Arrival in Hong Kong

With a three-hour delay, we landed at Hong Kong Airport at 7:50 PM. The flight was very pleasant and we didn't have any severe turbulence. The food was okay and I had a nice seatmate. From my window seat, in the second row behind the Business Class, I could see many beautiful landscapes.

After disembarking the plane, we took an internal airport train to the passport control. The heat hit us immediately. It was very warm and humid. On the plane, I received a small form to fill out, which allowed me to get a 90-day visa at the passport control. It was all very quick and uncomplicated. The luggage from Istanbul arrived at Gate 6. Thankfully, all my bags were intact.

Once I had my luggage, I was able to exchange my US dollars. Now I was the proud owner of Hong Kong dollars.

By going straight ahead, you could reach the Airport Express, which takes you directly to the city center. It took about 40 minutes by train to get to Kowloon (two stops). The train was very clean but heavily air-conditioned. With my pre-loaded Octopus card, I was able to board directly and I swiped it at the Kowloon station turnstile.

From here, I had to take a taxi to the hotel. Taxis were clearly marked and a lady at the taxi stand assigned me to Taxi Number 6. The taxi driver spoke very little or no English and first tried to load my luggage. Since they were very heavy, I had to load them into the trunk myself. Unfortunately, the trunk wouldn't close, so he just left it open and tied it with a small rope. I hoped my bags would make it to the hotel safely.

Upon arriving at the hotel, a man on the ground floor took my luggage. The reception was on the 1st floor. The check-in process went smoothly, and the nice lady informed me about the protests.

Now I collapsed into bed, exhausted...