The Hong Kong Experience

First things first, Happy New Year! I've only been in Hong Kong for 4 days but it's already on my top 10 list of favourite cities that I've visited. 

There's so much to do and see. The restaurants/bars are endless (definitely visit the Soho district), the shopping is insane (something that made us sad to be backpacking), the locals are the kindest people ever, and getting around the place couldn't be easier. I was a little bit wary that Hong Kong would be overly huge at first, but our hotel in Kowloon (The Metropark) has been in the perfect location. It's just around the corner from the shopping district and is a quick 10 minute walk to the Metro which is by far the easiest/cheapest way to get around the city.

In just 4 days, we've managed to do all the typical touristy things: The Peak, the Big Bus Tour, the Harbour, the Hong Kong History Museum, the night markets as well as the day markets. Pretty much everything but the cable cars up to the giant Buddha which was stupidly busy! We were also here for New Year so partied in a few bars on Hollywood Avenue before the midnight fireworks. But overall I'd say 4-5 days is by far enough time to spend here, its surprising how much you can pack into a day. Price-wise it's not cheap the more central you are so expect to pay city prices e.g. London. But if you do want a cheaper tasty meal, head to the night markets. The food is fab, the atmosphere is great and the alcohol is cheap there too! It's also a good place to meet other travellers and have a little bit of extra company. 

Tips:

- As a typical girly backpacker I've packed all the toiletries. Well, don't. You can buy everything here, literally everything. My backpack would be so much lighter to carry if I'd known this.

- Share! All 3 of us have brought the same toiletries taking up more space and weight. So now we've decided to buy 1 shampoo/toothpaste etc between us to even the load and lower the cost.

- Dec/Jan isn't that warm. You'll be an outfit repeater everyday like I have but you'll thank yourself that you've packed a pair of jeans. 

- 100% pre-book the cable cars to see the big Buddha. We turned up to see a 90 minute queue for the tickets alone, followed by another 90 minute queue to actually get on the cable cars. The cable cars take half an hour to reach the top at which point we realised we just didn't have the time that day. 

- Take the Metro. It's the only and best way to get around! 

♥