A Hike to Lion Rock

View over Sha Tin from Maclehose Trail

Most places we've been here have been very crowded and very often we've had to queue for some time to get there, get in or get back. Today we thought it would be nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city and go for a hike in the countryside. Laura found a trail in a tourist guide that she'd not yet done called the Maclehose Trail, which would take us past the the Kowloon Reservoirs to Lion Rock - in theory.

Kowloon from Maclehose Trail

In practice, we did have a few problems. Firstly, we struggled to find a taxi driver that knew enough english to understand where we wanted to go, or knew where it was. Laura did manage to find a helpful shop assistant that acted as a translater for us and she spoke to a taxi driver that did appear to know where we wanted to go, by pointing up. We set off in the cab which went uphill for a long time, until we came to a very windy one-way road and started to see some fantastic views. He dropped us off in a very pretty spot and we looked around to get our bearings - unfortunately we couldn't see any sign of the trail.

The Outdoor Life

Luckily, a group of hikers came along and their guide could speak english very well. He explained how to get to the trail by following the road until it came to a junction, and then turning right - so we set off. We immediately started going uphill along the road, taking photos of the marvellous views as we went, until we came to the Hong Kong Meteorological Observatory where a helicopter was making repeated deliveries from the city below. The road just kept on going and going for a very long way with no sign of the trail, but eventually we did come to a junction, where we did find the trail heading up a steep hill which we took for some time - until we realised it was headed back the way we'd come.

Don't feed the Monkeys

So we doubled back again and carried on down the road for a long way; it began to look like it was headed down into the city when we came across a 'proper' trail signposted to Lion Rock, with a sign warning about the dangers of Macaque monkeys (this worried Laura as she is convinced they are evil).

Lion Rock

Time was getting on but we took the steps up the trail, and up, and before heading into the jungle. We walked for a long way as the sun got lower and lower. Then there was a loud noise and I looked down the hill to see a large grey monkey running along the ground about 30 feet away - Laura said there were a few of them. This did put the wind up us a bit and we picked up the pace!

Just before the sun set we reached a sign that pointed down the hill toward the city - 1.3km away, and we started the walk down the steep hill. By the time we got there it was completely dark and we got a cab and the MTR back to the apartment.

We spent a lovely evening at Laura and Scott's for dinner.

Location:Lion Rock, Hong Kong

Macau and Cirque du Soleil

Ruins of St. Pauls - Macau

Laura and Scott had very kindly got us tickets to see Cirque du Soleil at the Venetian Hotel, Macau on Wednesday. Again, we had a rather late start, and Adam and Zara said they'd meet up with us later, as Adam was feeling a bit delicate after our late night in Wan Chai.

Sunset over Macau

As Macau is a different country we had to take our passports to the ferry port, and we boarded a hydrofoil for the hour long journey. I had no idea what to expect from Macau, apart from what Laura had told us. It was a Portuguese colony and so quite different in character from Hong Kong, but like Hong Kong, is a Special Administrative Region of The People's Republic of China. The first impression, from the hour long queue at passport control, wasn't good - but when we did get through, and got a taxi into the old part of town that started to change.

Don't ask!

As we walked around the old town we could have been in Portugal and the feel was very different from Hong Kong. We sampled the egg tart, a local speciality which is really delicious, and something which looks a bit like a sheet of beef jerky, but made of pork and beef and very sweet.

We visited the ruins of St. Pauls and the nearby fortress where we had fantastic views of the sunset and the city starting to light up. We were now running rather late and had to grab a meal as quickly as we could - Scott and Laura went on to the Venetian Hotel ahead of us as they had to pick up the tickets. After some delay we managed to get a taxi to the hotel and then navigated through the huge building, through the casino, and on to the Zaia Theatre, with about 5 minutes to spare before the Cirque du Soleil show started.

Cirque du Soleil

And what a show! The whole production was even more spectacular than I could have imagined, with performers flying in an out through the air in all directions. There were floating spacemen, upside down flying bicycles, acrobats, jugglers, giant globes, chinese dragons, fireworks - I can't even begin to describe it. If you get the chance, go and see it.

Grande Canal Shoppes

After the show, we strolled around the complex, through the 'Grande Canal Shoppes' upstairs, with a recreation of Venice, complete with canals and gondolas, and then back through the casino. The view of the hotel was even more spectacular outside in the dark.

Escalators to the casino

It was now 11pm and Sally and I decided to take the ferry back as the others went on into town. With a very late night the night before, and an hour long ferry crossing back to Hong Kong ahead of us, we were feeling a bit knackered. Our tickets were for a ferry scheduled for 12:45, but luckily we managed to get standby seats on the one leaving at midnight.

The Venetian Hotel

It didn't take long to get through passport control (although I think the guy on the desk didn't quite believe that the picture on Sally's passport was of her) and we caught a taxi back to the apartment. We fell into bed exhausted after a long, but very enjoyable day.

Location:Ruins of St. Pauls, Macau

Big Buddha and Wan Chai

View from the cable car

We had a late start on Tuesday as Scott's friends Adam and Zara overslept due to jetlag, and I took the opportunity to get a long overdue haircut, which was an experience it itself; Mikey's will never be the same again! Finally, around lunchtime, we took our longest trip so far on the MTR, to Tung Chung on Lantau Island. After a quick lunch here we took the cable car to Ngong Ping.

The buddha is the one in the background

The cable car ride is quite long and provides spectacular views of the mountainous landscape, and also the airport as we climbed up the first section. The ride is worth taking for its own sake, but when you get near Ngong Ping you get first sight of the Buddha, Tian Tan, sat on a hilltop in the distance - and its a very big Buddha.

After disembarking from the cable car we walked through Ngong Ping (which is basically a tourist trap full  of shops) to the base of the hill that the Buddha sits on. Laura, Scott, Adam and Zara climbed the long flight of steps to the top, but I stayed with Sally at bottom as her back was playing up. We also visited Po Lin monastery, before making our way back to the cable car for the return journey, where we found a huge queue of people waiting. It took over an hour to get on the cable car and we had a quite surreal ride back as the cable car had no lights.

Tian Tan

We were now running quite late, and we only had a few minutes at the apartment before we had to go back out, as we were having an evening meal in the Wan Chai district on Hong Kong Island. The meal was really good; Sally said it was the best chinese meal she'd ever had.

Afterwards we went for a drink in this slightly seedy area, and after a few more, the girls decided to go back and leave the boys to have another drink. It was nearly 4 o'clock before we got back and that's why this post is a day late.

Location:Tian Tan, Lantau Island

A Day Trip to Stanley

View from the 6X on the way to Stanley

The original plan for today was a trip to the races, but Scott and Laura's friends Adam and Zara arrived from the UK early in the morning and weren't really up to it, so Sally and I had the day to ourselves. Laura had told us that Stanley Market was a good place to visit, so I Googled 'how to get from Kowloon to Stanley Market' and off we went.

We walked to TST and got the MTR to Central; there we found the bus terminus and boarded the 6X (good choice) to Stanley Market. Being some of the first in the queue we managed to get the front seats on the top deck of the bus to get the best view, although we did have some reservations about this after the 'ride of terror' down from The Peak a couple of days ago. We needn't have worried; we had a really enjoyable ride and got to see some amazing scenery.

The promenade at Stanley

On the beach at Stanley

When we arrived we found that Stanley is a bit like an English seaside resort, except it's busy, very clean and well kept-up - and sunny. We took a stroll along the front, visited Tin Hau Temple (which was interesting but filled with incense smoke) and then continued our walk along to the Sea View Terrace. Here Sally spotted a sign warning of snakes and that put her on edge for the rest of the walk, but we did descend onto the beach and enjoyed some absolutely beautiful views.

Sally in Tin Hau Temple

After an extortionately-priced beer and coffee we walked back to bus stop and caught the 973 back to TST. This is a much longer route but we wanted to see as much as we could - and we managed to get the top front seats again. Being a long route it was rather more expensive and set us back the grand sum of £1.20 each!

We decided that we'd go grocery shopping on our way back as we both fancied an evening in. Hong Kong is in many ways, much more well-organised than the UK; but one thing they seem to have hopelessly wrong is supermarket checkouts - they are incredibly slow and inefficient and the queues stretch up the crowded aisles. The locals must have infinite patience (although they appear to have no manners) to put up with this; I'd almost lost the will to live by the time we got served.

Waterfront view of TST on walk back to apartment

Afterwards we walked back to the apartment and had beans on toast (which we thoroughly enjoyed!) followed by fresh fruit and Haagen-Dazs lollys, and then watched a movie before going to bed.

Location:Stanley, Hong Kong

Boxing Day

Morning view from our apartment

We woke up to a glorious sunny morning in Hong Kong and, after having a bit of a tough time getting Sally out of bed, we joined Laura, Rod and Charlotte in a taxi ride to Hong Kong Football Club at Happy Valley, where Scott was playing football. We sat in the bar area and watched the match in the warm sunshine with a few drinks. It was a special Boxing Day match between England and Scotland and finished 5-1 to Scotland. If England had scored a lot more goals and let in a lot fewer goals they would have won.

Relaxing at Happy Vally

Night view of Hong Kong Island

After a good lunch Sally, Laura and I took a bus back to our apartments and we had a bit of time relaxing. In the evening Rod, Charlotte and Scott went for a chinese meal, but after spending 3 weeks eating chinese food, Sally and I decided to give it a miss, and, with Laura, went to McLovin's where we went on our first night here. Here we had a more international choice of food, live (very entertaining) music and a view across the waterway to Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately, I forgot how expensive the drinks were and had three of them, which helped towards clocking up a bill of £80!

Location:Happy Valley Sports Club, Hong Kong

Christmas Day at The Peak

Hazy Hong Kong when we reached The Peak

Christmas Day has finally arrived, and a quick look out of the 30th floor window has confirmed that we won't be getting a white Christmas this year. On the bright side, we won't see Noel Edmonds or the Queen on TV either.

I made an early start on the Bombay Sapphire and we took the short walk to Laura and Scott's for the present opening. I'll spare you a list of the presents but we had an very enjoyable time and it did feel like Christmas - with a much better view than usual (but no log fire). After beer and champagne on top of the gin, I was in danger of peaking early, so I decided to slow down a bit.

The Peak Lookout Restaurant

In the afternoon we set of for our Christmas dinner. This involved taking the ferry across from Kowloon to Hong Kong Island, then 2 taxis to the bottom of The Peak Tramway. There we joined a huge queue of people waiting to take Hong Kong's most popular tourist attraction to the top of The Peak. I was amazed by how many people were here on Christmas Day and we had a long, but good-natured, wait to take the Tramway. Luckily we'd allowed plenty of time before dinner.

Santa (I preferred yesterday's)

Eventually we boarded the tram but never managed to get seats, so held on very tightly as the furnicular railway climbed at quite ridiculous angles up the mountainside. When we reached the top we walked through a series of tourist trap shops selling all sorts of tat, and walked outside to take some photos of the view. Unfortunately it was too hazy to see much of the city - it was also bloody cold and had started to rain slightly.

After a short wait we went to the Peak Lookout restaurant, which looked like a quaint and very well decorated restaurant in the Austrian Alps, and felt really Christmassy. We had party hats and noisy toys... and Santa came round for a photo op. We had a fantastic time and the food was great - I don't think we could have had a better venue here for Christmas dinner.

Hong Kong from The Sky Terrace at Night

Following dinner we took the escalators to the Sky Terrace right at the top of The Peak, to take some photos. Luckily the rain had stopped and the haze had lifted, and we did get some really fantastic views of the city, which made a fitting climax to the day.

We took one look at the queue waiting to take the return trim on the Tramway and decide to return by taxi, but the first taxi driver tried to rip us off, and we saw a bus nearby - so we took this instead. I wouldn't say the bus was a pleasant experience, but it certainly was an experience. The driver took us at breakneck speeds down the very winding roads - we had some fantastic views on the way, but Sally and I were feeling rather nauseous by the time we reached the ferry. We took the ferry back to TST (Tsim Sha Tsui - don't ask) where Scott and his parents went for a drink at the Peninsula Hotel and Sally, Laura and I took a taxi back to the apartments so we could talk to family back in the UK.

Location:The Peak, Hong Kong

Christmas Eve

Victoria Harbour at sunset

Yesterday I had a very quiet day (it was really nice not to have to rush out to catch a flight or go on a tour) and left Sally and Laura to go shopping together. I went for a walk along the waterfront for an hour and took some photos - and Sal came back completely exhausted from the shops. We had intended to pick up some ready-cooked chinese food from the supermarket, but left it too late so went out for a chinese meal instead.

Shopping mall

Today Scott's parents were arriving from the UK, so Sally and I went out to the shops by ourselves on Hong Kong Island. I wanted to look at iPads in the shops as they are a lot cheaper here than the UK, so we took the MTR and went to a shopping mall in Times Square. The MTR is like the London Underground, except its cheap, clean, reliable and very well-organised, like almost everything here.

Thank you Santa

The shopping mall was very impressive, on 9 floors, with similar products grouped by floor. Most shops selling iPads were on floor 7 and all of them were selling them at exactly the same price as they appear in the Hong Kong Apple Store on the web (between £100 and £150 cheaper than the UK). I was tempted, but in the end didn't buy one as I honestly can't justify it; it would be just a nice toy (and anyway, iPad 2 should be coming out soon!).

Location:Hong Kong

Final Destination - Hong Kong

Hong Kong Christmas lights

On our return to our hotel in Hanoi we checked back in, to find we'd been upgraded to a very swish suite - and again our bed had been decorated with a large heart of red rose petals. Again, we took our lives in our hands to go out and look for a restaurant that had been recommended by our guide, the 'Green Tangarine'; we did find it, but it was fully booked - so we revisited the restaurant from two nights earlier, on a rooftop overlooking Hoan Kiem Lake, high above the chaos.

Yesterday morning we were driven to the airport to catch our flight to Hong Kong. We had a short delay due to a plane change but before long we were on our way to our final destination of this trip - Hong Kong. It was only a 90 minute flight and we enjoyed some amazing views of Hong Kong as we came in to land.

Reunion

Hong Kong Airport was a very welcome breath of fresh air (quite literally) after the Vietnamese airports we'd been through and everything looked so clean, friendly and well-organised. Unfortunately, for the first time on this trip, nobody was there to meet us when we arrived, and we had an anxious time trying to contact Laura before Sally spotted her waiting for us in arrivals - about an hour too late and without her phone!

We took the train to Kowloon Station with Scott and Laura, and then a taxi onto the apartment we'll be staying in for the next 10 days. It's in a large block overlooking the waterway between the mainland and Hong Kong island and on the 30th floor, so it does have some impressive views, but is quite tiny - which is the norm here.

Hong Kong waterfront view

In the evening we took a stroll along the waterfront enjoying the spectacular views of the buildings and Christmas lights and then had our first non-asian food for some time. I love asian food and really enjoyed almost every meal in Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam - but the burger I had here did make a very welcome change; the price of a beer didn't though - £6 a pint instead of the £1 I've been used to paying lately!

Location:Hong Kong

Halong Bay by junk

Halong Bay from Titop Island

Today was another day Sally and I have been particularly looking forward to. After seeing Halong Bay on TV(including Top Gear in Vietnam), numerous films, in magazines, and on the internet we've wanted to come and see the hundreds of spectacular limestone rock formations, just off the coast of north-east Vietnam - about 100km from the Chinese border.

Sung Sot Cave

We took an overnight cruise, by traditional junk, amongst the rocks and islands of this UNESCO World Heritage site. We called at a spectacular cave called Sung Sot Cave (Cave of Surprises), which involved climbing 125 steps up a cliff, and Titop Island which has a lookout point at it's peak. I decided to risk a coronary and climb the 465 steps to the top but Sally thought she'd sit it out and relax on the boat. Sally was probably more sensible than me, but there was a lovely view from the top - once I'd wiped the sweat from my eyes.

Lunch was provided on the junk, 8 courses of which most were seafood (Sally doesn't eat seafood!), also dinner (again 8 courses of seafood!). After dinner we sat on the deck, under the full moon chatting to the other guests on the cruise and Sally spotted a spectacular meteor (which I missed), and then retired to our very cosy cabin.

Daybreak in Halong Bay

In the morning I got up early and sat on the deck while the sun rose - at least I assume it rose because it did get light, but low cloud and light drizzle prevented me from actually seeing it.

Breakfast was at 7am sharp and consisted of ham and eggs and hot bread rolls with butter and jam (no fish!!). Afterwards we all disembarked into a rowing boat and were taken through a cave with a very low roof and into an enclosed lagoon beyond, where we watched macaque monkeys playing on the cliffs near the boat.

Before we disembarked for the 4 hour drive back to Hanoi we were fed brunch; another meal of many courses with lots of seafood. Sally loved it.

Macaques

The drive back to Hanoi is not through the most attractive countryside and we both nodded off from time to time. On the outskirts of Hanoi our guide pointed out a woman riding a moped - with a bundle of 8 grilled dogs on the back. Both Sally and I did find this shocking, even though we'd been told that the Vietnamese do eat dog.

Location:Halong Bay, Vietnam

Hanoi, North Vietnam

Not much to say about today really; we haven't really been to see anything as it's a travelling day. We've flown from Saigon in South Vietnam to Hanoi in the North. Hanoi is the capital and administrative centre of Vietnam whereas Saigon is slightly larger, and the the main commercial centre.

We're staying in the old quarter of Hanoi which is quite quaint, with many old buildings and narrow streets. Later on we'll be braving the traffic (which we're told is even worse than Saigon!!) to go out for dinner, and tomorrow we'll be driven to Halong Bay where we'll be sailing on a traditional junk into the bay, and spending the night on board in our own cabin.

Location:Anise Hotel, Hanoi, Vietnam

Good Morning Vietnam!

A bunker were the VCs held meetings

We only had one place to visit today; the Cu Chi Tunnels, about 90 minutes drive from our hotel in Saigon. The tunnels were dug by Viet Cong guerillas in the Vietnam War to hide from the Americans, shelter from bombings and to make surprise attacks. The entire tunnel system is over 200km long and even extended under the American base, so the guerillas were able to make surprise attacks inside the base and then disappear back into the tunnels without the Americans knowing where they came from.

A typical meal for a VC guerilla

It was fascinating to see how resourceful the Viet Cong had been, using the jungle to provide food and weapons and American tyres to make sandals and parachutes to make camouflage capes. We did try some of the food they ate, green leaf tea and cassava with ground peanut, salt and pepper - it was good, but I wouldn't want it every meal.

We saw the bunkers where they slept, ate, had meetings, made weapons (including some very vicious traps) and clothes, and also one they used as a field hospital. Every bunker had at least 2 entrances, one of them into the tunnel system.

B52 bomb crater

The whole site was peppered with large craters made by 500lb bombs dropped by B52 bombers and there was also the remains of an American tank, which was destroyed by a mine made by the guerillas.

After returning to the hotel we spent an hour exploring the centre of Saigon on foot. Crossing roads here is an adventure in itself, even on pedestrian crossings cars and motorbikes will pass in front and behind you, only stopping when they have to, and at the last moment.

Christmas in Saigon

Some people in Vietnam are obviously doing quite well these days judging from the number of expensive fashion shops, including Gucci; but we also walked along streets smelling of sewerage with dead rats in the gutter - so they've a way to go yet.

We went out again later for a meal and then a drink. The city was packed with people, most of them young and dressed up for a night out (it was Saturday) and almost all of them taking photos of each other in various weird poses - what's that all about?

Location:Cu Chi Tunnels, Near Saigon, Vietnam

Goodbye Cambodia

This morning we left our hotel at 10am and were driven to the airport along a road that everybody else in Phnom Penh seemed to be using at the same time. After paying the $25 US each departure tax (what happens if you can't pay?) we took a flight from Phnom Penh International Airport to Saigon - lasting all of 30 minutes.

Street food seller

We were met at the airport by our next guide, Lam, and set off into the city. We were having a half day city tour and it was already after 2pm so, rather than go directly to our hotel we did the tour first. The first thing we noticed is that the traffic is even worse than in Phnom Penh; there are no tuk tuks, but almost everybody has a moped and the road looks like a sea of them. It is slightly more organised in the sense that road users tend to stick to the correct side of the road most of the time, but the sheer numbers are hard to take in. Our guide tells us that when we are in Hanoi it will be even more chaotic!

Thien Hau Temple

The tour started in Chinatown where we visited Thien Hau temple, dedicated to 'The Lady of the Sea'; it was interesting, but smoky (due to the amount of incense burned) and quite dark. Nowhere near as impressive as some of the buddhist temples we've seen.

Pots & Pans section of Binh Tay Market

We then went to Binh Tay market, which is a large wholesale market that where you can buy almost everything. It is truly an amazing site, but after the travelling and the constant pushing through crowds we were starting to get a bit tired.

Tank & Chinook left behind when Americans left Vietnam

This was followed by a stop at the War Remnants Museum which is full of harrowing photos, accounts and remnants of the American phase of the Vietnam War (or the American War as they call it here). It does give a different perspective on the war than I had from growing up with western TV reports, and the suffering inflicted on the people of Vietnam, mainly by the Americans, was awful - but it didn't have quite the same impact on us as S-21 and the killing fields of Phnom Penh. I think this was because the brutality was inflicted in a the context of a war, rather than being inflicted on their own people - but it could be we are just getting 'atrocity fatigue'.

On the way to the hotel we visited Notre Dame Cathedral. By now we were so tired that we were both glad that it was closed for some catholic religious ritual, and the Post Office (which looks like a station) just across the road was interesting, but slightly underwhelming.

Sally at our evening meal

The hotel, on the other hand, is not disappointing, the staff are friendly and helpful and the room is great. We finished the day with an excellent meal at a restaurant just around the corner from the hotel, two high quality courses with drinks for 441,000 Vietnam dong including service (that's just under £15).

Location:Asian Ruby Hotel, Saigon, Vietnam

Phnom Penh and The Killing Fields

We are only in Phnom Penh for 2 nights and one full day before we fly to Vietnam and today our guide took us on full tour.

The Grand Palace

This started in the city at the Grand Palace. This is a compound in the centre of the city with many beautiful buildings and well-manicured gardens where the king of Cambodia lives; it's quite a contrast to the poverty you can see all around in the streets of Phnom Penh.

Sally at The National Museum

Next we visited the National Museum nearby. This is filled with artifacts from many of the ancient temples and other archeological sites around Cambodia, including many from the sites we have already visited in the Angkor area.

S-21Genocide Museum

After a visit to a pagoda (a buddhist temple) on a hill in the city we were taken to the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum, also know as S-21. This was once a High School which was converted to a prison and interrogation centre by the Khmer Rouge. 17000 people, mostly innocent, were held there between 1975 and 1979 to be interrogated, tortured and killed; of these only a handful survived.

Buddhist stupa at the Killing Fields

From there we went 15km out of the city to Choeung Ek Extermination Centre, one of the hundreds of Killing Fields around Cambodia, now kept as a memorial. People were brought here by truck to be killed with metal bars, bamboo clubs, farming tools or razor sharp palm fronds. We saw many mass graves, and sites where adults, children and babies were killed in the most barbaric ways. We also went to the buddhist stupa, containing 5000 human skulls, many shattered or broken, in the centre of the site. It was a chilling and thought-provoking experience. Our guide here, like our guide in Siem Reap, had lost his father at this time - simply for having a university degree.

We finished our tour with a visit to the Russian Market, a huge bustling market selling ever type of Cambodian product including food, jewellery, clothes, DVDs etc.

In the evening we used the same tuk tuk driver to take us to Friends restaurant; a project set up to train street people to cook and work in catering and get them jobs. All the food we've had in Cambodia has been really good, and our meal here was no exception.

As we were finishing our meal, there was very loud crash of thunder and the skies opened. People were waiting in the doorway of the restaurant for the torrential rain to ease, watching the lightening outside. This was the first real rain we've seen in since we've been in Asia, up to now it's been mostly sunny and very hot - over 30C every day. We looked out and we could see our tuk tuk man waiting - so we made a break for it. Fortunately the tuk tuk had roll-down plastic sides, so we arrived at the hotel damp, rather than soaking wet.

Location:Choeung Ek Killing Fields Memorial, Near Phnom Penh, Cambodia