Saturday, August 27, 2011

The Beauty of an Eleven Hour Layover

 After a 14 hour flight, an eleven hour layover sounds horrible right?  Not when you are in Hong Kong it doesn't!  Picking up from where I left off last time, we headed directly out through customs to a nearly empty airport.  We were shocked to see that no one was there not even realizing it was only 6:00 in the morning.  With our heads confused on time and our stomachs hungry for food, we grabbed the next train to the beautiful city of Hong Kong.


We sat in awe as our train ventured 20 minutes away from the airport passing through enormous  highrises and charming rolling hills around every corner.  When we finally arrived in the city of Hong Kong, we received our first dose of the heat we will be feeling for the next 2 and a half months.  It was only 6:30am and it was sweltering.  We can out just in time for morning rush hour of foot traffic.  We weaved and bobbed through the financial district trying to make our way around.  Half the time we could not even figure out how to cross the street!  After walking (and sweating immensity) for about 20 minutes while everyone stared at us as we wrecked of tourist, we finally came across Hong Kong park.  It was a an up hill climb but a scenic walk through the park.  It finally started to rain a bit and we enjoyed every minute of getting soaked by cool water.  It was the perfect answer to our overheated prayers.






After taking a stroll and many pictures, we ran into train that would take us up to something called the Peak.  Not really knowing what this was, but looking very touristy, we decided we must take the ride.  Little did we know the place did not accept US dollars, so we ran over to get our first Hong Kong bills in order to get on the ride.  About half way through the intensely sharp climb, we realized why people go up to the Peak.  It was a view looking down on a city littered with high rises, surrounded by huge green hilltops, with a ravishing river flowing through it.  Every inch we climbed farther the view became more and more beautiful.  The city was enormous and breath taking all at once. 

Once to the top, we had our first dose of Asian cuisine in Asia, stopping at a small unpopulated restaurant (remember- this was only 8:00 in the morning, so we must have been the earliest waking tourist ever).  This was also our first taste of the language barrier.  Don't get me wrong, most people speak English and some even very well, but there was still a sense of difficultly in communication.  In other words, all of our minds thought "we are definitely not in America anymore".  The food was amazing, and we left the restaurant to catch some more dazzling views from high above the city.  By this time, it was time to venture back to the airport for our final destination- Phnom Penh, Cambodia.





 

Although short lived, I am very excited to make my way back through Hong Kong on our way out of Cambodia as well.  It was my first time in Asia and I loved every minute of it.  I especially loved that when coming back into the airport in one of the most populated countries in the world, it merely took 20 minutes to get through security and arrive at the gate.  I think it was because we actually got to leave our shoes on for once...

What a way to start a trip.  Until next time Hong Kong....

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