Long Way Gone (8 hours in HK)

19.02.2012 - 19.02.2012

And so the journey began. We all managed to pack our lives into a backpack for 6 weeks. Shockingly enough, my bag is the heaviest. We'll see how much of it I don't use.
We had a pleasant surprise at the airport to find out our bags would be checked all the way to Kathmandu- and seeming as we would be stopping in not one but 3 different cities on our journey to Nepal, we were understandingly pumped (Westjet is aligned with Cathay Pacific, who is aligned with Dragonair).

After a lot of tossing and turning (and scolding from the flight attendant), we made it to Hong Kong. Both B and I obligingly called our Father's when we landed (Skype'd, free wifi at HK airport and some Skype credit is a gem). Both of them had been tracking our flight and gave each of us a rundown of the flight pattern and the arrival time (details which we had been privy too, being passengers and all). All joking aside, being in our late 20's and both having travelled a little, our Dad's are more worried than either B or I expected... Too cute.

Ok so- with an 8 hour layover we had enough time to head into town... So we grabbed our first java of the day and hopped the train to Hong Kong Station (return fare is HKD$100, and a 24 minute 1 way trip). Not much is open at 8am Sunday in HK, however it was nice to get out of the airport. We headed from HK Station to Soho and The Levels for a nice brisk uphill walk- After a bit more wandering we ended up landing down by the Cathedral where we made the group decision to head up to the Peak to check out the view.

Second coffee of the day. Its cold (ok like 16 and overcast). We are making minimal efforts at communicating. Kitten is getting a little warm-up culture shock being in HK (she has just learned about the squat toilet... And is terrified of splash back). We decide to eat Pho up at the Peak (fairly priced but nothing special) deciding we haven't eaten in a while... Turns out we're much more lively with some food in us!!

We end up back at the airport aimlessly wandering wasting more time. HK airport is a massive structure. Well over 100 gates in terminal 1 alone... We walk 1/2 of it (in silence), grab (our third) coffee of the day, and nest up at the gate waiting to hit the next leg... HK to Dhaka and then Dhaka to Kat.... Wish us luck.