Rain, rain, and yes ... more rain (don't you just love the rainy season)!

Hi again, we're back in sunny (but now also rainy) Thailand - Bangkok at the moment, to be precise. We can't believe that we are now entering the last month of our stay in South East Asia - it's crazy, as it just feels like it's going so fast! Anyway, we'd best update you on our last few days in Hong Kong, so here goes!

MONDAY 21st May

We actually managed to get ourselves up relatively early this morning - all of our own accord (very impressive stuff, as we can be pretty lazy at times)! We made our first stop the Post Office, it was an interesting activity to do! We had absolutely no idea what we were doing and we think we confused most of the staff there with our bizarre questions and incompetence! The amount of stuff we've managed collect so far is impressive! So we got that sent off and it only took us an hour or two (we kid you not) to get it all sorted out!
Our next stop was the Hong Kong Museum of Art. We ended up spending three or four hours here just sauntering around the exhibition halls. This art museum was what I'd expected the one we visited in Beijing to be like - it was full of 'real' Chinese art, modern and historic. There were very few pieces I disliked and we had a really nice time there. There was a whole exhibition on calligraphy, which is so beautiful and it's amazing that there are so many different styles of script to deal with. The scrolls of landscapes, flowers, animals and everything else under the sun were also very intricate and truly amazing, we wished we would have been able to buy some of them!! There was also an exhibition of gold and jade artifacts. The amazing detail in the jewellery and other objects was just breath-taking, especially some of the jade bowls, which were so thin they were translucent, but then they also had the most intricate relief carving on them as well!
Unfortunately by the time we left the museum, the rain had well and truly set in again and so we decided to not get drenched by going to Kowloon Park. Instead we pottered around, ducking into the shelter of shops here and there (mainly camera shops so that Steve could look at different lenses and flashes and things for his cameras). We stopped for a light dinner and then went to the harbour. We wandered up onto the 'balcony' overlooking the harbour and watched the light and sound show. It's actually in the Guinness Book of World Records, as it's the longest running, permanently run light and sound show. It was quite good, there were quite a few different buildings involved and there were even lasers! It only lasted 15 minutes and was free, so we can't grumble really!
After the show, we went back to the grungy hostel we were staying at. It must be the worst place we've stayed so far. It's really tiny (but everywhere is in Hong Kong), and there is mould almost everywhere in the bathroom, the toilet leaks, it has a really horrid dank, musty smell to the room and beds and there isn't even a window! Having to spend 3 nights there is 3 nights too many!

TUESDAY 22nd May

Today we had loads of things planned, but unfortunately due to the wonderful weather we were scuppered! It absolutely poured with rain for almost the entire day! We set off from the hostel and went straight to the harbour to catch the ferry to Hong Kong Island. As the cloud was still so low it was covering the tops of the buildings, we decided to go to Man Mo Temple first. We got pretty wet making our way there. The Temple was free to get into (we almost fell over with shock at this, as normally in China you have to pay to get in and then pay extra to actually see anything within the place you've gone to)! It was very small and was almost spooky in a way, because it was dark and there was a thick hazy smoke from the burning incense. There were incense everywhere - coils of various sizes were hanging from all over the ceiling, and there were also lots of sticks that had been offered at the different altars as well. The Temple is the oldest in Hong Kong, and is still an active place of worship. We didn't stay very long though, as the Temple was very small.
After leaving a small donation we went to leave, but found that the rain was coming down the hardest it has since we arrived! So we dashed for the shelter of a nearby coffee shop to wait out the downpour. We ended up sitting there for some time and although the rain had only subsided a little, we decided to go out again anyway. We made our way to the Zoological and Botanical gardens. We were absolutely soaked through by the time we arrived and just kept getting wetter as we walked around! It was interesting to walk around and see lots of different plants and animals, but as always it was sad to see animals caged up. As we were so wet we ended up not spending an age at the gardens (luckily it was another free attraction to visit).
We decided that we couldn't have come to Hong Kong without going up Victoria Peak, and so our next stop was the Peak Tram to take us to the top. When we arrived we went straight up to the rooftop viewing point. Unfortunately, although we were above the rain, we were in fact surrounded by thick clouds and so we had a somewhat bleak outlook! It was just completely white! Disappointingly we made our way down again and went outside. We had wanted to go to Victoria Park and then walk down (rather than getting the tram back down), but we could barely see 10 feet in front of us and so didn't want to risk getting lost and also didn't want to get caught in another torrential downpour! So we clambered despondently back onto the tram and went back down.
We made our way back to the ferry, stopping off at a few more camera shops on the way for Steve's benefit! Once back on Kowloon, we wandered for a little while, grabbed some dinner and some breakfast for Wednesday morning and then headed back to the hostel to pack our bags ready for our flight the next day.


WEDNESDAY 23rd May


Our last day (well, half-day) in Hong Kong, and guess what?! It rained again! Well, at least it wasn't blissfully beautiful weather, and Victoria Peak was still shrouded in thick clouds, so it was a fitting end to a very rainy stay! We got ourselves ready and checked out of the hostel and then negotiated the underground (which is amazing - it's really nice and cool down there, it's beautifully clean, and also the edge of the platform has a glass screen along it so you can't fall onto the tracks and there are doors along it which open with the train doors, it's so wicked) and after a bit of a walk we caught the airport shuttle bus. We ended up arriving with loads of time to spare as usual, so we had to wait around before being able to check-in. Once checked-in we had some lunch and then wandered around for a while. We ended up not keeping a very good eye on the time and found that we had less than 10 minutes to get to our gate for boarding! It was also at this point that we realised we were miles away from our gate too! We had to catch the airport train (much like the underground we'd caught earlier) and after catching that we had to run, full pelt down 3 of those flat escalators and then a bit further before we arrived at the flaming gate! To say the least we were a tad out of breath when we finally arrived about 3 minutes late. Thankfully there were still people queuing to board and we weren't the last people to get on the plane either!
It was a pretty good flight, although the take-off and landing were much wobblier than any of the others we've had, which made it rather scary, and as usual, we ended up having a meal, when we thought that we were only going to be provided with refreshments!
We got to Bangkok after about 2.5 hours of flying and were swiftly through immigration, our bags were even some of the first to come out onto the conveyor belt things and so we were out of the airport really quickly. We were going to get the bus into Bangkok town, but it ended up being cheaper to get a taxi. So we got loaded in and as usual, the driver didn't know where to go (although at least this one could see - unlike the one we had last time we arrived in Bangkok), so he phoned the hostel (whilst driving - at least the other guy pulled over to the side of the road and stopped) to ask for directions. We got stuck in traffic and he also got a bit lost, but after another phone call we were at the hostel!

That's about all there is for you to know at the moment! We've got a day of exploring Bangkok and will then be starting our touring. We're not entirely sure how long we want to stay in places, so it'll be a bit whimsical, but it should be fun and adventurous! Hoping everyone is well, still missing you all and don't forget to keep commenting, it's lovely to hear from you!