Hong Kong

Day 1

• Met Caroline at the airport as planned.
• Took public transport to Stanley (their house) so we could get used to travelling around on our own, the first thing that hit us was how many skyscrapers there were!
• Went out for a drink in local pub 'Smugglers Inn' to celebrate sineads birthday

Day 2

• We had a look around Stanley market in the morning and bought a few goodies.
• Then we went to the ladies market in Mongkok in the afternoon, though there was a thunderstorm and we had to run from store to store.
• For dinner the housekeeper Beth cooked us a traditional chinese dinner.

Day 3

• We took the star ferry to Lantau Island to see the Big Buddha, though we got absolutely soaked and freezing, so we gave in and had a starbucks coffee.
• The buddha was hidden behind the clouds so we decided to have an early lunch in the monastery with our vegetarian lunch tickets. However, the meal was absolutely disgusting and probably put us off food for our entire travels- we still have nightmares about it!! All was made better when I managed to get a sneaky picture of a monk!
• We then went on a short walk along the wisdom path, which was meant to be by a restaurant, though the restaurant was desolate and then we came across a really scary stuffed doll thing so we headed swiftly back!!
• We held our stomachs all the way on the bumpy bus journey back to the ferry.
• We met Caroline and Simon for dinner at Simons work BBQ. Before dinner we had a game of Majhong
• After dinner we had a look around the night market, which is where we got some amazing pics of the neon lights.

Day 4

• We had a lay in as Hong Kong generally doesnt get up until about 10 or 11. Caroline and Simon then took us out toa posh restaurant where we had DimSum. I tried jelly fish which wasnt the tastiest of foods!!
• We then took a tram to see the peak, fortunately the view was good as the sky had cleared.
• We then visited stanley market again to get postcards etc.
• Simon drove us to the airport and got a flight to Ho Chi Minh city.