12623 km Hong Kong
Door: Erik en Tjeerd
Blijf op de hoogte en volg Erik en Tjeerd
05 Januari 2008 | Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Happy New year,
As you know from our previous message we celebrated the new year in Kathmandu. We had quite some time there, so we made some nice day trips to several interesting sites in and out off the city. We have seen Swayambhunath a.k.a the monkey temple, where Erik's coca cola was almost stolen by an aggressive monkey. Almost, because Erik hang on to it and with a little shaking the monkey dropped to the floor again. He gave an angry look and followed Erik for about 100 meters before finally deciding it was not worth the effort... Believe it or not Erik almost slipped over a banana while walking away, can't get more classic then that!
We also visited Pashupatinath a site where Hindu's cremate their dead at the holy river. So even though we did not get to visit Varanasi, we had a similar sight here. Furthermore we saw Bodhnath the biggest stupa in town and the adjacent monasteries. It's been quite busy days.
For New years eve we stayed in the Thamel (read tourist) area. New year is not really celebrated by the Nepali so it was the best place to be. We spend the night with Florence a French girl we met in Kathmandu and several people from her work. We had a good time!
The next morning we had to get up really early at 6.00 am to catch our flight to Hong Kong, or so we thought! When we arrived at the airport we were told our flight was cancelled. Why we thought, the weather is great it's a good day for flying! We heard some horror stories from other travellers regarding Nepal Airlines they turned out to be very true. Despite the sacrificing of 8 buffalo's on the runway: no joke this seriously happened :) They still did not have the good fortune to get the first plane of 2008 of the ground without problems!
We headed with our travel agent to the Nepal Airlines office. We encountered a horde of angry shouting people. Most surprisingly the people shouting the hardest were the employees of Nepal airlines. After a very long and tiring afternoon we had only 2 options: wait for a week for the next flight or fly to Kuala Lumpur the same evening and transfer there to a Cathay pacific flight.
We did not really like the 2nd option, since transfers with bicycles are tricky. It would not be the first time all the luggage is transferred on the trolleys and the bikes are left somewhere on the airport. Then again we also did not fancy staying one more week in Kathmandu and then not even being sure if the flight would not be cancelled yet again....
So we took a chance and headed of in the evening of the 1st. Luckily it all turned out ok and we arrived after about 10 hours of flying and some waiting (double distance) in Hong Kong around noon on the 2nd.
In Hong Kong we met Wai Kong on the airport who was waiting for us with his MPV. Perfect! We put our bikes in the back and headed of for his house in San Tin in the north of Hong Kong.
The next day we headed out to see Hong Kong island and arrange a Vietnamese visa. Getting the visa was easy. One afternoon later and 100 euro's (!) poorer we have the 2 visa's in our hand. Only for one month unfortunately so we will have to see if we can cross Vietnam that quickly. If not we can still extend it somewhere down the road. In the afternoon we had a look around Wan Chai and Causeway Bay area. In the evening we headed up to "the Peak". From this point you have a magnificent view of the Hong Kong skyline. The view is indeed as grand as expected. We've never seen anything like it, the pictures speak for itself i guess!
On Friday we went into Kowloon with Wai Kong and we had a look at the famous goldfish street and ladies street. We had a good lunch together, delicious food here in Hong Kong, and got a good impression of what Hong Kong is like.
We'd like to thank Wai Kong and his family for the hospitality they have shown us this week. It's great that we had the opportunity to visit and we could not have asked for a better welcome in Hong Kong. Thanks so much!
But as always good things come to an end... Now we are about ready to leave Hong Kong. We hoped to cycle up to Guangzhou but it's not to be. If we do so we can't visit Macao anymore :( Macao, a former Portuguese colony is also a separate region and we can't enter and leave it from China because of our single entry Chinese visa. We therefore decided to take the ferry from Hong Kong to Macao and enter China from Macao. That way we get to see both Hong Kong and Macao. So after a week of taking planes, trains, metro's we are now taking a boat!!
If we still do some cycling you wonder? Sure we covered a whole 20km this week ;) But no worries, lots of ground to cover between here and Singapore. We will be on the road soon enough again, ..
For now, happy new year to you all and no worries we'll keep you all posted in 2008 as well ;)
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa310/erikopdefiets/22%20Hong%20Kong/
As you know from our previous message we celebrated the new year in Kathmandu. We had quite some time there, so we made some nice day trips to several interesting sites in and out off the city. We have seen Swayambhunath a.k.a the monkey temple, where Erik's coca cola was almost stolen by an aggressive monkey. Almost, because Erik hang on to it and with a little shaking the monkey dropped to the floor again. He gave an angry look and followed Erik for about 100 meters before finally deciding it was not worth the effort... Believe it or not Erik almost slipped over a banana while walking away, can't get more classic then that!
We also visited Pashupatinath a site where Hindu's cremate their dead at the holy river. So even though we did not get to visit Varanasi, we had a similar sight here. Furthermore we saw Bodhnath the biggest stupa in town and the adjacent monasteries. It's been quite busy days.
For New years eve we stayed in the Thamel (read tourist) area. New year is not really celebrated by the Nepali so it was the best place to be. We spend the night with Florence a French girl we met in Kathmandu and several people from her work. We had a good time!
The next morning we had to get up really early at 6.00 am to catch our flight to Hong Kong, or so we thought! When we arrived at the airport we were told our flight was cancelled. Why we thought, the weather is great it's a good day for flying! We heard some horror stories from other travellers regarding Nepal Airlines they turned out to be very true. Despite the sacrificing of 8 buffalo's on the runway: no joke this seriously happened :) They still did not have the good fortune to get the first plane of 2008 of the ground without problems!
We headed with our travel agent to the Nepal Airlines office. We encountered a horde of angry shouting people. Most surprisingly the people shouting the hardest were the employees of Nepal airlines. After a very long and tiring afternoon we had only 2 options: wait for a week for the next flight or fly to Kuala Lumpur the same evening and transfer there to a Cathay pacific flight.
We did not really like the 2nd option, since transfers with bicycles are tricky. It would not be the first time all the luggage is transferred on the trolleys and the bikes are left somewhere on the airport. Then again we also did not fancy staying one more week in Kathmandu and then not even being sure if the flight would not be cancelled yet again....
So we took a chance and headed of in the evening of the 1st. Luckily it all turned out ok and we arrived after about 10 hours of flying and some waiting (double distance) in Hong Kong around noon on the 2nd.
In Hong Kong we met Wai Kong on the airport who was waiting for us with his MPV. Perfect! We put our bikes in the back and headed of for his house in San Tin in the north of Hong Kong.
The next day we headed out to see Hong Kong island and arrange a Vietnamese visa. Getting the visa was easy. One afternoon later and 100 euro's (!) poorer we have the 2 visa's in our hand. Only for one month unfortunately so we will have to see if we can cross Vietnam that quickly. If not we can still extend it somewhere down the road. In the afternoon we had a look around Wan Chai and Causeway Bay area. In the evening we headed up to "the Peak". From this point you have a magnificent view of the Hong Kong skyline. The view is indeed as grand as expected. We've never seen anything like it, the pictures speak for itself i guess!
On Friday we went into Kowloon with Wai Kong and we had a look at the famous goldfish street and ladies street. We had a good lunch together, delicious food here in Hong Kong, and got a good impression of what Hong Kong is like.
We'd like to thank Wai Kong and his family for the hospitality they have shown us this week. It's great that we had the opportunity to visit and we could not have asked for a better welcome in Hong Kong. Thanks so much!
But as always good things come to an end... Now we are about ready to leave Hong Kong. We hoped to cycle up to Guangzhou but it's not to be. If we do so we can't visit Macao anymore :( Macao, a former Portuguese colony is also a separate region and we can't enter and leave it from China because of our single entry Chinese visa. We therefore decided to take the ferry from Hong Kong to Macao and enter China from Macao. That way we get to see both Hong Kong and Macao. So after a week of taking planes, trains, metro's we are now taking a boat!!
If we still do some cycling you wonder? Sure we covered a whole 20km this week ;) But no worries, lots of ground to cover between here and Singapore. We will be on the road soon enough again, ..
For now, happy new year to you all and no worries we'll keep you all posted in 2008 as well ;)
http://s197.photobucket.com/albums/aa310/erikopdefiets/22%20Hong%20Kong/
-
05 Januari 2008 - 13:13
Gloria&Gerard:
Good that your second choice worked out so well. The pictures are lovely, as usual. The video of the breathing fish is breath-taking ;)
Happy New Year and love from us and the family. -
05 Januari 2008 - 13:30
Houthuyse:
Groeten aan Hong-Kong-Foei ! -
05 Januari 2008 - 14:20
Peter S.:
Neem aan dat jullie nu allebei een mooi klokkie aan jullie pols hebben (Rolex, IWC). Casino in Macau kan ik aanraden. Heb daar ooit iemand 100k gulden in een potje roulette zien verliezen. De volgende beurt zette hij nog eens hetzelfde bedrag in. Te bizar. -
05 Januari 2008 - 14:32
Schuur:
Alsnog een fantastisch nieuw jaar gewenst! En goede reis naar Vietnam! Ben nu al benieuwd naar jullie verdere ervaringen! -
05 Januari 2008 - 23:23
Sandra&Paul:
De beste wensen voor 2008! -
06 Januari 2008 - 11:02
Jon En Jeroen:
Hoi Erik en Tjeerd
Fantastisch om zo'n reis te maken.
"Wie zijn Jon en Jeroen nu weer" zie ik jullie denken.
Wij hebben een B & B in Hilversum en hebben zojuist de ouders van Tjeerd te logeren gehad. Pa was erg trots en gaf ons het adres van jullie website.
Echt leuk om jullie site te lezen.
Wij zijn zelf net terug uit Nieuw Zeeland en weten hoe leuk het is om berichtjes uit Nederland te ontvangen.
Heel veel plezier, en geniet met volle teugen.
Hartelijke groeten,
Jon en Jeroen
www.benbhilversum.nl (kun je zien waar de ouders van Tjeerd hebben geslapen)
-
06 Januari 2008 - 16:16
Maarten En Kristina:
Ha heren,
Succes in het casino in Macao. Oh, vergeet jullie anti smogmondkapjes niet voor in China.
-
06 Januari 2008 - 17:39
Daphne:
Hey Bruder!
jij een Tjeerd ook een heel gelukkig nieuwjaar. Raar dat die nepalezen dat niet vieren... Hier rustig geweest, met Kaar & Jack en twee andere vrienden gevierd, klein maar fijn.
Begrijp dat jullie een hele trip hebben gehad vanaf nepal. Wat een verhaal van die buffalo's! Anyhow, nu weer op de route. Grappig, want in maart vliegt Hans, de broer van Olivier naar Thailand, dan zitten jullie daar mogelijk ook.
Heel veel plezier nog, en als je in Chiang Mai, Thailand bent, make sure dat je dan naar de zondagsmarkt gaat. En Gap's House is daar een goed en goedkoop Guesthouse!
Vietnam zal lekker chaos worden, daar rijden honderden brommetjes op straat, doe voorzichtig dus! Ik zie jullie graag heelhuids terug...
xx daf -
06 Januari 2008 - 17:48
Daphne:
ieuww! dat filmpje van die vis!
leuk die finding nemo-visjes!
ik vind het altijd errug leuk om de foto's te bekijken. BTW, je haar is weer in standaard terug he :-) Ga je niet meer gemillimeterd door het leven? Of komt er binnenkort weer een scheerbeurt?
kus uit Rotjeknorrr -
06 Januari 2008 - 21:26
Maaike:
Angry monkeys? Je hebt er toch wel een aantal voor mij in je rugzak meegenomen?
x -
06 Januari 2008 - 21:59
Rune + Family:
Hi guys (especially Erik)! Keep up the good spirit and photographing. Looking forward to see how/where the fairytale ends. Do you cycle too, sometimes? Careful, Singapore and nearby states are humid and HOT!!! Bye the way, got another son, did I tell you?
Rune -
07 Januari 2008 - 08:12
Karin:
Happy New Year for you too!!!!!
In Macao kun je wel heel goed gokken, dus misschien nog effe je geld verdubbelen.... Is mij met de oudejaarsloterij niet gelukt..
-
07 Januari 2008 - 09:12
Marielle:
Hey mupke,
Ben blij te horen dat je het nog steeds zo goed naar je zin hebt. Heb nu al zin om alle verhalen live te horen + bijbehorende foto's!
Jullie ook nog een gelukkig en gezond 2008 en ik hoop jullie zeker weer te zien dit jaar!
Dikke kus en knuffel
Marielle -
07 Januari 2008 - 09:27
Remo:
Erik en Tjeerd,
happy New Year guys and keep enjoying your fantastic adventure in 2008 as well. -
07 Januari 2008 - 17:01
De Beltman Familie:
Wat een geweldige reis, geniet ervan.Al het goede en gezondheid gewenst voor jullie beiden. Liefs en groetjes -
08 Januari 2008 - 16:38
Henk En Truus:
Als eerste nogmaals de beste wensen voor een goed en sportief 2008. Dank voor de twee leuke kaarten die we mochten ontvangen van jullie, heel leuk, om eens een kaart van jullie te krijgen. Onze Oud en Nieuw was leuk, drank, dans,muziek en vuurwerk. Al was het dan geen Nepal. Ook de foto's zijn weer leuk en zeker die pratende vis, de stakker. Wat een gedoe zeg om te komen waar je wil, maar heel fijn dat de fietsen er ook zijn. Geniet van China en rij veilig. Tot het volgende bulletin, groeten van ons.
-
09 Januari 2008 - 00:43
Hercules:
Wel met stokjes eten!
-
13 Januari 2008 - 19:44
Christian:
Hi Erik, we zijn verhuisd en ik heb nu dus weer gelegenheid om je berichten te lezen. Jullie hebben waarschijnlijk geen tijd voor Yangshuo? Ben benieuwd hoe snel je chinees vooruit gaat...
Reageer op dit reisverslag
Je kunt nu ook Smileys gebruiken. Via de toolbar, toetsenbord of door eerst : te typen en dan een woord bijvoorbeeld :smiley
