Hong Kong phewie... (Hong Kong)

Member Name: Slide Professor

Product:	Hong Kong
Date:	10/06/00 (34 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Fascination beauty and excitement

Disadvantages: Weather can be oppressive, even the pub requires a PHD in negotiation

The first thing that hit me about Hong Kong was the stench that one can smell before the doors to the plane were opened. The spectacular old airport was situated adjacent to one of the world's biggest open sewers and, my god, do you know about it. However, as I realised after my extended stay there six years ago, it is probably just a Hong Kongese in-joke.

I do not mean to give the wrong impression. I adored my time on the barren rock. I had barely been further than Bognor before I jetted off to the Orient and Hong Kong will always hold a place in my heart for precisely the reason that it gave me my first bittersweet taste of acute culture shock.

The very nature of life on the island is such that you get pulled along by the adrenalin that courses through the very fabric of day to day living. Hong Kong is highly charged in every way, and those who stay there can rarely say that their time has been dull.

As a traveller, it is expensive to say the least. The infamous ChungKing Mansions on Kowloon side have nightly 'chase the cockroach' races and they will still charge you about thirty quid for the pleasure. The YMCA, bastion of hostel hospitality worldwide is priced more like a good hotel at about £80 a night for certain rooms, but then they do have one of the best views of the harbour in Hong Kong. Money has a knack of disappearing fast, whether it be on expensive alcohol or 'cheap' designer clothing, the moths in the wallet will be dead before you find them - death by starvation.

For this reason, Hong Kong is the place to go and binge for a short time. That way, you can enjoy it for all the good bits. I found that staying there longer than, say, a couple of weeks allowed you to see through the superficial gloss into the deeply superficial centre of Hong Kong. Money may make the world go round, but it makes the pearl of the orient spin like a top. This can be a sapping experience, especially if you are on a ti
ght budget.

For all that though, Hong Kong has got so much going for it. From the fantastic shopping to the beauty of Victoria Peak, from the Star Ferry to the rustic beauty of the New Territories. Well worth a visit, but make sure you can afford to do it right.

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