Getting My Bearings

I awoke the next morning to the comings and goings of those in the hostel room.  The bathroom was very tiny, a square with a toilet, small sink, and hand-held shower head.    You wash yourself standing right next to the toilet.  The setup didn't bother me to my surprise, maybe because I had gotten use to similar bathrooms in Indonesia and at Ian's apartment in Singapore.   At least the hot water was truly hot!

After getting cleaned up, I moved to my proper 4-bed room where I set up camp in one of the top bunks.  Two Canadian guys were in the lower bunks, and Adam from England was on the other upper one.  There was a working TV in the room, though I didn't bother with it during my stay.

To get my bearings in a new city, I tend to walk in concentric circles extending out from my accommodation.  My first concentric circle brought me to McDonald's for a pancake breakfast.  Feeling completely out of my element, I had a newfound sense of comfort in seeing American fast food joints abroad.

One of my missions in Hong Kong would be to obtain my Visa for India, so I spent some time online getting the consulate's address, and filling out the paperwork.  Since it'd take 3-4 days, I made it a priority to drop everything off Monday morning.

Back at the hostel, I ran into an Austrian man of Chinese descent who seemed to want some company.  He lead tours for Chinese government officials abroad, though was traveling on his own in Hong Kong (thus the cheap accommodation).  We walked down to the Avenue of Stars at the southern tip of Kowloon.  It's akin to Hollywood's Walk of Fame (or whatever it is called).  From the walkway, you can see across Victoria Harbor to the impressive and immense skyline of Hong Kong Island.  The weather was cloudy and chilly, and a haze of pollution enveloped the buildings.

We walked a bit outside of the touristy area of Nathan Road (think Broadway in New York City), stopping for lunch at a Chinese barbecue joint where I ordered duck with rice.  We also got some noodle soup with prawn balls from a nearby restaurant.  Feeling tired, I opted out of continuing the walk and headed back to my room for some rest and recovery.

Dave Lee

Dave is the Founder and Editor in Chief of Go Backpacking and Feastio. He's been to 66 countries and lived in Colombia and Peru. Read the full story of how he became a travel blogger.