Kowloon

With Hong Kong being one of the most expensive places in the world, let alone on our trip, we struggled a bit to figure out what we could do for cheap or free while staying out of our dungeon accommodation as much as possible.

We started each day with breakfast at a nearby fast food joint, for £6 each which had an odd medley of things to eat. On our first day, we booked a free walking tour, which was really good and helped ground us in the location and understand it better. Highlights included going on the world's longest outdoor covered escalator system, the Central–Mid-Levels Escalator, and the Chinese temple, where we were instructed on how to pray and ask the gods questions. We also tried a local egg tart dessert that tasted mostly like egg.

We then did some much-needed shopping for shorts, as we were now going to be in less modestly dressed countries. For dinner that evening, we went to a Chinese restaurant and ordered the local specialty, Won Ton noodle soup. We then went off for an evening walk and realized we were right by the shore facing the city lights. We walked along the huge boardwalk until we got tired and went to bed.

Every night that we slept there, our sleep was worse and worse. That night night, I woke up feeling like something was crawling on me; the night before, something from the roof dripped on my head. I woke up that night literally saying to myself, "One more night, it's only one more night." As we were in a bed just a tiny bit bigger than a single, when I awoke, James woke up too and turned to me and said, "That was a shit night's sleep, but it's okay because that was our last night." I was like, "Wait, no, we have one more night." Turns out James couldn't sleep that night either and was so fed up he booked a hotel near the airport that had a pool and breakfast included. I literally could have cried with happiness.

Our only urgent task for that day was to post some of our warm clothing and souvenirs back home, so we quickly did that, packed, and then, as our check-in wasn't until 2 pm, we got a celebratory ice cream and went to the art gallery on the waterfront. We then went off to the hotel and checked in. It was expensive, but after suffering through the past few nights, it felt very well deserved. The room was pretty incredible by normal standards, with a floor-to-ceiling wall overlooking the green hills. We donned our swimsuits and, even though it was on the verge of raining, we went to the pool and hung out there until closing at 5 pm. We then wandered around the shopping mall that the building was attached to and got some dinner, then returned to our room just to soak it all up.

Breakfast the next morning was delicious, and we then packed and headed to the airport to catch our flight. Hong Kong, you were beautiful and fun but in a different way than we've experienced so far. Maybe we'll return one day when our budget is bigger.Leia mais