hong dumb

what comes to mind when you think of hong kong?

well, honestly, i was so caught up in the beauty that was thailand that i didnt even think for a second what was coming in the nicely wrapped package that is hong kong.

shame on me, shame on me.

as we took the bus in to the city from the airport you would have thought i was a damn cave man discovering a new civilization. lights, people, commotion, crowds-- i just wasnt prepared. not at all really. what happened to being on small islands and staying in a hut? where were the roadside stands with pleasant people offering a cheap plate of pad thai?

all the sudden western attractions were the norm and it was damn near impossible to find a plate of asian food. but wait, we are in HONG KONG, right? i mean there is a starbucks, mcdonalds, 7-11 and mrs fields cookie shop on every corner. come on!

(and the beer is really awful)

this place is, for the most part, the red-headed step child of china-- devoid of any true history, charm or identity. now, that is probably an awfully harsh statement-- i understand. but for some reason, that's just the way this place seems to me. the british let go of any control in 1997 and now hong kong just sort of remains part of china-- but not really. they have a seperate governmental system (locals here will tell you they hate communism) but yet are still most closely identified with the chinese. go figure.

you know that when you look in the hong kong guidebook for local attractions and it tells you that hong kong houses the worlds largest escalator you are in big trouble. typically there is some sort of genuine attraction-- but not here. there is one hell of a financial district though. score.

i am so bitter at the thought of being out of thailand that i still demand on saying hello and thank you in thai. haha, its great though. one lady responded yesterday evening and that made my night.

so yeah, this place isnt too high on my list of "must see" attractions, but thats ok. i feel like that is part of this whole adventure-- part of what truly makes this trip an "experience" and not just a "trip." so i can totally live with that.

we laugh about it all though really. i drink a starbucks cup of coffee for 3 dollars to remind me of those great coffee mornings in thailand and its all good.

omri is in town now which is great. so now there are three blogs to check (bryansack.blogspot.com, omribloch.blogspot.com) and keep up with our progress.

we leave to get out of this lovely place on 14 march. from there we are debating on two different routes: one through basically the eastern half of china, the other delving deeper in to the "road less traveled" in the western half from yunnan to tibet. the only real inhibiting factor for the tibetan exploration is cost and time. more to come on that later.