hong kong
By Alannah McEwan Alannah recently moved to Melbourne Australia where she plans to work and travel during the next year. Before that she lived in Vienna Austria for two years and spent a summer living in Florence Italy learning Italian.
My trip to Hong Kong came about quite unexpectedly. On a previous trip to Vietnam my flight back was overbooked and, in exchange for flying out one day later, I was offered a free round trip ticket which I used to fly to Hong Kong, where I stayed for four nights before continuing to Australia.
I was a bit nervous about travelling alone because , although I have travelled alone before, Hong Kong felt so big and foreign. I decided that I couldn't pass up an opportunity to explore Hong Kong and that it would be worth pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. After travelling for 18 hours I arrived at Hong Kong airport and took a city bus to get to the hotel I had booked.
It turns out that four days is not nearly enough time to experience Hong Kong. I had to decide what I wanted to see the most. The first thing I went to was Victoria Peak. I wanted to do as much free stuff as possible and avoid paid attractions so this was the one thing I went to see that I had to pay for. It was definitely worth the cost and I think a trip to HK would not be complete without a visit to Victoria Peak. I even paid extra to go to the Sky Terrace which offered an absolutely amazing view of the city. I have seen a lot of views from up high of cities but this one takes the cake. I ended up spending 2 hours just sitting and staring out at the view. This was definitely one of my favourite things I did in Hong Kong.
I was a bit nervous about travelling alone because , although I have travelled alone before, Hong Kong felt so big and foreign. I decided that I couldn't pass up an opportunity to explore Hong Kong and that it would be worth pushing myself outside of my comfort zone. After travelling for 18 hours I arrived at Hong Kong airport and took a city bus to get to the hotel I had booked.
It turns out that four days is not nearly enough time to experience Hong Kong. I had to decide what I wanted to see the most. The first thing I went to was Victoria Peak. I wanted to do as much free stuff as possible and avoid paid attractions so this was the one thing I went to see that I had to pay for. It was definitely worth the cost and I think a trip to HK would not be complete without a visit to Victoria Peak. I even paid extra to go to the Sky Terrace which offered an absolutely amazing view of the city. I have seen a lot of views from up high of cities but this one takes the cake. I ended up spending 2 hours just sitting and staring out at the view. This was definitely one of my favourite things I did in Hong Kong.
I found it very easy to travel around the city as the public transport is top notch and signs for popular tourist destinations were easy to see and follow. Once I got off at my stop there were lots of signs clearly pointing me in the right direction. There are also signs in all the undergrounds showing the direction of each exit and what sights and attractions are in the direction of each exit. To take advantage of the great public transit you can buy an octopus card, similar to the oyster card in London. You pay 150 HK dollars, 50 is a deposit and 100 is credit for travelling around. Even if you are absolutely horrible at directions, like me, you will easily manage to find your way around Hong Kong as everything is very well signed and organized and there are lots of information booths in the underground.
My other favorite places that I visited were Avenue of the Stars and the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, both of which are free to visit. I also visited and greatly enjoyed Nan Lian Garden, Chi Lin Nunnery, and the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden - again all for free! And for only 10 Hong Kong dollars (you can also pay for this with your octopus card) you can go to the Happy Valley Racecourse and see the horse races. There are races every Wednesday and it's just a short walk from the nearest underground stop. Luckily one of the nights I was there was on a Wednesday and it happened to be the first night of the season so I went to experience my first night at the races.
On my last day in Hong Kong I was at the 10 Thousand Buddha Monastery. It was the only place I visited that was a bit tricky to find because there were no signs pointing to the direction of the monastery. Thankfully, I had researched how to get there the night before, there is even a YouTube video you can watch showing how to get there from the nearest public transport location. This place is also completely free to visit and definitely worth the trip. There are Buddha status on each side of the path up the hill to the monastery.
My other favorite places that I visited were Avenue of the Stars and the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery, both of which are free to visit. I also visited and greatly enjoyed Nan Lian Garden, Chi Lin Nunnery, and the Hong Kong Zoological and Botanical Garden - again all for free! And for only 10 Hong Kong dollars (you can also pay for this with your octopus card) you can go to the Happy Valley Racecourse and see the horse races. There are races every Wednesday and it's just a short walk from the nearest underground stop. Luckily one of the nights I was there was on a Wednesday and it happened to be the first night of the season so I went to experience my first night at the races.
On my last day in Hong Kong I was at the 10 Thousand Buddha Monastery. It was the only place I visited that was a bit tricky to find because there were no signs pointing to the direction of the monastery. Thankfully, I had researched how to get there the night before, there is even a YouTube video you can watch showing how to get there from the nearest public transport location. This place is also completely free to visit and definitely worth the trip. There are Buddha status on each side of the path up the hill to the monastery.
Ten thousand Buddha Monastery
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Avenue of the Stars
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In Hong Kong, because it's a busy place, it is common when you are at a restaurant to be seated with others or to have others be seated with you. I had read about this before I went so I was expecting it but it was still a bit strange to be eating while facing a stranger at a table, but all part of the HK experience!
It wish I'd had two more days in Hong Kong so that I could have gone to Macau one day and another day to the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. The good thing about not having enough time in Hong Kong was that I have even more motivation to make a second trip one day. I loved the city and cannot wait to go back. It was very clean and the people were so nice and friendly. There is a ton of things to do and see, most of which is free! It's a city of beautiful sights and friendly people. It's affordable, so perfect if you are travelling on a budget, and it's so easy to get around and very safe, so perfect if you are a solo traveller. Hong Kong is a combination of west and east with the best of both and something for everyone.
For more information visit http://www.discoverhongkong.com
It wish I'd had two more days in Hong Kong so that I could have gone to Macau one day and another day to the Big Buddha and Po Lin Monastery. The good thing about not having enough time in Hong Kong was that I have even more motivation to make a second trip one day. I loved the city and cannot wait to go back. It was very clean and the people were so nice and friendly. There is a ton of things to do and see, most of which is free! It's a city of beautiful sights and friendly people. It's affordable, so perfect if you are travelling on a budget, and it's so easy to get around and very safe, so perfect if you are a solo traveller. Hong Kong is a combination of west and east with the best of both and something for everyone.
For more information visit http://www.discoverhongkong.com
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