Hong Kong is part of China, but has its own government. It is a small, but very varied travel destination. In addition to the busy metropolis of Hong Kong, you will also find impressive nature reserves and a beautiful coastline. Of course, Hong Kong is also bursting with cultural highlights, thanks to its rich and eventful history.
Hong Kong
maart 23, 2021When our plane landed in Hong Kong, all we felt was relief. We left Beijing and the drama that went with it behind. Before boarding our plane we quickly booked a hotel for the night. We decided to stay in this hotel for a few days before heading to our other accommodation. We lucked out on this one! The beds were so incredibly soft! In Beijing the beds were rock hard.. So falling asleep wouldn’t be a problem at all. Also, our hotel had a pool, a sauna and a steam bath. I was in heaven, which could’ve been possible seen how high the building was! Beneath the hotel was a mall and even a whole floor of restaurants, which was great for us! The first 2 days we didn’t even leave our building. We really had to recharge our batteries, so we just relaxed and lounged by the pool.
After our little getaway in the Panda hotel we left for our original accommodation. We knew it would be a little disappointing after the experience we had in Panta hotel but we were not prepared for this at all. We stayed in a guesthouse because as backpackers we did not want to splurge. But I think in hindsight we should have spent a little more on our accommodation. I will not name the guesthouse but it was horrible! It was too small, dirty, the water was always cold (and the showerhead was above the toilet), the sheets were stained and we didn’t even have a window. I couldn’t for the life of me understand why we chose this guesthouse but then it hit me, we chose it due to its location. It was in the city center and easy accesible. The silver lining was however that we saw a lot of Hong Kong as we left our guesthouse very early in the morning and stayed out as late as possible.
For instance, we went to Ngong Ping aka big buddha. It was pretty impressive but there were too many bloody tourists (as if we were not one of them..). We also visited Ocean Park. I loved Ocean Park! I really like theme parks and this was a theme park combined with animals. We rode the rollercoastes, saw a dolphine show and ate lots of snacks! We even rode a virtual reality rollercoaster, which was super scary but so much fun. Moreover we did lots of sightseeing in the city. We watched a lightshow above the skyline and strolled through Nan Lian Garden, which is designed in true Tang dynasty style. It’s absolutely beautiful and very peaceful. It’s weird to wander around such a peaceful place in the midst of a metropolis.
Besides discovering the city we also wandered a bit further. We hiked Dragon’s back, which is probably the nicest hike I’ve ever done. The views are spectacular and the hike is not that hard. It was around 8 kms and took us around 2,5 hours to complete. Our hike ended at big wave bay where we had a big lunch and went for a swim. Another great spot are the waterfalls in Sai Kung. We went there by bus and afterwards it was quite the walk and a lot of pathways were blocked. At first we didn’t understand why our journey to the waterfalls was so difficult as it was a popular spot. So we were wondering whether everyone had to endure all these obstacles. After some Google searches we found our answer. Typhoon Mangkhut had left havoc. So that explained a lot. When we finally arrived at the waterfalls there was nobody there, besides 4 British guys. So due to the typhoon the 6 of us were the only tourists there. That was a really cool experience as we were afraid that it would be too crowded.
I have to admit that Hong Kong surprised me. I wasn’t really prepared to go to Hong Kong after the debacle in Beijing but I loved every single minute of it. Leaving Beijing and going to Hong Kong 5 days earlier than planned, was the best decision we had ever made! The city is wonderful, the food is great and the city is surrounded by beautiful nature. In total we have spent 10 days in Hong Kong and I would recommend it to everyone. The experience we had in Hong Kong definitely made up for the one we had in Beijing. I fell in love with Hong Kong. It’s such a versatile city. [...]
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