We were asked to fasten our seatbelts, that is usually requested when you are about to fly, but we had just boarded a ferry - from Macau to Hong Kong, about an hour ride in choppy seas. We would be arriving late as the speed was being reduced a bit as the waves were getting higher. Customs was slow and very busy. We changed some money and decided to take a taxi to our hostel in an area called Mongkok just north of Kowloon. It had been a very long time since I had been there. Everything looked different and I did not recognise anything at all. Hong Kong is packed this weekend. The weekends are always busy here due to the fact that many Chinese people cross the border to do their weekend shopping. However, this weekend is the May Day holiday plus another Chinese holiday so I guess a few million must have crossed the border.

The main road is full of the "important brand" shops like Louis Vuitton, Armani, Chanel etc. all the usual shops where they sell ordinary stuff for very much inflated prices to con people into thinking that they are buying something of high quality. At night we went for a short walk near where we were staying, but it didn't last very long.

The next day, after taking the underground to the harbour in the morning, we purchased some tickets and hopped onto the ferry to Hong Kong Island We took a bus for the ride to the tram stop below the famous “Victoria Peak”, a 500 meter high mountain with a large shopping/restaurant area on top. Over a thousand people were waiting in line. However, as we had bought express tickets we could almost walk straight through. The tram travels along one of the steepest tracks in the world and is pulled up with a thick steel cable. The tram coming down acts as a counterweight.
Later we discovered that there were signs along the way indicating the position of 2-3 hours waiting time. “Poor people.” I thought. Imagine parting with your money and waiting for three hours, then you finally get a chance to go up only to find that the mountain is covered in low clouds and see… nothing!

There was no priority line for the tram down so we decided to walk the 500 meters downhill via the steep track and further into town. Via Aberdeen, (a fishing village) we reached the boat harbour again with the ferry to Hong Kong Island. The walk back was a bit exhausting as we were fighting the crowds for space. Today we took 23,600 steps according to Gert’s step counter – a hell of a lot.

In the morning when we left for the airport we paid the price. Forget walking to the station and changing to other train lines. Out the door and into a taxi was simpler and a lot better for sore legs.

At the airport I got a message from Michael: “Where are you?” I replied: “Hong Kong Airport”. “So am I” was the reply. A while later we greeted him and just before he boarded his plane to L.A. in the US.

After an hour and 45 minutes we landed in Hanoi, ready for another adventure