Touchdown In Hong Kong

In the early evening, I arrived parched and famished in Hong Kong. After passing immigrations and customs, and collecting my bag, I bit the bullet and grabbed dinner at Burger King in the terminal. If I haven't mentioned it previously, flying with the discount Australian airline Jetstar (and it's Asian contingent) has meant I need to check my main backpack as it doesn't meet the 15lb (7kg) requirement for carry-on luggage. So far, it hasn't been a problem, and I've appreciated the ability to buy larger size liquids (suntan/bug spray, soap, etc.).

After devouring my greasy American fast food, I quickly found my way to the A21 bus which would bring me down Nathan Street to Tsim Sha Tsui in Kowloon. The day before, I had reserved a spot in a 4-bed dorm room in the Friendship Hostel in Mirador Mansion via HostelWorld.com. There were tons of reviews about the hostels in the Mirador and Chungking mansions, so I tried to pick the cheapest one with the highest rating. The general consensus was Mirador was better than Chungking.

As the bus headed toward downtown, I was soon struck by all the large apartment buildings lit up in the distance. On our left we passed a long bridge with a bright red horizontal neon stripe running along it. On our right we passed a giant port with cranes and stacks of container boxes. As we barreled down Nathan Street, I started to feel an inevitable sense of culture shock.

Neon signs extended from buildings horizontally so they were directly above the roads, which makes perfect advertising sense though feels a bit in your face. Chinese characters were everywhere, which reminded me of the fact that language barriers were about to become a bigger challenge. Every other shop seemed to be selling jewelery and the sidewalks were crowded with people being that it was a Saturday night.

I hopped off the bus and walked the instructed 5-10 minutes south to the Mirador Mansion. The term mansion is a bit of a misnomer. Giant slum building would be a more fitting term for the view from the exterior. By 10:30pm, I was within my given arrival window, yet they stuck me in a 12-bed dorm with a ½”? thick mattress across from two toilets/showers in a room that amounted to a drafty hallway. Oh, and my feet were practically in the lap of the people using the internet next to my bed. I was so tired, I went with it and tried to get some sleep knowing my bed wasn't what I reserved.

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.