Flight and the day in Hong Kong

Many trips abroad start with a flight. So did ours, with a quite long flight. Flight time alone: approx. 22 hours. Plus a 14-hour layover in Hong Kong. But we were looking forward to a cool time.

The first flight itself went great, just unfortunately without any sleep. So after our first flight, we already had 20 hours without sleep on our record.

In Hong Kong itself, however, that was forgotten for now. One was overwhelmed by the city that awaited. One skyscraper followed the next and surpassed it. Surrounded by these skyscrapers, in the Central City (none with less than 10 floors), we set out to explore the city. Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate as we wanted. The clouds hung very low over the city upon arrival and it was hazy, maybe even smoggy. The streets smelled like exhaust almost everywhere, and if not, this smell was overlaid by the smell of Asian food. A mixture of smells that was not really pleasant to endure under exhaustion. So my travel partner Niklas and I decided that you cannot spend more than 2-3 days in the city continuously. But we would definitely come back again. In the afternoon, it started to rain, which was a relief for us because the smells were no longer so strong in the air.

Despite these extreme experiences, we tried to make the best of the day. We started with a tour of the piers. Then, because of a tip we received, we took a single-track tram (see photo) that travels through the entire city for a bargain price of approximately 25 cents. We rode to the end station. The ride out of the city took about 45 minutes, but that was mostly due to the tram's slow speed (estimated about 9 mph). The end station was located in one of the 'outer' districts of Hong Kong (here, there were occasionally only four-story buildings). In this part of the city, there are many residential buildings, so you still get a glimpse into a life shaped by the locals. In this district, we walked through a market where local sellers tried to sell kilos of fruit, vegetables, fresh meat, fish, and much more in Mandarin (Chinese). Here, we were right in the middle of Hong Kong life.

On the way back with the tram, we passed residential buildings that were up to 40 stories high, only 13 feet wide, and in a state where they could collapse at any moment. They were not really great sights. Especially when there is a glass-fronted skyscraper right next to it, gleaming, where one of the millionaires enjoys their life.

Back in Hong Kong Central, we walked through some alleys and streets where we were supposed to find some great cafes and bars, but we found ourselves in the middle of the Japanese Carnival instead. Weren't we just in the carnival season in Germany...

After these new, very unusual but somehow also exciting experiences, we made our way back to the airport. There, we enjoyed a short but finally relaxing time after leaving the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong behind. But we almost collapsed from exhaustion. Time without sleep: approx. 30-35 hours. With a half-hour delay, we finally took off from Hong Kong and made our way to Auckland, New Zealand. We were both thrilled to finally get some sleep and ended up sleeping through most of the second flight.

Upon arrival in Auckland, there were no issues at the security check and it went smoothly. At the airport, we had another half-day layover, and we both didn't want any more waiting time, just to go to the hostel in Christchurch. We landed in Auckland in the afternoon at around 2 pm and our flight to Christchurch was in the evening at 8 pm. During this time, we were able to get a SIM card. So we didn't have to do it the next day.

Our Jetstar flight to Christchurch also went smoothly, and so we arrived at the hostel in Christchurch around 11 pm. The smallest part of our trip was now over, and we were both quite exhausted. But now we had 5 nights at the YHA Backpackers Hostel in Christchurch to settle in and take care of everything necessary.

I will write about what awaits us in Christchurch in the first few days and how time flies in the next post.

Until then

Your Luca