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...