Venere Travel Blog - It's our business where you sleep!

Hong Kong is often visited by people like me, who just want to get out of it, and are only there because they had to make a connection to somewhere more exciting.

Hong Kong is the least ‘eastern’ place in the east. Walking around the streets you just feel like you are walking in an alternative London. The street names match, the people match but the atmosphere and the buildings feel apocalyptic. However, many of us will have to stay there for up to 12 hours.

To those of you who may feel unimportant and undervalued when walking around gigantic buildings, I would suggest to stay at the airport, as Hong Kong International Airport might just give you a panic attack and doubts about the meaning of your existence (details of what to do at the airport will come shortly). However, if you are thrilled by feeling like a tiny ant in the hands of the towers of Babylon and you are in desperate need of buying a cheap watch from a few hundred different dodgy pushy sellers, here is a step by step guide to what you can do.

Take a train to Kowloon station

After passing passport control, you enter a huge lounge. In the center you will see a desk which sells tickets for the train. I suggest you get a return ticket to Kowloon, which is the second stop. The train is just down the corridor. Spend the train journey admiring big grey tall buildings. You like that, don’t you?

When you get to Kowloon you can get on a free shuttle bus to all the important hotels. Try to go towards any hotel on or around Nathan Road and the Peninsula. The shuttle back should leave every 30 minutes or so, but you can always check at the hotel. At the hotel you can also get a map of the city, and a card with the hotel’s address (most taxi drivers don’t speak English and showing them a card of the hotel is the safest way to get there in one piece).

Nathan Road is the shopping center of Hong Kong. You can buy watches. Wander around, buy yourself something nice and don’t forget to get something nice for your son. Yes, it’s not nice for a young boy to be a forgotten shadow of his parents, while his siblings get presents.

Take a ferry to Hong Kong Island

You can walk to the Star Ferry and take it to Hong Kong Island. The journey is very cheap and can show you all you need to see. Like a piece of gherkin between two blocks of cheese, bread, bacon, tomatoes and whatnot, you can have the amazing experience of feeling like a tiny little insignificant object sandwiched between two sides of huge buildings, neon lights and smog. In Hong Kong Island I guess you can just wander around. Get a feel of the city and all the other tourists who are there. Try not to have them get a feel of you, though.

I wish I could recommend a restaurant for you, but unfortunately I have only bad experience from all the restaurants there. So your guess is as good as mine.

Get back to Hong Kong International Airport

Make sure you get back to the airport in plenty of time as the terminal is huge and can take up to an hour to get to your gate.

For those of you who I managed to convince not to leave the airport and want the alternative, if you go to the Plaza Lounge (check it on the map at the airport) you can buy access to a private area where you get free food, free drinks, shower facilities, gym, Internet access and a 15-minute massage or a 2-hour nap. It’s the perfect place to relax before your next 13-hour flight.

Photo originally posted by thovie333