Well after an extra night in Manila(Tiger Airways canceled my flight without any notice, they suck ass-off soap box) I flew into Hong Kong instead of Macau(see above) and caught the bus into the area of Kowloon. There is a place that houses many guesthouses in a huge building called ChungKing Mansions right in the middle of all the happenings. It is a bit more expensive than most as is the city but not too bad. I actually missed the building but a nice Irishman redirected me to the waiting hands of an Indian who took me to his "special" guest house on the 4th floor. There are so many guesthouses and rooms in this building that there are six different elevators going to different parts of the building. Apparently, at one time these used to be run down but competition has forced them to clean up their act. I stayed in a single room and settled in for the night. These guesthouses are frequented by North AFricans, Indians and Chinese, it feels very international in the lobby.
The next day I toured the area including finding a book store to copy down guidebook info (I do not have one for China) and good eating places. I also bought my train ticket for Shanghair the following day because it only runs on even numbered days. I then took a ferry across the harbor shortly before sundown so I could come back after dark and take pictures of all thelights. Hong Kong is a pretty interesting city, I liked it more then I thought. Even all the lights on the really tall buildings are cool if not for the huge electricity usage they rack up. After crossing the harbor I rode the world's longest escalator through the SOHO neighborhood(so named because it runs by a steet named south hollywood. The escalator is flanked on each side by trendy restaurants, shops and the like. It seemed like a cool place to hang out and people watch.
I made it back to the ferry and took some good shots of buildings on the central side where most of the big company buildings are located. Made it back to the ChungKing Mansion building and grabbed some Indian food that rings the lobby. I had switched to another guesthouse for this night, a room of only 4X7 with a shared bathroom down the hall but clean. The next day I hung out at the harbor, bought some groceries for my 21 hour train ride to Shanghai and caught the train. I enjoyed Hong Kong and would like to return on a different sized budget.
