Jun 27, 2017 - Hong Kong -UPDATE NOTES

Hi All, New York, New York, visited, seen and done, its a funny place if you accept that most of the natives are suffering eyesight problems and cannot see Australians either in their place of business or walking down the footpath and their ability to hear and understand the Queens Australian makes communication at time difficult. We were lucky to have enjoyed fantastic weather here which allowed us to visit the Empire State Building, Rockefeller Centre, the 9/11 memorial and museum which was a very touching and very humbling experience. We...

Jun 27, 2017 - Jingshan Park

First thing today - to get my glasses fixed. We walked to the eye hospital and found a spectacles shop in the vicinity. They fixed my glasses - yay! We walked on to Wangfujing Street and it was amazing. No resemblance whatsoever to the Wangfujing Street of 1991. Now it is an ultra modern, pedestrian only, ancy-fancy shopping area. First shop we went into was a book store. 8 floors of books. People sitting in the aisles, on the floor, reading books - lots of people - everywhere - for 8 floors! The next shop we went into - next door - was...

Jun 27, 2017 - Macau

Years ago, I made a trip to Hong Kong and had planned a day-trip to Macau. But, I got a little confused, showed up at 6:30 p.m. for a 6:30 a.m. flight from LAX. The airline was nice enough to let me pay a crazy change fee and go the next day. And since I had been dropped at the airport, it meant an expensive night at a hotel. Well, the short version is a lost the window to visit Macau. I didn't mind too much because I had always heard Macau was a rather dirty and uneventful place. Nevertheless, I convinced my family it was worth a visit...

Jun 26, 2017 - Hong Kong

Dad loves getting a room on the ship with a balcony, though he never actually goes out on it. Yea, I got nothing. Still, as we pulled into Hong Kong harbor, I hung out on the balcony watching the city playing-hide-and-go-seek with us behind the wall of mist. Hong Kong is truly a beautiful city. I have been here once before, but had forgotten how enchanting the city is. our entourage wasn't in a hurry to get off the boat. We had a nice breakfast, relaxed a little, and waited our turn. Karl kept checking flight status, still unsure of...

Jun 26, 2017 - The Great Wall of China and the bus crash

We were picked up in the hotel lobby at 6.40am. We drove around town picking up our other passengers. First stop of the tour - a jade factory. We bought a carved jade ball that we had admired on our trip here in 1991, but had not been able to afford then. It was a long wait. Then we drove to the Ming Tombs. The drive there was through beautiful mountains - jagged mountains tops, steep slopes coved in trees. The tomb we went to was the Ding Ling Tomb (seriously that was its name). It was a 35 minute walk up a steep hill from the bus. Then...

Jun 25, 2017 - Loose in Beijing

Huge selection of food at breakfast today. I went Asian - bowl of noodles, fresh fruit, then steamed pork buns. Gordon went Western - waffles, banana bread, pain-au-chocolate, Danish pastries and coffee. We walked down to Tiananmen Square - about two and a half kilometres away. There was a lot of security to go here. Security to even go near the area. Then you go underground and have to choose where you want to go. Eg Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Mao’s Mausoleum, National Museum, and about 3 other options. We chose the National...

Jun 24, 2017 - Beijing at last

We arrived safely and our driver was waiting for us. Today was about recovering from jet lag and finding our bearings in Beijing. The morning was spent getting into our room. We spent the whole afternoon finding our way to Ritan Park....

Jun 23, 2017 - Flight to Beijing

Flight was fairly straightforward. With one hilarious exception. This is what happened : During dinner, I accidentally dropped my PLASTIC fork. The seats were so tight that I could not reach down to pick it up. So I asked for another fork. That is when the amazing part happened. They said they would bring another one when they had finished giving out the meals. Fair enough. I asked again later. They said they would bring another one when they had finished packing up after dinner. Curious. They then tried to take my meal. I said I couldn't...

Jun 11, 2017 - The Markets!!!!!!!

We took our lives in our hands and boarded a double decker bus to Stanley market. Sitting upstairs at the front is very scary when you have a lunatic driver. The road is very narrow in places and when you meet another big bus you hold your breath. We half expected to end up in this cemetery on the side of the hill! It's very humid and 34deg so we walked slowly around the market and bought some gifts, then made our way back - being gluttons for punishment we again sat up at the front on the bus. It was obviously washing day as most people...

Jun 10, 2017 - Honkers

A day trip to Macau was today's adventure. We took the turbojet over which takes an hour, then boarded one of the many free buses put on by all the casinos in Macau. Our intention was to go to the magic show at Studio City. All the casinos are huge and flamboyant The magic show is run 3 times a day and there are 3 magicians doing their thing. So the first 2 are about 15 minutes and the 3rd is very flashy, lots of laser lights etc. and about 30 to 40 minutes.. A very good show and very clever illusionists. No cameras allowed in the shows...

Jun 10, 2017 - Hong Kong - 20 Years On

Over the years we have been lucky enough to have enjoyed stopping at Hong Kong on our various journeys. HK was clean, polite, organised and then across the water, Kowloon was chaotic and always a bit poorer looking. . Well it is almost 20 years to the day (Monday, 30 June 1997 since the UK handed back Honk Kong, to China at the end of the lease. Now both sides look the same, if not worse. . Gone is the mystical way the hordes of pedestrians managed to travel the crowed footpaths without bumping into each other. Now they push and shove with...

Jun 6, 2017 - Swayambhunath and departing Nepal

Our last two nights in Nepal were spent at the Kathmandu Eco Hotel, a bit of luxury in the middle of Thamel. Costing 35000 rupee including breakfast per night. Our room `Mandala` included prayer wheels,　ornately hand painted walls and ceiling, parquetry floor, A/C and a bath tub with a shower with hot water. One night we ate ate the Yak restaurant and again had Tibetan hot millet beer but it wasn`t as good as the beer in Pokhara. On our last day we visited the Swayambhunath stupa, or monkey temple. This is a large complex sited on the top...