Alive and in Hong Kong

I am not really sure how I made it here, but it happened somehow. I left this morning from Shantou after seeing off all of my friends. Almost all of them hopped onto a bus on the airport and drove of... without me. I guess that is the way it was meant to go.

I made my way on foot to the 39 bus and then downtown to where I was to catch the bus to Hong Kong. They threw me on a shuttle and drove me to the middle of no where and told me to get out and wait. It seemed a little strange, but the Chinese are good on their word once they make it. I waited, and the bus came. All aboard and we were on our way.

This time I remembered to take Gravol before I started the trip. The unfortunate part is that I was sleeping on and off all trip, and by on and off I mean for like 2 second increments every 15 seconds, but I still managed to catch a glimpse of the countryside. It was beautiful. The bus was more modern than most of ours and had a western style bathroom... I guess that is why it pays to book from a 5-Star hotel and not from the bus depot.

We cleared one set of customs which confused me, but that evidently was us leaving China, and then we cleared another set, which was us entering Hong Kong. I must have looked pretty confused because a Cantonese man from British Columbia (hasn't been back in 10 years) offered me some assistance. He told me to wait till the final stop on this bus, and then hop the MTR to the 5th stop, and then I could make it to the hostel on foot.

When we reached the last stop he walked with me to the MTR and then sent me on my way. It was the fifth stop and then an easy walk here. The hostel is in the middle of a seriously hoppin' walking street on the island of Hong Kong, with a great location, but it is kind of sketchy. The rooms are nice, but there are electrical cords all over, and on the front of teh building it says reidential and no hostels allowed. Evidently this place has been around for 20 years.

Since that I have been doing a little exploring, but I am taking the night off. Ever since I broke the cusp of nausea on the way to Xiamen it takes a great deal out of me to travel. I have lots of time to see the city. I am a little choked though that I needed to buy a new power converter, and that my camera was out of power... but my bank card was working again so that is a good sign.

Either way this town is expensive, but I think I will enjoy it here. My one roomate seems nice, and the other I have yet to meet.

Also, it is nice to be out of the Great Firewall, if only briefly. I may not be able to post pictures here since it the internet is very high demand, but I will see what I can do.

Tomorrow I am going to the cemetery.