A Glimpse of Hong Kong

I've recently caught a glimpse of Hong Kong and my only regret is that Daniel and I couldn't stay longer. We didn't see much of Hong Kong but we saw enough to realize that it is absolutely beautiful. Let me recount our (too) short stay in the gorgeous city.

Our Hostel Experience
Once Daniel and I boarded the plane to Hong Kong late Wednesday night, things went pretty smoothly. The plane ride was only three hours-most of which we slept through, given the craziness of the day. Once we landed, I used the airport's public phones to call a hostel (Rainbow Lodge) that our friend had recommended to us. The woman on the phone was very helpful and told us exactly how to get there.

It took about an hour on bus 21A (which left directly from the airport) but we arrived at the hostel at about midnight. By that time, we were very much looking forward to getting a decent night's sleep. Neither Daniel nor I have ever slept in a hostel but the Rainbow Lodge was pretty decent. I didn't know what to expect, but I was very grateful that it was clean and very non-creepy. Also, the front desk manager was very nice and really helpful. When we woke up in the morning, he helped us call the Hum Hom train station to see if we were going to be able to catch the train to Beijing that same day. They told him that we simply had to go and purchase the tickets at the station, since the train that day had plenty of room.

Our Tiny Glimpse of HK

At about 10 a.m. we took the subway to Hum Hom station (luckily it was only one stop away from the Rainbow Lodge). Once there, we purchased two one-way tickets for Beijing. The tickets were pretty cheap. They cost us about 1100 Honk Kong dollars (about $140 in U.S. dollars) for the hard sleepers. The train left at 3:15 so we had a couple hours to roam around the area near the train station. Unfortunately, we couldn't get out near the water, but we enjoyed the beautiful climate that reminded us of California.

Our Train Experience
At 3:15, the T98 train left for Beijing. Let me mention that the T98 from Hong Kong to Beijing is a twenty-four hour train with no wifi. Also, Daniel and I got the economy class tickets (because we had just shelled out a fortune on plane tickets) so I thought that the trip was going to be pretty bad. Luckily, things were nowhere near as dreadful as I thought they would be. The train was pretty empty, so Daniel and I got the whole compartment to ourselves (there are six sleeper beds in a compartment and we had the bottom two). Unfortunately, there was no door so the smells of the train and the adjacent bathroom sometimes wafted in but all we had to do was get up and close the bathroom door every time someone left it open. We also brought plenty of our own snacks since I've read up on the train before and bringing your own snacks comes highly recommended. The ride was fairly smooth, a little loud when you're trying to sleep and the train isn't the cleanest thing in the world but overall, I'd say it was a bearable experience. If we do ever take the train again though, I really think it'd be worth it to invest in the soft sleeper or the deluxe soft sleeper. It just means more privacy and I'm pretty sure they have outlets in those compartments.

Here Daniel and I are enjoying cups of coffee and tea for breakfast. Again, we were so thankful that we brought our own snacks. The menus on the train featured less-than-appetizing meals. We'll stick with our granola bars, thanks.

Overall, our trip to Hong Kong was all too short but very enjoyable. We were there for less than twenty-four hours but we will definitely be back!