Rose at 6am and left our 2 young men in the carriage to find a seat in the dining car to view the scenery for a few hours. Couldn't order from the limited menu until 7:30am when I requested a Western Breakfast - a roll (smaller than a dinner roll) with a fried egg and rubbery orange processed ham, a glass of hot milk and a mini sweet coffee -mmm. Mum had peanuts instead - good decision. The windows were clean and large and we enjoyed 4 1/2 hours of sightseeing through farmlands, towns and cities. It's incredible that in cities, every inch of space that is unusable for dwellings is planted out with farming lots - right up to highways and train tracks, under bridges and in low lying areas.
Debarked the train at Shenzhen and just had to keep looking around for English signs on where to go to find the Lo Wu border point where we departed China and entered Hong Kong - through very relaxed immigration. Exchanged money, bought an Octopus card and were on a mission to find our hotel in Jordan near Kowloon. Used 3 trains to get close to our destination- the English signange was magnificent and the trains were so frequent, we just hopped from one to the next. It's a different world here from China and even from Australia- don't we have a thing or two to learn from these guys and their public transport systems? Loved the neon lights showing you on the train where you were and where you were going- so cool - and the trains are so clean and modern. We also love that people adhere to traffic rules and crossing signs -as no one stopped for us at crossings in China - and they give you plenty of time to get across 4-6 lane roads! Came out of the last train stop on the wrong side and started walking the wrong way but eventually found our hotel- amongst many foot massage signs pointing up dark and smelly stairways! The hotel is in a shabby, old building but it has been smartly renovated at its entrance and internally. Our room, at The Evergreen Hotel, is spacious enough, has a bath and some English channels. At last we were able to catch up on some World News- albeit tragic. We both had long, hot showers, put on clean clothing and packed away the smelly poly-prop'thermals - woo-hoo! There's a lab on our floor with modern computers which is fantastic - now is the time to send us an email as we have 24 hr access but only here for one more night before we transfer to the Island! Had lunch opposite our hotel- ordered a midday special of 3 curries, naan, pappadums, rice and a drink for $9 each. A bargain, delicious (brilliant quality tandoori chook, beef and vegies) and filling.
Later in the afternoon we set out to check out the area- the wet markets, flower markets, Temple Street Markets etc . All was interesting (though exactly the same merchandise as KL's Petaling markets) and a few purchases were made - we couldn't go past some jade items at the Jade markets. Ended up having a muffin and tea at Starbucks as we were both still full from lunch and relaxed over English newspapers while listening to a bit of trad'jazz, returning to our hotel just now, at 8:30pm. Time for bed. Goodnight lovely people X
