NY to Beijing, via HK

We’ve arrived in Beijing at the clean Leo Courtyard in Qianmen District. We’ve been traveling for over 30 hours from New York to Hong Kong (16 hours), a layover in Hong Kong (10 hours), flight to Beijing (3 hours + 1 hour delay), and then getting from the airport to the hostel (airport shuttle 2 hours and taxi and walking around).

Our time in Hong Kong was too brief but also appropriate given that Scott and I were beyond exhausted; we may have been on zombie level. Plus the sweltering hotness hit us hard, a glimpse into what the following 5 weeks will likely bring, although I’m hoping once we get into Mongolia and Russia, the temperatures will cool down.

After 7 years, my recollection of how to get around Hong Kong Island was poor. As we walked around I remembered places and streets but how to maneuver around them never came back to me. We passed eating spots like Taco Loco, Pizza Express, The Peak Café, The Flying Pan – sites of many brunches and meals and get-togethers. The smell of Central Hong Kong is very unique – a blend of concrete and Shanghai Tang with the faintest hint of body odor. I wish I could’ve served as a better host for Scott but in not knowing quite where to go or how to get around, we hit places I’d never been during my two years of living in HK, like the loop walk at The Peak and the Zoological Park where we saw the most odd-looking monkeys. We spent some time on the loop walk, enjoying the greenery and trees and the shade they provided us. We took photos by picturesque overlooks. We sat on a bench with views of a reservoir and talked about wanting to take a nap. And when we have finished the loop, we walked the steep, steep walk back to the city, because we’d only bought a one-way ticket on the tram. But it worked out perfectly because by walking down from The Peak, that’s how we came across the zoological park and its wonderful inhabitants.

From Queens Road, we stumbled upon the A11 bus stop and within two minutes, an A11 bus pulled up to take us back to the airport. Like I said, it was a brief encounter with a place I lived in for two years, but it was a good reminder.

Most of the flight to Beijing was a sleepy blur, the shuttle ride from the airport to the main bus stating in the city was even more so (Y16). But what woke me up was getting ripped off by a black taxi. For as long as I’ve traveled and haggled, I still get ripped off. But I figure, it’s got to happen sometime (or several times), it might as well happen when we first arrive. I like to think I’ve learned my lesson time and time again, and I knew, as we were getting into the man’s black unmarked taxi, that we were getting scammed, but we did it anyway. Probably because it was past midnight and we had no clue where the hostel was. No excuses though. We should know better, and we will. Starting tomorrow.