Hong Kong

It started the wrong way… Lesley and Bob advised us to take a taxi to their place as they are not directly on the public transport. Instead we did the stupid thing and decided to use the public transport (Nives’ idea really…). All would be fine (sort of) if we didn’t (foolishly!) listen to the guy from the tourist info office at the airport. We are not going to go into details here, but all it matters is that it took us three hours to get there. On a positive side, we ARE still married (it was touch and go a few times). Don’t think that a totally spooked Uber driver who drove the last part of the journey shares this opinion thou. Apparently, Asians are not good with couples having an open conflict. Yaiks!

But our lovely hosts brought us back to life with wonderfully cooked home food and copious amounts of red wine. And it did not end there. We actually got to see the really nice side of Hong-Kong that not many tourists do.

First, sailing. It was just amazing to sail just outside of bustling city center. There is so much more to Hong-Kong than you would think. Small villages, lush green islands, absolutely beautiful scenery. Top that with great company and some excellent food and wine and you have a winner!
Then, Chinese New Year’s Eve fireworks in the harbour. If we thought Singapore was big, than this was enormous. Gigantic! The whole bay was lit up. We had the best spot in the town as well – Hong-Kong Royal marina. Again, courtesy of Bob and Lesley. Don’t think they normally take our riff-ruff sort of traveling guests (remember Venice?).

We also went for a ride on a local tram on the Hong-Kong Island. It passes through old and new parts of the city, not to mention that markets part to let the tram trough. Covering our eyes the first time we soon realized this is how things are done here. And started to enjoy the views and the city pulse. And you do get a feel that Hong-Kong has either just completed a mountain marathon or is in a constant state of pre cardiac arrest. It is an absolute chaos, but of the organized way. Everything works.

After four days of pure indulgence it was time to move on to warmer climates: Thailand.

Few more pictures here.