I was far too relaxed when I touched down in Hong Kong. I already feel that I might have become a little too blazai (sp?!) about traveling in any case, but by the time I’d made the small (4hr) hop from Japan to Hong Kong I was more relaxed than when I left. None of this is a bad thing per se, it was in fact a small blessing to stroll into an airport and feel completely comfortable. I was surprised to remember that I had done this layover before (once on the way back to the UK from Aus) and although it was only three or four years ago, I remember being nervous, on edge and, yes I’ll say it, perhaps a little scared. This time i was far less prepared (could only be bothered to change up 80USD and that had to cover travel to and from Kowloon, accommodation, food and anything else I planned to do) and I had nowhere to stay and no clue what to do.

I have learned so far that asking people is a pretty good way to short circuit the hassle in traveling. I knew from last time that there was a train to the town centre, but this time I strolled straight up to the information counter. Five minutes later I had a map of the city, the location of the cheapest way to and from the centre (bus if you were wondering), the best places to stay, how much to pay, where the social district was and details of a cheap hotel to stay in. That would have taken me hours with my head in a guide book!

As it turns out I relented to a hawker meeting travelers off the bus and agreed to see his digs. Asides from smelling of curry throughout the building (it was an Indian area) and having to get them to change the sheets and pillow cases (they were HORRIBLE!) I ended up with a single, safe, room with free WiFi, en suite and right in the centre of town (opposite my return bus stop) for 13 quid. I didn’t expect to get much more and as it was only a layover I took it, saving me hours of searching.

The rest of my layover was largely uneventful. Save for the constant hassling of touts selling everything from suites to shark fin and from porn to tiny mobile phones (and quite a cool iPhone copy with built in TV receiver!). I didn’t have the energy to do all that much so explored the town, drank lots of coffee and slept in until 9AM! (I had many later mornings in Japan but left to my own devices I seem to be getting up pretty early on my own).