Well I know my blog probably no longer makes any sense, as it says I am in brisbane, but I am so far behind with this one that I am still talking about Vietnam and Hong Kong!Everytime I make an entry onto this I have to state my current location!So anyway I am going to to continue where I last left off.....at the end of our stay in Ho Chi Ming city, Vietnam.

We flew from Ho Chi Ming City (Saigon) to Hong Kong on the 20th june via a united arilines flight. Our flight was super early in the morning, so we asked the receptionist at the hotel the night before, if they could prepare us a packed breakfast. The receptionist said it would not be a problem, so we went off to bed in the comfort of knowing where the next meal was comming from. In my life this is how my mind prioritises, food first! The hotel had given us a good few breakfasts (mostlt eggs bread and fruit) so I had high expectations of the packed breakfast. However, at 4am when we got up to leave the hotel it was a diff story. To start with we could not even leave the hotel to get to the airport as the security shutter was down over the hotel entrance and the receptionist asleep on a camp bed next to the reception desk. We had to wake the poor lady, who in a dazed manner sorted out our keys and check out. When we asked about the breakfast she looked a bit confused, but said 'hold on a minute'. Some minutes later she emerged from the kitchen with a brown paper bag in hand with half a loaf of toasted bread in it and handed it to us. She then lifted the security door and hailed us a taxi, making her way back to sleeping after letting us out. As we were in the taxi we inspected the contents of the bag to find that it literally was just half a loaf of toasted bread and nothing else. Clearly noone had made the 'packed breakfast' and she was to up for telling us that that was the case, so she had make shifted one! Well it was a bit dry butwas appreciated at the time and filled the pie hole until the next available refuelling stop.

The flight to Hong Kong took about two and half hours. United airlines are an american company, and lets just say that the american air hostesses are not to be messed with. Before takeoff one of the rather bulshy hostesses quizzed each of the passengers sitting on the wing exit seats, asking had they read the safety instructions, if not why not and could each passenger go through their role in an emergency and how to open the door! Like I said not to be messed with. I would rather this than the prerecorded cheering you get on ryanair each time the plane lands safely. In my mind this brings into question how many ryanair flights havent landed safely?! When landing in Hong Kong, you land on one of the islands attached to the mainland, the runway being out on the sea. As such when we came into land, I was beginning to think that we might well be using the wing exits as we had descended too quickly, as all I could see out the window was water! But all was ok. Just one minute before landing I saw some greenery fly by followed by the feeling of landing on something solid! Almost grateful for american hostess!

Hong Kong was a nice place to visit. At first it was a bit wierd being in an almost british country. Although Hong Kong is now under Chinese rule, they have kept in place all the british influences from driving on the left side of the road and signs in english amoung other things. As a result, Hong Kong is still treated as a seperate country really from China, with its own immigration borders and rules. It made getting around Hong Kong and communicating really easy. For our first night we stayed in a hostel run by a really nice guy called Simon. The hostel itself was fairly clean and well kept/equipped, but absoltely tiny! They room we stayed in (all 3 of us) was the equivalent size of a single small university room (for those from Kings Great Dover street or Stamford street). However, they had managed to get in 2 (almost) double beds, for which I was too long for, TV, shelving, storage space and a fridge, and there was a bathroom attatched. Having a shower did require some room rearrangements though, as the shower head was practically over the sink. But it gave us a roof over our head for the night and kept us out of the monsoon rain and humid temperatures. The location of the hostel left a lot to be desired. It was in Chungking Mansions, which althouigh centrally located on the main shopping street, it was rough. Chungking mansions is a high rise block (not uncommon for Hong Kong) that was totally Indian. There were no chinese/hongkongians to be seen in this block or the block opposite. The block itself was totally run down, dirty, many cables and wires exposed ion the ceiling and hundreds of iondian food venders on the ground floor. The ground floor could easily have been part of New Delhi, India, uprooted and dumped into this block. Outside both of these blocks were loads of Indian sales people, their sales lines ranging from 'suitcases, bags madam' to 'Fake Rolex, I have fake Rolex for you'. At least they werent lying! If you didnt want to buy anything from these people, you actually needed elbow power to muscle your way down the street. Getting into the lift in the block was fun too!Our hostel was on the 7th floor (I think!). The lift was very small, taking about 5 people each ride, so with many floors to the block a lift attendant was required to regulate the lift services. At the ground floor of the lift, there was a CCTV screen for the attendant to monitor the number of people in the lift. It was veryt amusing to watch whilst waiting for the lift. Lift acivities vary from just standing there (normal) to nose picking, old men exposing bellies, scratching of balls, and checking that their bits are still there!

Anyway we spent the first day we were there, looking around Hong Kong main streets, hitting the shops such as uniqlo, H and M and w***o (I kid you not!). The evenign we spent back at the hostel watching dvds in bed as we all felt a bit jet lagged!

The following morning we checked out of the hostel and made our way to West hotel to start a group tour with Gap adventures, of China. During the day (Ed, Charlotte and I) took a day trip to victoria peak, where you ride the tram up some very steep tracks to the top of the peak. During this tram journey, accoirding to the notice, you must 'maintain your cough manners'! From the top you get views of all Hong Kong. We were lucky we went up when we did as later on the clouds came in and gave the city its dose of rain! Whilst waiting for the tram we had the pleasure of watching an 'Environmental Consultant' work. An 'EnvironmentalConsultant' is also known as a cleaner in lay mans terms. In the early evening we went to meet the group whom we would be travelling around most of China with. We all went for a meal in a local resturant, before all going off to do our own thing in the evening. Ed, Charlotte and I took a walk via the infamous Chungking Mansions, to the bankside, which was pretty cool. You could sit there for several hours just watching all the lights of the city of the opposite side of the bank. ITs very colourful. We were also lucky enough to see a chinese junk boat in the harbour.

The next day we had the morning free to do as we pleased. Charlotte and I had planned to go swimming in the locl swimming pool we had spotted in the park the day before, not far from where we were. However, I had forgotton to set my alarm clock an hour forward to account for the time difference between Hong Kong and Vietnam, so we had managed to sleep in for the whole morning and completely missed swimming. The afternoon we met with the group again to catch the train to the border of China, to then catch a sleeper train to Yangshuo, south China. Sleeper trains in China are an experience. The trains are about 17 carriages long, each carriage holding around 30-35 sets of bunk beds. The bunk beds are 3 beds high. If your lucky enough to get the short straw for the top bunk, you have a hard job of getting on and off the bed with any grace or dignity! For most of the train journeys we made, we were altogether as group, which made the journeys more comfortable as the Chinese had a tendancy to stare and talk about westerners (referred to as 'big noses'). The toilet and bathroom situation was fun. The bathroom was a small room with 2 sinks, per carriage. This made it a made rush for the sink to brush teeth before lights out at 10pm. The toilet was a squatter toilet, standard for asia, but try squatting to wee when on a moving train!Needless to say that by the end of a 12 hour train journey, the toilets are a mess. Also had a few near misses of foot down the hole...ergh! The choice of food for dinner was usually what the buffet car had a offer (egg/tomatoes, tough beef, and some prawn shizzle), which we all quickly learnt was not the best choice, especially as the menu was in chinese and none of the waitering staff spoke any english, so everything was pot luck. The other option for dinner was a pot noodle, mostly preferred by all onboard...mmmmm nutritious!

Anyhows, we arrived alive and well but sleep deprived in Yangshuo. I shall reveal more in my next entry beginning here where I have left off....what a cliffhanger!