner was pretty helpful mending the broken air con (although we suspected at the time that it was disabled to save money) for us and laying on free wifi.

That night after getting some food we headed for the famous Temple Street night market. We had a look through half of it and then went for an Indian meal. It must have been fate that we all chose Indian that night as when we sat down Top Gear was playing on the TV just next to the table. After a somewhat disappointingly small meal (I hope not all Asian meals are going to be Asian sized) we finished the market. I bought Olli his belated birthday present - a solar powered flashing Hyandai key ring, for me some awesomely decorated silk boxer shorts (hello ladies…) and finally some fake but still nice Oakley sunglasses. I am going to make sure I put some money aside for one of the big markets before leaving SE Asia so I can take a whole bag of stuff home.

The next day I lay in late to avoid the heat and then went in search of food as I was not only way past lunchtime but suffering from the deficit left by last nights meal. Mc Donalds is super cheap (big meals for under £2) as is all the local food. Once we had our full we headed down to the water front for the light show. I think Hong Kong probably has the most impressive skyline in the world ((I have not checked everywhere yet but give me time). A whole load of the buildings are wired up with external lighting as well as lasers and every evening at 8pm there is a spectacular light show with currently holds the world record as the largest in the world.

Another thing we did was visit one of the local science museums which was ok but not a patch on what London has to offer. Weirdly it had mixed a lot of stuff together including dinosaurs, space and modern sciences making it a one stop shop. However my favourite wing, one which the staff were very proud of and insisted that we go on and watch the 10 minute 3D movie? Health and safety at work. Now I was hoping to have a short break from all of that madness so was not especially impressed by the extent to which they were welcoming it with open arms although one bit of the exhibit showed workplace accidents in quite gritty detail had a scale model of what might happen if workers were to fall off a building so was entertaining none the less.

After we finished up at the museum we took a boat for 20p across the river to the other side. From there we were able to then head up to the top of the mountain to a place called The Peak. There was a crazy posh shopping centre up there as well as a Bubble Gump Shrimp restaurant (which was amazing by the way - everything in there was from the film, even the newspaper which my chips were wrapped in was a mock Greenbow Alabama edition with stories from the film) but the main thing we were there for was the view down onto Hong Kong. It was spectacular. We sat up there for a couple of hours with some cold beers before heading for another look around the night market.

Our final day was again spent just wandering around getting any supplies we needed as well as trying to avoid being coerced into getting any suits made or buying any "copy watches". That night I was at a loose end so thought I would go for a wander which eventually took me into one of the areas heavily dominated by expats and therefore as you might expect a notorious red light district. I wandered up and down the streets popping into a few bars to cool down, gradually getting tipsier. In my defence beer was also the only thing to hand that was readily available and cold.

Before going back to our mansion I thought I would check out one of the strip clubs. Olli had wandered off and ended up in one in Kings Cross in Sydney and said it was a bit of a laugh so I though why not. I can only blame alcohol for this decision and the events that followed.

Now if there is only one piece of advice I were to be allowed to pass on this it what it would be. Please sit up and take note. DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES (especially not alcohol fuelled ones such as mine) MUDDLE STRIP CLUBS AND BROTHELS. You see you do not realise until it is too late then it is out of your hands. Upon entering what I thought was the strip club I realised my mistake. There were two pole dancers and maybe 9 streeties and the rather powerful madam of "guided me to a seat". I wont explain the dynamics of how it all works till I write up my entry on Bangkok (and no I do not know from personal experience) but essentially you buy a beer or whatever and then the girls try to pick you up. The second I was sat down they descended upon me, it was as if someone had fired the starting pistol at a sexy Olympic race. Once two had got to me the others backed off. One sat on my knee and the other stood behind trying to steal me away. The worst bit? They were stunning. They really were. I ordered my beer and started trying to drink it down as fast as I could to escape. So fast one of them even commented on it. I gave a generous tip and I ran for it.

The next morning we headed back to the airport. Our original plan had been to make our way from Hong Kong across southern China and then down into Thailand. However after a few hours research we found not only was this going to take weeks without us even stopping to see anything but it was going to be very expensive. Flight became obvious but did we go to Bangkok and then change and fly up north to Chiang Mai which was where we had figured we would originally go to upon entering Thailand? We figured we could decide when we got there.