Because my brain does not work properly, I decided to take my summer vacation in Hong Kong. This is simply a bad choice. Hong Kong is a beautiful city with lots to offer. It is, however, almost unlivable in the summer. The average high temperature during my week there was 31 degrees C. And the humidity was crazy high as well. Thus, every day followed a shower-walk around-shower-walk around-shower motif. Night offered no relief, and for a city as dense and tall as Hong Kong, there are surprisingly few shadows.
This is not to say Hong Kong isn't an interesting, vibrant place. Far from it. In the financial district of Central, you can see some stunning buildings like the HSBC headquarters. Central is also home to the Peak (they like their simple names), which gives a magnificent view of the city. Nearby Lantau island offers an impressively long sky car ride to a huge Buddha. The Ngong Peak Buddha is surrounded by a polished tourist trap village.
And then there are the party districts. My hotel in Kowloon was near to Tsim Sha Shui, home to several bars and restaurants, like the justly famous Ned Kelly's. A quick subway or taxi ride brought us into Soho and Lain Kwai Fong. Hong Kong has the best clubs I've been to yet. We made some useful friends who got us into the current it-club Tazmania (where a round of drinks cost as much as the expensive dinner we had before going out).
Of course, one of the great things about Hong Kong, at least for many visitors, is Macao. It's a short ferry ride from Kowloon to the former Portuguese colony and its world-class casinos. Macao and Hong Kong share some aspects, at least superficially, but the feeling of the two places differs greatly. The Catholic influence is definitely visible. The architecture has a distinct Iberian flavor. More importantly, though, Macao has not seen the massive development that Hong Kong has over the past several decades. The only real skyscraper you see in most of the city is the Grand Lisboa Casino, with its striking (i.e. bizarre) architecture.
As I final note, I want to mention the Temple Street Night Market. This place is the definition of shady. The market's vendors, stuffed in the long, thin corridor near an active temple. These are the same vendors you'll meet in any big Asian city. You can haggle, you'll still get ripped off. Not really shady, right? Directly behind the vendors, in the miniscule walkways between the stalls and the decrepit buildings are prostitutes. Lots of them, from a variety of countries. And sometimes you'd see an old lady sitting outside a building. She's a mamasan, according to some reliable sources. There were also very suspicious looking massage parlors around the area to boot.
After you pass through all the schlock vendors and whores, you come to a long alley of palm readers, tarot readers and other sundry fortune tellers. Right after that - dildo vendors. Lots of them as well. All of this running along-side a busy temple.
So, the final verdict: Hong Kong is a great place to visit. In the winter. If you have to go in July or August, shoot yourself in the head.
This is not to say Hong Kong isn't an interesting, vibrant place. Far from it. In the financial district of Central, you can see some stunning buildings like the HSBC headquarters. Central is also home to the Peak (they like their simple names), which gives a magnificent view of the city. Nearby Lantau island offers an impressively long sky car ride to a huge Buddha. The Ngong Peak Buddha is surrounded by a polished tourist trap village.
And then there are the party districts. My hotel in Kowloon was near to Tsim Sha Shui, home to several bars and restaurants, like the justly famous Ned Kelly's. A quick subway or taxi ride brought us into Soho and Lain Kwai Fong. Hong Kong has the best clubs I've been to yet. We made some useful friends who got us into the current it-club Tazmania (where a round of drinks cost as much as the expensive dinner we had before going out).
Of course, one of the great things about Hong Kong, at least for many visitors, is Macao. It's a short ferry ride from Kowloon to the former Portuguese colony and its world-class casinos. Macao and Hong Kong share some aspects, at least superficially, but the feeling of the two places differs greatly. The Catholic influence is definitely visible. The architecture has a distinct Iberian flavor. More importantly, though, Macao has not seen the massive development that Hong Kong has over the past several decades. The only real skyscraper you see in most of the city is the Grand Lisboa Casino, with its striking (i.e. bizarre) architecture.
As I final note, I want to mention the Temple Street Night Market. This place is the definition of shady. The market's vendors, stuffed in the long, thin corridor near an active temple. These are the same vendors you'll meet in any big Asian city. You can haggle, you'll still get ripped off. Not really shady, right? Directly behind the vendors, in the miniscule walkways between the stalls and the decrepit buildings are prostitutes. Lots of them, from a variety of countries. And sometimes you'd see an old lady sitting outside a building. She's a mamasan, according to some reliable sources. There were also very suspicious looking massage parlors around the area to boot.
After you pass through all the schlock vendors and whores, you come to a long alley of palm readers, tarot readers and other sundry fortune tellers. Right after that - dildo vendors. Lots of them as well. All of this running along-side a busy temple.
So, the final verdict: Hong Kong is a great place to visit. In the winter. If you have to go in July or August, shoot yourself in the head.
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