The first step towards mainland China: Hong Kong

30th December 2017 to 7th January 2018.

The journey from Cambodia to Hong Kong went smoothly. My ears didn't like it, but what can you do. My plane arrived in the evening and I noticed the difference between Phnom Penh and Hong Kong after a few seconds. Everything clean, super organized and high quality. A banker city. This is where the money of the world and the rich Chinese people sits. Another characteristic that you have arrived in highly developed countries... Suddenly McDonald's is the cheapest again. So first have a Big Mac. Then bought an Octopus card and used this train and payment card to go to the MTR (train) to the station "Jordan". From there, I took the shuttle bus for free to the area near my hotel. Without internet and surrounded by Chinese characters, between countless high-rise buildings, I felt helpless for the first time. Somehow, I managed and checked in at the HOHO Hostel. The beds were max. 2 meters long and I felt like Gandalf in Bilbo's hut. I shared a room with five others. Welcome to Hong Kong.

On New Year's Eve, I slept in and unfortunately didn't find any company in the hotel. I explored the city, admired the many skyscrapers and went to Victoria Harbour. Based on a tip, quite early at around 5pm. When I arrived there, I was beaming as I saw the skyline for the first time. Impressive and very beautiful. It was 5:30pm and I saw how the first Hongkongers secured their spots by the waterfront. I had no plan what to do alone for six hours and found an Italian with whom I treated myself to a feast. It was quite an exciting and good year after all. When I left, I noticed how the police started setting up the first road closures. The carbonara, wine, and dessert were great and I returned to the harbor around ten o'clock. The streets were crowded by now and I couldn't get to the water directly. At the supposedly best spot in the city to watch the fireworks, I wanted to wait for two hours. There were more and more people. I had a good view because I was easily 2 heads taller than all the 5000 Hongkongers around me. 😅. I couldn't move forward or anywhere else. So I wrote the text about Cambodia. Shortly before midnight, two Americans were next to me, with whom I celebrated and watched the fireworks. It wasn't worth it, especially since it was behind a medium-sized building. But the smileys and hearts were still cool.

On Monday, I met Daniel from Usedom and we agreed to go hiking on Tuesday. Hong Kong is surrounded by beautiful forests and mountains. In the evening, I watched the cloudy sunset in the harbor and looked forward to the next day.

Tuesday turned out to be great. I hadn't done sports for a long time, so I was excited about a hiking tour and packed my bag. We walked through Lion Rock Country Park. It was very hilly at the beginning and we climbed one mountain and then another and took photos. We had a great view of the city and saw how green Hong Kong really is. Our hiking trail wasn't crowded and we kept marching. There were countless places where the view of the city was breathtaking and the landscape was beautiful. You'd better see for yourself ;-). But in any case, I had caught the hiking bug and found my second new hobby.

Wednesday was the day of city exploration. First with Patric, an American from my room, to Victoria Peak by tram. After enjoying the view, I also took the Ding Ding tram. It's an old streetcar and just watching it was fun. I rode from east to west and got off at the horse racing track later. Horse racing is allowed in Hong Kong and apparently a great starting point for a lot of fun and alcohol. It takes place every Wednesday. Except for the Wednesday I was there 🤦🏻‍♂️.

On Thursday, I put on my hiking shoes and walked the "Dragons Back." Beautiful mountains again, this time right along the coast and down to Big Wave Bay. Watched the surfers there and walked back up the mountain. Back at the hotel, I went to try Hong Kong specialties with Jesse from the reception, two Finns, a Russian, and a German. Cold duck and chicken were not to my liking, but the corn soup as a starter and the delicious beef in sweet and sour sauce were great. Then went to the park and this day also came to an end.

Friday was supposed to be a highlight. I wanted to go to Macau and improve my travel budget and play poker for the first time in a casino. I also read that drinks and food were free in many casinos. Sounds great !

But it wasn't...

I took the speedboat (ferry) to Macau. A former colony of Portugal and free since 1999. The journey took an hour and the visa was easy. Upon arrival: new currency, new SIM card, and off we go. I decided to visit the historic center first and then go to the casino.

The old town is ugly and the center is boring. Looks like a Portuguese town. So it's not interesting at all. The ultimate tourist attraction. An exterior facade of a church. Chinese people photograph everything and even the smallest things can be a tourist attraction for them. There will be an example of that on Saturday.

After resting at Pizza Hut, I visited the casinos to play poker. Although I tried at three of them (according to the poker forum), there was only baccarat there.

Macau is the only city in China where gambling is allowed and its revenue is three times greater than Las Vegas. Tens of thousands of Chinese people lose their homes and property here. I saw this especially at "The Venetian" casino. It is one of the largest buildings in the world and there are probably a thousand gaming tables. Here I looked for the poker section. Finally, I found it only to realize that a minimum bet of 200 euros was too much for me. There were also tables with a minimum bet of 20,000 euros. Crazy! I went to the roulette table and was rejected because the local currency was not accepted in one of its casinos in Macau 😂. How cool!!! I played with Hong Kong dollars. I doubled my bet in between and then lost. Around 9pm, I tried to find my way out of the hotel, but it took an hour because the building was so big!

Back in Hong Kong, I was just exhausted from the many Chinese people and the hustle and bustle in the small area of Macau and fell into a coma.

Recovered from the culture shock the next day, I took the cable car with its glass bottom to Lantau Island. It's another island and the largest in Hong Kong. Once there, I visited a BIG Buddha and a temple. A very beautiful one. Then I went to the fishing village to take a boat tour. The fishermen's houses here are on stilts and even a small, blue steel bridge is enough to serve as a tourist attraction 😃. It was a relaxing day. The evening was rounded off with a visit to my first 1-star restaurant. Tim Ho Wan specializes in dim sum (Asian tapas) and even offers chicken feet. Unfortunately, I couldn't find them on the cart and ordered other delicacies. All for 9 euros. So, Tim Ho Wan is the cheapest Michelin star restaurant in the world. It was delicious 😋.

On Sunday morning, I tried a current local hype. A breakfast restaurant where they served macaroni soup and toast with scrambled eggs. Two days earlier, there was a 50-meter queue there. It was delicious, but again typically crazy Asian. Because I don't know why you would wait so long for normal scrambled eggs. It was raining by now and I took the MTR to the border with mainland China.

In summary, Hong Kong is a beautiful city and with its incredible greenery around it, it has a highlight that I didn't expect.

Originally, I had planned to stay in Macau for a week before my trip. But due to the well-known reasons, I now have an extra week and will be heading to Guilin. There are supposed to be fewer people and beautiful landscapes. Here we go !