The flights to and from Greece are simply unfair compare to other European destination that are even few hours further away when coming with a plane from Asia. Two months ago when i booked the ticket back home i had to take a decision, save 100 euros or pass by Hong Kong and stay two days there. I decided to give a chance to Hong Kong, hoping to get an idea of China there.
Its true that on your travels you never know what to expect but nowadays its only happening to me when i visit non western and non commercial cities. As a result, I knew what to expect and I wasn't wrong at all...
Monday, 11th June
The bus from the airport to the city pass by the port. Seeing all the containers was an impressive but sad view. What a consuming world we have created?
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| Containers everywhere.. This photograph is just a fraction of the size of the port |
What was about to make the stay a bit sweeter was Junchen, a Chinese friend i haven't seen for 5 years when we were studying together in Bristol. She came all the way from Beijing and I was so so happy to see her again. She is the first Chinese person I became close friends with and she was the reason to love Chinese people in general.
I arrived in Causeway bay, a central neighborhood in the city and soon we met with Junchen wondering what we could do... We took the boat and went to the other side of the city and after 30 minutes walking, a heavy rain started and we couldn't do anything more that squeezing under a tiny decorative umbrella with 2 more Chinese girls... Long story short, in 5 minutes we got totally wet and start running to find shelter.
Some time later I decided to give some Greek music to Hong Kong... I played five songs only to realize that the majority of people there has forgotten what art means.
We then walked until late around the city and we returned to our tiny hostel room to rest.
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| A little before the heavy storm strike us |
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| Greek notes are about to sound in Hong Kong |
The next day we decided to go to the country side but before we went to the vegetables market to get some food and fruits for later. I was sitting on a bench outside a shopping center waiting for junchen to go check something inside when a western women started talking to me. When i told her I am from Greece she told me "Wow, it must feel so much nicer for you here". It left me stuck for 5 seconds thinking if did she really said that. after 5 seconds, I asked her what can I compare between this and beautiful Greece. Ok people might have money here but we actually live in Greece. She immediately realized that she said something inappropriate if not naive.
Later, we had to go to a suburb near the airport and then take a 30 minutes bus to get to the country side .. The suburb had some enormous blocks for people to live in. Sad sad sad...
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| Want to live here? |
After 30 minutes we arrive in Ngong Ping and i am feeling nice again surrounded by nature...
Another big statue of Buddha can be found there, Tian Tan Buddha..
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| Mystical oriental nature in Ngong Ping |
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| Offering gifts to big Buddha |
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| Sweet Junchen and Tian Tan Buddha on the back |
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| impressive carving |
The day passed smoothly and on the way back we stopped by a westernish super market where i discovered another funny looking fruit I had never seen before, the starfruit. In the cheese section, I found feta cheese and some Kalamata olives between more than a hundred of European products mostly from France, Italy and Germany. No worries though, when they come to Greece they can discover our amazing cuisine.
The night arrived and we found ourselves tired back at the hostel with a flight to catch next morning.
Today, 16th June, it has been already one month I am back to Crete and I want to thank the divine, for giving me the opportunity to experience this great trip. Every place taught me something and i returned a different person.
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