Greetings all from Hong Kong!

Well I finally managed to escape from Kathmandu and find my way to Hong Kong via an overnight stop in Bangkok and am now having a totally expensive time in Hong Kong. Man this place is well expensive but there's a whole lot of fun to be had! Hong Kong is a bustling ultra modern city choc a bloc with impressive feats of architectural design in the form of the skyscrapers. A real concrete jungle! I still can't believe how amazingly clean and spotless the place is. Maybe that's got something to do with being fined HK$600 (around GBP 55) if you drop any litter or spit... the parks are pristine and fab places to chill out any time of the day and they're full of things to see and do. It's totally safe and a real feel good kind of place. The Hong Kong residents certainly know how to shop, spend, relax, kick back and enjoy themselves. They seem to thrive on it...they must have endless energy for shopping and partying and the malls and plazas because every building is full of hundreds of shops, bars and restaurants - it's incredible. It is also quite bizarre as the likes of Louis Vuitton, Tiffany and Versace seem quite happy to be rubbing shoulders with the "special" massage parlours and newsagent stands that do an eye watering side line in sex aids!! Which was a bit of a shock when all you want is a postcard! Just about everything has a price tag and there's more designer shops than you can shake a black Amex at. Getting around Hong Kong is child's play. There's a great selection of transportation options. It's all on time, sells real tickets there's no haggling and even the taxi's have meters (and they use them!) and they are air conditioned!!! Wow! and it's completely hassle free. Perhaps with the exception of Nathan Road, the tourist ghetto, where haggling seems to be de rigueur. The worst thing I've been offered is a copy watch and a suit! Life's a breeze in Hong Kong although I suspect if it followed any other method it would grind to a halt pretty quickly due to the sheer volume of people. You have to keep reminding yourself this is part of China! It's highly civilised and expertly organised and life's a breeze ....! Best not to get too used to it!

I arrived here and managed to dump my bag just in time to head to an Irish bar to watch the England v Denmark game. I met a Scottish guy in the bar called Ken who proceeded to ply the lowly backpacker with vodka all night and refused to let me buy a round of any sort! After the game we headed off to some other random bar in Kowloon and then met up with his girlfriend and they bundled me into a taxi to Lan Kwai Fong the partying district on Hong Kong island. Hit a few bars, bounced off a few too, was plied with more vodka and ended up in some place listening to a Phillippino band doing a murderous and frankly sacrilegious version of "Rock DJ" and other Robbie "The God" tunes. Met loads of people, mainly drunk Australians and eventually found my way back to my guest house at 4 in the morning accompanied by a drunken chain smoking Cameroon volleyball player who couldn't find his guest house either. I eventually found a door that fitted the key I had, made my way into the shoebox they called my room and passed out for 12 hours! I haven't drunk that much vodka since I was out with you Elaina!!! Next day was a complete write off didn't surface till it was dark and felt decidedly jaded...since them things haven't been quite so drunken thankfully.

I spent a day being a complete kid at Ocean park and riding on the roller coasters and seeing the animals and watching the sea lions having their lunch. It's got an amazing Shark enclosure and a huge aquarium with underwater tunnels and some of the ugliest fish I've ever seen in my life, the usual stuff. Not the same as hopping in the balmy Caribbean sea though and swimming and snorkeling with the wildlife yourself. The highlight has to be seeing the Giant Pandas, Jia Jia and An An. One was completely sparko curled up on it's rock and the other was having it's afternoon snack, so merrily posed for photos from the cooing crowd. Bless, they need 5500 calories a day - that's 9 Big Macs apparently! I've also visited the Hong Kong museum of History and that takes you on a journey from the formation of the rock through to the handover. It's impressively well organised and shows you the history, culture and geography of Hong Kong along with models of villages and the fishing boats. It's amazing and planned down to every precise detail. The museums are all free on Wednesday's - bargain!! I spent a few days in Kowloon and took some great photos of the Hong Kong skyline at night from the promenade. I also visited the Temple Street night market that is full of cheesy tat that makes Poundworld look like Harrods - however you get some great authentic Chinese grub at night and it's a whole lot cheaper. Ironically enough the most expensive place I ate in India is the cheapest place in Hong Kong - good 'ol McDonalds. However they do not do veggie burgers and there's only so many fries a girl can eat (unless of course your name's Amrita Singh!!*!!)

I moved over to Hong Kong island where I (still) am to check out over this side. I couldn't stand living in a shoe box anymore and have now got a pretty decent room in a guest house in Causeway Bay. The owner Sam is an affable fellow and loves a good chin wag and as all good guest house owners seem to be, he knows exactly where to send you for anything you need.

Have taken in a trip on the famous Peak Tram and took some great photos of the light show at night from The Peak. It's absolutely stunning at day and at night. The night view with your very own light show from the skyscrapers is awesome. Makes you wonder how many light bulbs Hong Kong gets through in an average week and the window cleaners must be loaded here!! Have been on the famous harbour work horses the Star Ferry and that's a delightful and cheap way to cross the harbour and take in the view.

I spent a day on Lantau island and went to the Po Lin monastery. On a hill opposite the monastery is a 34 metre statue of a seated Buddha made of bronze. It's well worth the 200 odd steps climb up to the top as there are great views from up there and across the other outlying islands and the South China sea - fab. It's also a good way to escape the hustle and bustle..

I also went to Tai O which is a small fishing village that gives you a taste of how Hong Kong must have been a long, long time ago (probably when you were here Dad!!!) and before the skyscrapers moved in. The harbour still has fishing boats and house boats that would sink if they set sail but the most delightful feature is the stilt houses that still remain there. It's a really charming little place where locals still go to buy their fish from the market and there's no chance of missing the market as you smell it as soon as you get off the bus!!! Just follow your nose!

Sadly I arrived on the last day of the horse racing season (and the footie was calling me!) so won't be able to spend more money at the races but had a brief look at Happy Valley...The other must do when in Hong Kong is to ride on the tram. It's a real treat bumbling through the streets for HK$2 for as far as you like and if you've got time it's cheaper than the underground. It's incredible to think they used to run along the waterfront which is now a couple of hundred metres away...The parks here are great places to chill out and relax when you need a bit of r and r. Hong Kong park is great, ultra modern again has got a great conservatory of dry and tropical plants and the aviary is full of magnificently coloured birds. It's got fountains and a tai chi area, ponds and pelicans, cafe and restaurant - it's great and all free (apart from food and drink). All very touristy but great fun just to amble around and watch the Hong Kong world go by.

In between being a complete tourist I have finally got my Chinese visa sorted and am heading off to Beijing on Monday for a whistle stop tour of China as really I've spent too much time here already but the day's jsut fly by here....After Beijing I'm really only going to have time to visit a couple of places so will probably head for Xi'an home of the Terracotta Army then on to Shanghai and then make my way through the south before heading into Vietnam....

Anyway this is where I say bye for now. My website will be updated very shortly with my photos of my trekking in Nepal and it's now also got a groovy little email link so you can look at the site and then email me...cool !

Anyway take care y'all

Loads love

Lisa / Lillie

xxxx