Hong Kong final day and journey home

Monday


Our last day in Hong Kong and better weather (although not good enough for 'The Peak' - if we want to climb a high point and see clouds and mist we can always go up the Pentlands!)


MTR to Central and experience the travelator - bit like the moving walkways at the airport but goes uphill in the street and you can jump off for shopping - good for the calf stretches. More walking then back to The Ladies Market and Temple Road. Got back to hotel around 8pm then taxi to the airport through some of the hugest high rises that must litterally house 100s of people ... this led me to look up some data that shows a population of 6.9m and an average density of 6300 people per sq km (given that 80% of the land is not inhabited you can see the problem - this compares to around 4000 in London)

We were kicking ourselves that we did not buy more bits and pieces in Thailand and Vietnam as there really was nothing much in Hong Kong....seems to be a city of extreems saw a number of Chanel and Louis Vuitton stores and other high end lines then the markets (did see Marks and Spencer but didn't venture in)

The new Airport is an engineering feat and is huge, lounge was the Cathay Pacific 'the Wing' which although huge was lacking compared to the Thai Lounge in Bangkok. Bumped into our US dinner guests in the lounge who shared our opinion on Hong Kong - have seen it and not that fussed if we never go back. They also raved about Vietnam and how cheap everything was saying it would be worth flying from the US on an annual basis to buy up clothes.

Swiss Air flight was a A340 with 8 seats in First with one empty and the others looking (unlike us) that they travel that class as the norm. Flight was departing at midnight as as I had heard great things about the food we had held off on dinner (there was a restaurant in the First Class Lounge)
some of the items were created by the chef from The Peninsula Hotel.
As it was late we had to forego some courses. Carol having some salad then the Salmon fillet which was delicious and Ian having the prawn starter followed by a veal sausage dish that was their special which he followed with the selection of Swiss cheeses (great for dreams!)

After dinner it was bed time, the crew made the beds up with sheets, pillows and duvet and we donned our black pjs (which were nicer than the Thai ones) and settled down for the night. Breakfast was traditionally Swiss with Mueseli and bread rolls and we arrived into Zurich on schedule @ 6am (or 1pm on Hong Kong time) not much time there and we were up in the air again to Copenhagen by 7:10 -

yes the Hong Kong - Zurich - Copenhagen - Edinburgh may seem a strange route but when booking on miles the options become more limited on availability plus we wanted to avoid Heathrow if possible. The countries are split into zones and it actually 'cost' less miles to fly to Copenhagen that to get off in Zurich. The Copenhagen - Edinburgh flight is a bmi flight and due to status I get charged economy miles and booked in business. This was the only part of the whole holiday I had some concerns about as we were on separate tickets so arriving late into Copenhagen would have left us stuck. Fortunately every flight we were on was on time and the lovely lady in Hong Kong even checked our bags through to Edinburgh so we didn't need to worry about them at all.

4 hour wait in Copenhagen between flights by which time we were flagging a bit, got a bit of a shock with the temperature drop - we had been 33/34 till Hong Kong when it dropped to 20 (which felt cold) then Copenhagen was minus 4 with snow - sat in the SAS lounge so at least had some comfort. Little plane this time and only 24 passengers on board of which we were the only 2 in business so hot meal for lunch instead of sandwich.

Arrived on time just after 2pm (24 hours after leaving Hong Kong) and were amazed that the suitcases appeared. Taxi home.

Current status

• house still heating up - have multiple layers on
• 3 unopened suitcases sitting in hall (cannot face unpacking just yet)
• Checking work email to prepare for tomorrow when brain may not be operating in correct time zone
• both half a stone heavier than when we left - must be the 2 half stones that Elizabeth lost!
• counting the hours (or minutes) till we can get the electric blanket on and sleep
  

Hong Kong

Thursday

Sea Day with some people recovering from having opted to do the 7 hours in a coach to Hanoi - did seem a shame to come all this way and be so close yet so far but......

Quite an interesting path to Hong Kong through China military waters - Captain very enthusiastic and said they had to go through special permission and previously had to go through with no radar but this time were allowed.

Friday

Arrival into Hong Kong @ 7am. Alarm had been set for 5.40 to get up and watch however had not been set right and we awoke at 7.30 to find we were already here (not sure Ian ever intended to get up at 5.40!!!) Turns out the clouds were low, very misty and probably did not miss too much.

What a change in temperature - jeans and jumpers out the case which had been half packed...says it is 20 degrees which I am sure is tropical compared to home, however having come from 34 it is decidedly chilly.

Ventured out to do our own thing with a trip on over to Hong Kong Island (costing around 20p) then bus out to Stanley Market...had a wander round, grabbed some Mango juice in a cafe and headed back - quite a scenic route via Repulse Bay.

Light show in the evening had been built up as a "must see" but was a little bit of an anticlimax due to the visibility but more on that to follow.

Packed in about 10 mins flat, cases outside door and headed up to the join 'the gang' for our last evening and farewells before getting to bed about 2am

Saturday

Time to leave the ship (got the alarm clock working this time) breakfast and headed off around 9am, collected bags then off to the hotel which was about 2 minutes away overlooking the Harbour. (view from ship is from our room) Managed to check in and get settled in the fab room before heading out for more exploring. MTR station on our doorstep so headed up to Ladies Market during the day followed by Temple Road Evening Market...every corner has people wanting to sell you a suit or copy watches and handbags. Weather still chilly and coats and scarves are on too!

Sunday

Ian had the best nights sleep of the holiday and we woke up to a very wet day and decided to chill out and postpone our bus tour until Monday (if weather still the same we will not be venuring to the open top and are likely to give Victoria Peak a miss!)

Watched the lights from our room and much better - realised the lasers are not the main attraction but are only a suppliment to the amazing lights on the buildings...hype makes sense now!

Headed out about 10pm for a bowl of noodles at a restaurant near the hotel and came back to update the blog. Airport tomorrow for midnight flight so busy day planned sightseeing.

Bangkok to Vietnam

Wed cont...
left the internet cafe after the last update and wandered around the market, so much blatant forged copies - Mulberry, LV, Tiffany etc - bags, watches, jewellery all for a few Baht.
Ventured to the restaurant on the ship for dinner (after eating either ashore or in the buffet) Joined a table for 6 with an English couple and a couple from the US who are on the same flight back from Hong Kong to Zurich (also booked using miles)



Thursday
Sea day as we head to Vietnam. Found one of our souvenirs from Bangkok was multiple mossie bites...how on earth did we manage to escape one bite in Skye with Debbie getting them all, only to be bitten alive here...lovely look now with bites to go with the sunburn!




Friday
Arrived at Ho Chi Minh City - we arranged an organised tour with the ship to see the sights of Saigon - never seen traffic like it: mopeds, bikes and cycles everywhere...major achievement of the day was crossing the road. Visited the key sites and had a great guide.
Did a trip to the Medical Centre on the return for Hydrocortisone for the bites so now itch free!
Ian's body clock still shot and has hardly slept in over a week spending a couple of nights walking the ship, reading or playing the wii all night so some tablets from the nurse for him too.
Wonderful buffet outdoors, mostly seafood which Ian got stuck into but Carol still managed to find some nice bites.

Saturday
A bit more sleep last night and a long lie, took a short visit to the market in the port before heading off for the next port

Sunday
Quiet sea day, more sleep had the night before so things getting better

Monday
Docked in DaNang and we arranged a trip to Hoi An - both beautiful places Da Nang looks like being quite a resort in a few years with the Greg Norman Golf Course and Raffles Da Nang being built. Hoi An was a beautiful little place with silk as it's major market so loads of places that could knock up outfits in the matter of hours. Had paired up with Tricia and Garron from the NE and head a great day visiting the market, Japanese bridge and lunch out.

Tuesday
Ha Long Bay - wow...this place is about 3.5 hours from Hanoi so we made the decision not suffer 7 hours on a coach for 4 hours there and took a boat trip in Ha Long Bay and visited a cave that was just breathtaking, have loads of photos. Saw the floating fishing villages where people live their whole lives not setting foot on dry land...amazing place

Wednesday
Visit to Market and internet cafe and we set sail tonight to Hong Kong - sea day tomorrow and hopefully will get tht opportunity to add some more photos from Hong Kong....

...to be continued...

Singapore, ship and Bangkok

Friday

Woke up to an overcast day and rain! There was a shopping mall attached to the hotel so we managed to venture out for a wander without getting soaked. Coffee and donut for breakfast then rain stopped so we ventured further afield with a walk to Raffles Hotel. Afternoon tea followed and a little relaxing and studying of the guide book. Had a great dinner at IndoChine restaurant on the banks of the Singapore River, spectacular setting and eaten entirely with chopsticks.



Saturday

hot hot hot. Breakfast at the hotel then headed off for open top bus tours of the city. Arrived back at the hotel around 3 to see the evidence of how hot it actually was and in hindsight sun cream should have been worn - arms and face pillar box red and sore (most attractive) Headed off to the port in a cab, easy checkin, wandered around the ship, unpacked then headed off into town for the evening - boat trip down the River - Singapore by night is breathtaking, a wander round Clarke Quay then back to the ship to crash out.

Sunday

Set off at 10am for Bangkok, spent the day reading in the shade making plans for our Bangkok trips and slopping on the aftersun. Ended up chatting to a retired IBMer from Glasgow - what a small world

Monday

Sea day...still sitting in the shade. Ventured into the Casino in the evening armed with a whole $10 for the slot machines and ended up winning over $50 so well chuffed

Tuesday

Arrive in Bangkok. Took a taxi to the Grand Palace (shared with 3 Manchester women and they crammed 4 of us into the back of a taxi - very cosy) and had a wander round, what an amazing place so magical and sparkly. After the Palace we took a river taxi to avoid some of the awful traffic then took a shorter taxi journey back to the ship. Ventured out again to see Bangkok by night and the stalls of hooky bags etc, ended up in one of the seedier areas (although they all seem pretty seedy in the evening) stopped for some water then headed back to ship.

Wednesday (today)

Back into Bangkok to have a wander about and find some internet connectivity to update you all.....leaving at lunchtime and heading to Ho Chi Minh City....

The Journey

Getting to your destination has bever really been part of the holiday, we have always experienced it as a necessary pain endured before a visit can start. This time it was different - neither of us had flown this far before and with a bucket of Star Alliance miles to use we were going to ensure that this was part of the holiday and not just a means to an end.

Wednesday 20th

Taxi came at 3pm and we headed off to Edinburgh Airport. The snow had returned in places overnight but both Edinburgh and Heathrow were fine. Checked bags through to Singapore and headed to departures, huge queue at security so no lounge before boarding our shortest of the 3 flights to enjoy for the last time bmi's domestic business class which stops next week. Arrived Heathrow Terminal one and took a stroll over to T3 - what a busy place!

Heading through departures there was easy..there are a few perks with having a boarding card with a F on it and one is no queues. Thai Airlines don't have their own lounge in Heathrow so we had a choice of the SAS London Lounge or the Singapore Airlines First lounge...we had loads of time so split our time between them.

Before we knew it the time had come to board 'the big one'. Our 747 awaited and whilst not the newest of planes the First Class cabin was great - only 10 seats in the nose of the plane, tons of room. It was full - 8 Brits and 2 Thai, most travelling alone and the one other couple was a British gent who must have been 80+ and had been involved in building the bridge over the River Kwai and his younger Thai travel companion. Everyone looked pretty 'normal' no Celebs and I thought it quite surreal to have my 'Rough Guide to SE Asia on a Budget' (a lovely present from Ian snr) next to Vogue magazine.


The cabin crew were lovely (we had 3 of them for the cabin), seats were great and dinner was served. - with real cutlery, which I had not seen on a flight since pre-9/11. Ian managed about 5 course which took us till well after midnight and it was soon time to convert the chair to a bed and hit the sack. Airline issued lilac pyjamas were donned and we looked a bit like a load of extras from the Tellytubbies, lights out and sleep.

When morning came it was actually afternoon local time so we have breakfast/dinner, watched a movie then arrived in Bangkok at around 4pm local.

Getting off the plane we had got about 50 feet and found someone with our names on a board, we were then driven by buggy through the terminal and whisked through security to be delivered to the Thai First Class Lounge - wow! We got taken to our own litte room with sofas, chairs, desk and a fab B&O tv to relax and served coffee and juice.

The Thai Spa was across the corridor so we headed off for some relaxation, Ian having a back and shoulder and Carol going for the 'full body', massaged, showered and change we went back to the First Class Lounge then headed off for the Singapore flight.

Two hour flight with yet more food we arrived in Singapore around 11pm - a little delay getting through Immigration as they tried to ascertain if the fat bloke in Ians passport was the same person standing in front of them! and for the first time since London got to stand outside and get some fresh air - really humid and you almost feel you can taste it. Taxi to the hotel and checked in for our two night stay (on points) to find we had been upgraded so have a great room and ready to explore Singapore.

We seem to be in the right time zone and (touch wood) have no jetlag so there is definately something to be said for travelling in style.

8 weeks and counting

Today is 8 weeks to go and suspect it is going to be a busy few weeks

Carol off to London on Sunday with Lauren and Lennon to see the lights and have a trip to Hamleys. Lennon so excited about going on an 'airyplane' for the first time. Hotel at Oxford Circus and returning Monday night. (exhausted no doubt!)

Just have time to unpack and then Carol and Ian are off to Frankfurt the next weekend to spend a couple of days with David and Brigitte. A trip to the Frankfurt Christmas market should have us in a very festive mood.

A couple of work trips down south before the end of the year may have us a bit fed up with flying and airports but am sure we will be ready for our adventures on the 20th January.

What is this all about?

On the 24th May 2009 Carol & Ian got married during an amazing weekend with family at Hoscote House in the Scottish Borders.

Due to heavy work commitments the honeymoon was delayed so it could be planned properly.

We set off on Wednesday 20th January 2010 and this blog is to allow our family and friends back home to keep track of where we are, what we are doing (and what Carol has managed to find to eat...hopefully not just rice)

Our trip has been planned to start with a flight to Singapore and then to travel Bangkok, Vietnam and end up in Hong Kong (hence the worry about what to eat!)

Posts will kick off with the countdown then you can hopefully follow our journey with us.