An itinerary like this one has to be a work of art. Welding 27 flights and 21 hotels into a 41 day window is some achievement by Angelka. Especially when you consider my involvement was setting a prohibitive budget, a start date and a few yes and no's along the way!
You wonder when things will go wrong when there's no hold ups on the run to Heathrow and despite lots of BA cancellations, as a result of air traffic control malfunctions, we leave on time. It's 12 hours and 6000 miles to HK and I got over 6 hours sleep, which is a first despite beds!
HK involves a 16 hour lay over. A train to Kowloon, ferry across to the main island and a cocktail at Mandarin Oriental looking our over the harbour, as a myriad of ships festooned in twinkling light stands, from bow to stern, weave across the strait. HK is the NYC of the east, classy, exciting, commercial, quality not quantity and iconic views and sensory experiences. Every train stop involves a huge retail mall, there's construction everywhere and, being part if China, it's now more punitive! You can only bring in 19 sticks of cigarettes through duty free.
A great way to start our trip. 1 location down and now, via Thailand, we are off to Cambodia for leg 2.....