Tag Archives: hong kong

Wyles Walkabout

‘Doing the needful’

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Time came to say goodbye to China and it was a quick, clean and efficient transfer on the metro airport express to Hong Kong airport. The flight wasn’t until about 17:00 but following advice issued by the airlines because of Typhoon Mangkhut and expecting long queues and chaos at the airport, I arrived at about 12:00 hrs. The airport was quiet and a ‘normal’ amount of busy. Everything was operating as normal. Was able to drop off the bag and go and explore and have some food. Time passed quickly soon got through security and passport control, had a few samples in duty free and got to the gate where the plane was waiting.

The flight was only just over 5hrs long, so it wasn’t really cost effective or worth upgrading to business class for this flight. If it was in excess of 10hrs, then yes I would have. Still, dinner was served and alcoholic drinks included free of charge and managed to watch two films on the flight too.

Arrived in Delhi, collected my bag and found an ATM to get some Rupees. There was a driver waiting for me to transfer me to the hotel I had booked, Claridges. The transfer only cost about £8 through a company called getyourguide.com. If I had booked the transfer through the hotel, it would have cost me £30, albeit in a luxury car, not a beat up Suzuki Swift. It was about a 30-40 min transfer and the traffic was actually ok. I was expecting utter chaos and bedlam, similar to Morocco and Egypt but there seemed to be order, not dissimilar to England.

Checked into the hotel about 22.30 and pretty much went straight to sleep as am still on Chinese time (+2.5hrs from India). Next day just spent it at the hotel enjoying the service and facilities available. For dinner I had perhaps one of the tastiest meals have eaten in a long time, it was a butter chicken tikka murgh. Although the food I have eaten in Morocco, Egypt and China was good, this seemed to tickle every taste bud and was on another taste level. Afterwards headed to the Aura Bar and had a couple of ‘Old Fashioned’ cocktails which were an absolute treat, if a little expensive.

It was an early start next morning as had booked a tour to Agra and the Taj Mahal. Given the amount I am travelling in India, it would be wrong to come here and not visit the Taj Mahal. This would normally go via train for a couple of hours, but there is some festival going on and all trains are full and delayed. So instead, a driver picked me up (again in a beat up Suzuki Swift) and we drove the 3hrs to Agra where I met a local guide, Deepu. The roads reminded me very much of English motorways, and the M6 around Birmingham in particular. He showed me around the Taj Mahal and was a very informative guide as well as taking a few pictures for me.

The Taj Mahal is amazing and does not disappoint, even when the weather is a little overcast. It lived up to all expectations and even with thousands of visitors there, it did not feel crowded or rushed. Can certainly see why it is one of the 7 wonders of the world. Everything at the Taj Mahal is in perfect symmetry, even some of the pigeons were in equal numbers on each side.

After about 3hrs, time to move on to Agra Fort. I wasn’t expecting much from here but it overdelivered. It is a fort, a palace, a prison, and a garden in one.

After the tour, headed to a local restaurant for a late lunch / early tea and then it was back in the car for the 3hr drive back to Claridges in Delhi.

Explored the local area yesterday, Lodi Park, usually where a lot of married couples pose for photographs but the heavens had opened and I got drenched. Hoping the camera hasn’t got too wet. So came back to the hotel and had a lazy day in the spa and bath.

Checking out today and moving to a hotel in Karol Bagh district which is where I join an overland tour with Dragoman. Have used Dragoman before, 10 years ago when I travelled Nairobi to Victoria Falls. Hoping it will be as good as some of the other tours I have done and am looking forward to it.

Wyles Walkabout

It felt right turning left

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Was glad to get to the airport except for the faff of going through security at Cairo as they give you contradictory information, but you just roll with it. There was a big queue for the check in for the flight to Abu Dhabi but that was for the economy section. I had upgraded my flight so checked in on the no queue business class counter. The flights were Cairo to Abu Dhabi and Abu Dhabi to Hong Kong and I was checked in all the way through so I didn’t have to waste time in Abu Dhabi finding my bags and checking in again which was quite a releif.

After immigration there is another security checkpoint and here I have a lighter in my hand luggage confiscated. Seems odd they confiscate it here, when I have flown London to Marrakech, Casablanca to Cairo, Cairo to Sharm and Sharm to Cairo with it in my hand luggage without any issues. Personally I just think the fat sweaty oaf at security wanted to smoke and needed a light. If I had known, I would have put it in my hold luggage, but it’s only a lighter so no big issue.

The business class lounge was shared by several airlines and was not Etihad specific, but it wasn’t that impressive. I was beginning to regret booking it but at least it kept the riff raff away. Once on board however, I knew I made the right choice. Big comfy seat, plenty of leg room, decent in flight entertainment and good food, including ice cream.

At Abu Dhabi, have about 2hrs before the next flight leaves so just enough time to check into the business class lounge and have a drink, all gratis (well, paid for up front in the price). This lounge looks like what airlines advertise as business class, proper a la carte menu, snacks, free bar, WiFi, massages, showers, WiFi, comfy seating, and a whole load more. This was great. Sadly only had limited time as needed to get to the gate as the pane was boarding. Abu Dhabi is a surprisingly large airport. Boarding the plane the air stewardesses are greeting all the passengers and directing them towards the back of the plane but when it was my turn I turned left into business class, with oversized seats that convert to flat beds, large screen infotainment screens per seat, welcome drinks, hot towels, amenity kits, blanket, pillows, etc. and minimum of 3 windows per outer isle seat! It was a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, not the Airbus A380 I was hoping for, but still exceptionally comfortable.

Had an aperitif then a 3 course dinner which was so much better than the food in economy, plus had proper cutler, glasssware etc.

Flying over India at night, above the clouds, I saw spectacular lightning which must have lasted about an hour lighting up the night sky. Was grateful we were flying above it and not through it. It was getting late so positioned the seat into sleep mode and actually had a good few hours sleep.

When I woke up, we had about an hour and half before we were scheduled to land in Hong Kong so just enough time for breakfast and a freshen up before landing.

So it’s the first time I’ve been to Hong Kong, wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. Collected my bag and then bought an Octopus card (the same thing as an Oyster card in London) and got the underground to Central and then to Jordan station. My hotel was about a 5 min walk from the underground station but what I hadn’t taken into account was the volume of people and the humidity. It took a little longer to walk than 5 mins but not much more and by the time I reached my hotel (Nathan Hotel on Nathan Road) I was already drenched and could not wait to check in. Very nice lady on reception upgraded my room to one on 11th floor and it is really, really nice. I think because of the jet lag and time difference, despite having a decent sleep on the airplane, I was so tired that I showered and then went to sleep. When I woke up, it was 11.30am (Hong Kong time / 04.30 UK time) and it was overcast and raining. I haven’t seen or felt rain since May!

So the first day I wanted to go to Hong Kong Island but it’s actually raining quite hard and Victoria Peak is shrouded in cloud, so thought I’ve give that a miss and explore locally (Kowloon) instead. Kowloon Park is just a short walk from the hotel, covers 13 acres, has a lake and an aviary. It also has the Hong Kong heritage museum so I called in there to keep out of the rain, but also to escape the humidity.

I was feeling a bit peculiar, probably because of dehydration and not having eaten anything in a day, so needed to find some food. The smells as you walk passed some of the restaurants are fabulous, ginger, garlic, lemongrass, hot meat, and some are utterly stomach churning, usually the drains. But I find somewhere and have some beef noodles with pepper. Thought it best to avoid the ‘black eggs’ or the ‘pork bag’ just in case.

Soon I find myself down on the waterfront where the Star Ferry departs to Hong Kong island. Here there are plenty of shops, designer stores, shopping malls etc. and then I find ‘Garden of the Stars’ which is similar to Hollywood’s walk of fame where they have hand prints of some of China’s famous movie stars. Obviously there is a statue of Bruce Lee.

Next day try and get up early to head over to Hong Kong island. Caught the metro from Jordan to Central and then it was a short walk to The Peak Tram which takes just under 10mins to cover the 0.8mile distance, rising to nearly 400m above sea level.

Frustratingly had to queue for over an hour to get the ticket but I would have sooner done that, than walked it. Once at the top the ticket also granted access to the Sky Terrace where you can get great views, weather permitting, over Hong Kong Bay.

Later in the afternoon, I did something I always enjoy doing when I visit somewhere that has them, is go on one of those hop on, hop off, open topped tour buses that deliver an audio commentary in various language options as you go. The ticket covered 3 routes and includes return Star Ferry crossings, so I did the green route yesterday which covered areas such as Aberdeen and Stanley on Hong Kong island and then caught the ferry back to Kowloon at sunset.

Today I did the red route which covered the business and shopping districts and the blue route which was around the waterfront and Kowloon.

Am feeling pretty hungry right now so about to head out and see what the dinner options are. The hotel has a wide ranging menu but I just don’t fancy ‘poached loofah’ or ‘goose gizzards’.