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Another short blog. Partly because as I'm now in Japan I have lost the motivation to talk about China. Partly because there's not much to say as we were only in Hong Kong for one night.
My general opinion of Hong Kong can be summed up in two sentences:
If I was super rich and wanted to spend a week in a luxury hotel and buying luxury brands then Hong Kong would be the perfect place for me. Unfortunately I'm not rolling in cash so it's not.
But it was our final place that we stayed in as a group and even though I had only met everyone less than three weeks before hand it was quite sad to say goodbye. In some ways it was harder than saying goodbye to the people back hone because whilst I know I'll see them again there's no guarantee I will ever meet my newfound friends again.
But, no matter what, they will always live in my memories.
Together we went through many trials together. We experienced the hazards of Chinese traffic together. We climbed the Great Wall together. We got sick together. We slept (or attempted to sleep) in the overnight trains together. We shared meaningful glances with each other when yet another person cleared their throat and spat right in front of us.
Together we faced Chinese public toilets. If you can call them that. If going to Chinese public toilets together doesn't form a strong bond between a group of people, I don't know what does. I was certainly glad of the many times other people in our group waited with hand sanitiser poised as I opened my eyes, let go of my nose and scurried out of the various 'toilets' as fast as my body could physically take me.
But more importantly we also experienced moments of joy together.
Together we stood in awe as our cruise ship passed in between the first and the second gorges. Together we gasped in pleasant surprise as the suspicious looking food placed before turned out to be taste bud-heaven. Together we squealed in excitement as we watched the cutest little panda cubs frolic around. Together we explored the various beautiful scenic spots we went to. Together we sipped tea in Chengdu park, listened to traditional love songs and shared a thousand laughs.
I would like to also say thanks to everyone in our group who helped me when I was sick or hurt, as I so often was. Thanks to Dragon for waiting for me as I slowly trekked my way up when I had blocked ears. Thanks to David for carrying my bags when I was too weak to carry them myself. Thanks to Sherri for giving me some of her nausea tablets. Thanks to Regina who took my temperature to check I didn't have a fever. Thanks to Joy for giving me even more medicine, and also for sounding like Margaret from 'At the Movies' when she herself was sick. Thanks to Greg for always looking back to make sure I was keeping up with the group when I was lagging behind. Thanks to Lauren for giving me some mint-flavoured chewing gum after I was sick at the three-gorges damn, and for putting up with me as her roommate throughout everything. And thanks to Mel for bandaging my hurt hand and for worrying about me like my mum would when I was gone too long at the hot springs.
Believe me, this is only the tip of the iceberg of what everyone did to help each other out during our trip, and I think it was this attitude that made our tour so pleasant.
So thank you everyone for helping to make this trip an unforgettable and wonderful experience.
- comments
Dad.. hi Freya- It sounds like you had a great time in china in spite of the toilets and the sickness Would you recommend it to Some one else?