Asolutely great report Fiona - I loved Hong Kong and I cannot wait for the next installment...

thanks Shirley!

Day2
We decided to go to Lantau Island today. This has the largest bronze Buddha in Asia. We took the MTR from just outside our hotel ( Tin Hau) and got off at Central Station. Its only a short walk from here to Pier 6at the outlying islands ferry station. The ferry took 45 minutes. Then it was a bus for a very winding steep journey up to Po Lin Monastery. The Buddha sits on top of a hill with a climb of about 260 steps to reach him. The ticket you buy to climb the steps also pays for a vegetarian meal at the monastery. The meal was surprisingly good. We planned to get a bus to Tai O fishing village but we would have had a 45 min wait so we hopped on a taxi. Tai O is like stepping back in time. It is very quiet with lots of houses on stilts and narrow pathways. If you want to buy fish, you won't get fresher- they were still swimming. In some cases they were kept on the fishing boats and you just pointed out which one you wanted. Our guide book recommended lunch there instead of the monastery but I don't really think I would have fancied it there. A walk through the market means an assault on your sense of smell- lots of dried fish and animal body parts lying out in the heat to dry and covered in flies! I stood for a while on the little bridge watching the fish in the river and appreciating the peace. I would definitely recommend a visit to the village if you go to Po Lin.
Lantau is where the airport is situated and is also where Disney land is. It is a very large island though and we saw no sign of Mickey and co! We decided to take a bus to the other side of the island to get the MTR back.
Day2 to be continued.

Great to read your report Fiona. Keep them coming, it'll get me in the mood for HK in September.

Dawn

You'll love HK!
day 2 continued

It was still early enough so we decided to go to Hong Kong Park. It is set on a hillside and right in the middle of the mayhem of the city. If you go there, you get off at Admiralty MTR. There is loads to do there and we only scratched the surface of it. It has peaceful lakes and waterfalls and quite a bit of interesting architecture. There is the Museum of Teaware which is apparently well worth the visit but I was flagging by this time.( I had been off work for 2 weeks beforehand with a vertigo type virus and was still suffering at times.) We really went there as I wanted to see the aviary. This replicates a tropical rainforest habitat and has tree high walkways. We followed the numerous signposts up to the very top of the park( quite a steep climb) only to find when we got there that it was closed due to bird flu precautions. I don't swear often but I went through my full repertoire on the steep climb down- why on earth publicise the damned thing all the way up and not bother telling everyone it is closed?
Hong Kong is obsessed with bird flu. There are signs all over the place with what to look out for. Everything seems to get sprayed- including the inside of taxis. Lots of people wear masks as well.
That evening we had dinner at Cafe Deco which is on Victoria Peak. Husband had emailed them a few weeks before hand to book a window seat. I'm sure we got the best table there. The view was stunning. We have been to the peak before during the day and that is just as good! You reach the top by tram and that is interesting. It is so steep that, as you ascend, you would think the buildings were actually tilting. Cafe Deco gets some mixed reviews but I have to say that was one of our best dinners on holiday. We had a mixture of starters- beef carpaccio, duck spring rolls, coconut coated prawns and pomelo salad( if you haven't tried this salad before, give it a go!). We then had beef rendang and 5 spice duck with celeriac and pineapple mash.
After that we were going to try a few bars at the mid levels escalator- lots on Soho and Boho but unfortunately I wasn't up for walking so we went back to our hotel for a drink. Lovely night.

Day 3
Today we decided to follow one of the Lonely Planets recommended walks. ( We used both this and AA guides). This walk takes in the markets. We went over onto Kowloon, getting off at Prince Edward stop and we had a 10 minute walk to the bird market. Of course I was convinced that it would be shut due to birdflu but thankfully it wasn't. What a fascinating place. All types of birds and it seemed that the smaller they were, the better. Local people take their birds there to show them off. The best singers are the most expensive. In the market are bags of live grasshoppers which are fed to the birds using chopsticks. They also get fed honey( and I'm assuming not by chopsticks! ) to help their singing. The birds are actually taken for walks and are taken round the other cages so that they can hear others singing. There are competitions to see who has the best singer.
From there it is a minute to the flower market. After that you walk down Nathan Road which is one of the most densely populated places in the world. We walked through Ladies Market, but most of the stalls were still being set up as it is most popular in the evening. I needed a bit of a rest then so we decided to stop somewhere for some fruit juice. However, this proved more difficult than we had imagined as I was put off so many places by the smells coming from them. ( They do love eating every organ and part of an animal!) Found one eventually! We then went on to the Jade market. I don't really fancy buying from there as I think you have to know what to look for.
Finally we went to Tin Hau temple- big place with 3 separate places to worship. I succumbed to the humidity then and we jumped into a taxi and went to the star ferry terminal. We went across to HK Island first class. This costs a lot- 30p!!
The Star Ferry is a "must do". Just outside the terminal on the Island side is the City Hall. If you go to HK you absolutely have to go there for lunch! There are several places to eat there but the one which is the "must" is Maxims. ( Be aware that there are 2 Maxims and the one you want is on the top floor). We got there at about 1pm. Maxims is massive but we still had to wait for a table. You get a ticket and we waited about 15minutes. You go there for dim sum. Trolleys are pushed around with bamboo baskets containing all manner of dim sum and you choose what you fancy. (There are few restaurants now which do this- you WILL get dim sum but have to order it from a menu.) Of course we ate far too much!
To be continued

Day 3 continued
After lunch we decided to go on a tram ride. For $2 you can travel from one end of HK to the other. When the tram lines first came into being the hawkers found they were just the right size for wheeling their carts along. A law had to be passed banning them. HK has the only double decker tram fleet in the world. We got off at Causeway Bay to get a taxi to the War Cemetery next to the Happy Valley Race Course. My great uncle is buried there and we put flowers down on his grave.
That night we went to view the Light Show at the harbour. This was quite spectacular. For about 15- 20 minutes from 8pm many buildings have laser lights which sweep through the sky. Also the buildings themselves are lit up with amazing light sequences. Have a look here.
We viewed this from the Avenue of Stars( the Chinese version of the one in Hollywood) and then had a look at the famous names. We only recognised a couple but the Chinese tourists were going daft! We had a drink at a bar on the promenade and then went on to Peking Garden restaurant at Star House which was close by. It was full of noisy locals. Eating in Hong Kong is a very sociable affair. You are not meant to order dishes just for yourself- they are for sharing. Using your chopsticks, you should take the food closest to you on each plate. You are expected to leave a messy table and if your mobile rings ALWAYS answer it! Along with your meal you are expected to drink copious amounts of tea. If you empty your cup it will always be refilled for you- so if you've had enough, leave some! This was another good choice of restaurant. After that, we had planned to have a drink at Felix Bar at the top of the Peninsula hotel. This is supposedly a "must do" for the view. However, I found the bar to be very pokey and overcrowded and we waited 10 minutes after ordering drinks that you needed a second mortgage for. We gave up and left! I'm glad we did as we ended up back at our own hotel bar to find it full of locals having a dance and taking part in karaoke. We had no idea which songs they were singing although everyone else did. They had a whale of a time and so did we.

Day 4
We got up early and went over to Victoria Park to watch the tai chi. In addition to this we saw sword and fan dances and aerobics and line dancing. Seeing 80 year olds doing step sequences to "hey Mickey" was really funny( who sang that, by the way?). We then took a tram to do another Lonely Planet walk taking in ginseng and dried fish shops and leading on to antique shops and markets. However, unfortunately I had begun to feel really unwell and we ended up taking a taxi back to the hotel where I had to go back to my bed for a while. Later on in the afternoon when I was feeling better we took the star ferry over to Kowloon and did a short walk there.
Then it was time to pack and head off to the airport for our journey to Saigon!

Fiona I loved your HK report - brought many good memeories back to me, the skyline is fantastic - I bet the light show was amazing, I can't wait for your Saigon report ....

Hi Fiona, keep 'em coming can't wait till I hear about vietnam as looking at it for next year!

Thx
Arl

thanks you two. Am working on the Vietnam part now. Here's the first part

Saigon
I was prepared for the worst after hearing lots of horror stories about clearing immigration but it was actually quite quick. This may have been due to the fact we arrived about 10pm. ( Flew with United by the way). There is a taxi desk in arrivals where you can get a fixed price car rather than take your chances outside. I found the ATM as you can't take dong into the country. Our journey was to take 20-25 minutes and cost £3 for a 4x4. We were soon glad of the big car as we hit the road. I am sure that if I said the word Saigon to someone who had been and asked them to say the next thing that came into their head it would be....... Anyone care to try it out???

Yes- it's motorbikes! I have never seen so many in my life. We had been to Bali in the summer and the world and its dog seemed to have one there but that was nothing compared to Saigon. There seemed to be thousands on the same road as us. All seemed to be quite happy to cut up the car. I mean- 4x4 v motorbike, which is more likely to come off worse?? Try telling that to the biker because he doesn't seem to have the same answer. I was a nervous wreck by the time we arrived at our hotel- but then that experience was going to pale into insignificance compared with the terrors of being a pedestrian crossing the road. That joy awaited me the next day!

On tenterhooks now, the gibbering has started more, more

Well Arl- I can't hope to compete with your report!

We had spent some time picking our hotel- there were a few possibilities but so many of them also got some negative reviews. I have to say that for some it was street noise and I knew where they were coming from! We picked the Marriott Renaissance Riverside eventually and we were not disappointed. This turned out to be one of the best I have ever stayed at( if not THE best!). Their website is here. We splashed out on a deluxe riverview room on the club floor. It was a huge room- a massive bed which needed 5 pillows, loads of storage, a two seater, armchair and table, minibar, sat tv etc. The bathroom had the most toiletries I have ever seen. We spent some time just looking out the window of our 19th floor room onto the river below with its ferry crossing. Every 5 minutes it would arrive and offload what looked like 1000 motorbikes! I then insisted to husband that we unpack EVERYTHING and not just what he thought we would need. We had tried that in Hong Kong and all that meant was that I would find umpteen things I had to have out of the suitcases when we were getting ready and he would spent his time swearing as he tried to find them ! After that we went for a drink at the Atrium bar. You obviously could look down on it from our floor and it looked quite spectacular. It was quiet there. Husband remarked on how much the waitress reminded him of the girl in The Quiet American. And then her sisters seemed to turn up as well. ( Why is it that they are all so slim- it's not fair!) . After that it was time for bed.

Day 5
Breakfast in the Executive Club lounge. Everything you could think of and some more! Some people took the free breakfast to extremes though. Every morning this older Japanese man would have his breakfast and then wonder over with 2 tupperware containers and procede to fill them to the brim. He even had the cheek to ask for a carrier bag from the staff!
We went to the concierge to ask directions for the Sinh Cafe. This is where you book all your excursions. Don't book them at your hotel as there is a huge mark up. Also, we had been given the tip that many taxi drivers will just drive you to other sinh cafes- same name but not the good company of the original. Drivers obviously are given commission for this. Our helpful concierge pointed it out on a map and told us it would take about 10 minutes walk. Well the Vietnamese must be a hardy lot. We decided to take a taxi as we didnt fancy the walk in 95 degrees of heat. A 15 minute journey later took us to the cafe! What a city Saigon is- I have never experienced another like it. It is just so different. Women do go about dressed in traditional au dai costumes of long flowing tops over trousers, with very high slits. Young girls wear white, older unmarried ones can wear pastels and married can wear bolder colours. On their head they wear a conical palm hat called a non bai tho.
We booked 2 day excursions. One was to the Cu Chi tunnels and to Cao Dai temple. The other was to the Mekong Delta. I came away convinced the heat was getting to me and that I couldn't work out the costs in pounds as it was 27000 dong to the pound. However, I HAD worked it out. It cost £6 each for the first trip and £5 for the second one. The first one included 6 hours in a coach, a guide and lunch. The second involved 4 hours in the coach, about 7 different boats, lunch, fruit, sake and honey wine. What a rip off!!!!
We had the rest of the day free- provided I could cross the road!!

We headed off to Ben Thanh Market. This is the largest covered market in Saigon. It was about 10 minutes walk away, which was more than enough in the heat. On the way we had a few streets to cross. When I say streets, we are talking wide boulevards here with thousands of motor bikes all roaring down it. Now there is a clear set of traffic rules to follow and loads of crossing and sets of lights- it would be well ordered apart from one thing. NO-ONE knows the traffic rules. Red light go. Green light go. Every so often you come across a harassed traffic policeman trying to hold back the hordes when the red light is on but as soon as he turns round to deal with someone else they all sneak past and roar off into the distance. Never again will I look on in awe at these army motorcycle display teams who cross over each others' paths in sequence. EVERYONE in Saigon can do this. You come to a 4 way junction and everyone just piles in, crossing over everyones' paths and no accidents are seen. You can spend hours looking on in awe but you have to cross the road at sometime. The advice is to look straight ahead, ignore the bikes thundering down on you and step right out and don't stop until you get to the other side. The theory is the bikers will avoid you Right, come on the brave hero says and grabs my hand. You've got to be joking! I said. Well, that's not exactly true! I actually said " :swear . I'm not crossing that street! Well I was dragged kicking and screaming across, not believing it when I reached the other side unscathed. By the end of our time there we were happily stepping out on to the road leading other terrified first timers across!
Back to the market- a word of advice- stay away from the narrower aisles. We made the mistake of going there first and you run an assault course. Hundreds of hands grab your arms and try to pull you over to see their stalls. If only they understood that I would actually have stopped at quite a few stalls if they had just left me in peace. All that happened was that we got away as quickly as we could and went to find the wider aisles. We spent some time there but found it very hot and so headed off to get a taxi to the War Remnants Museum.

Brilliant Fiona, are you an english teacher by any chance? as for competing with my report - I think you've surpassed it. Brilliant.

Thanks
Arl

Hi Fiona

I am reading your report with great interest, we are going to Vietnam in October, staying 3 nights in Saigon and 10 in Nha Trang, I must say Saigon sound like a nightmare with all the bikes - we went to Mumbai last December and the traffic there was a terrible I have never experienced anything like it in my life. We have been going to Goa for 6 years and I thought the traffic there was bad but Mumbai beat it hands down, have you every been and if so how does Saigon compare?

I look forward to reading your next installment

Jules

the motor bikes aren't really a nightmare at all. They are just part of Saigon.
I am not working on my report tonight- haven't been too well recently and seem to be exhausted by evenings. But will try to complete it by the end of the weekend.

Hi Fiona - get well soon, perhaps you are still jetlagged?

Looking forward to the rest of your report, Take care, shirleyV

Fiona, I'm so enjoying reading your report and I hope you feel better soon.

The light show is on our "must do list" as is Lantau island.
Shame about the Felix bar, we'll take a quick peek as we are staying in the Penninsula but I must admit I had heard that the drinks were incredibly expensive so we may not actually stop to have anything.
The Peking Garden Restaurant sounds great fun.

I thought the traffic was bad in Rome (we just had to step out there and 'be avoided') - sounds like Siagon is worse!

Two drinks in the Felix would have cost more than the whole dinner with drinks in the Peking Garden Restaurant!
Thanks for all the comments everyone. I had a bad day yesterday and couldn't even think about my report. I have had a bad virus for 5 weeks now. I am at the end of it now, but still have not so good times! I will be working on the report today though!

Still Day 5!
The War Remants Museum used to be the War Crimes Museum but they decided the tourists didn't like it! The Vietnam conflict is called the American War there. Whilst we saw a lot that made us think when we were in Vietnam it IS very one-sided. They seem to forget they were also fighting each other!
However, the evidence of the effects of chemical warfare( agent orange and napalm) is quite harrowing and the photos overall are not for the fainthearted. I lasted the first two walls of photos then couldn't handle any more. Left my husband to it and went over to the part of the building which houses childrens' art- portraying what they felt about being at war. This was beautiful but very sad and I had to gulp back the tears. I think it is a section that largely gets overlooked as most people want to see the photos. Give them at least 10 mins of your time!
Some of the other sections showed the soldiers on both sides during the conflict and a lot of photos really captured the emotions on the faces. War photographers have some job. Outside the museum there are tanks, planes and guns.
To the left of the main building are the tiger cages. We almost missed these. These are where many of the political prisoners were locked up, and where many were beheaded.
That afternoon I decided I wanted to take things easy so we had lunch at the hotel ( very nice as well) and I went up to relax by the pool. It became a little overcast but was still very pleasant. Husband went to use the gym. He is running the Edinburgh marathon in June and needed a 10k run to keep in some form of training! He also had a wander around the hotel neighbourhood to get his bearings for night.
We headed up to the Club Lounge for our free drinks and snacks. We have been in a few executive lounges but none came up to this ones standards. To be honest you could end up saving money by booking into club here. You helped yourself to drinks and everything was available- down to expensive brandies. The snacks- well some people there were making a 3 course meal out of it. And you could easily do that! During the time we were there people were coming in- grabbing bottles of beers, cans of coke and leaving with them. I would swear that some went in at 5.30, stayed till 7.30 and then went back up to their room for the evening!
The lounge also had two computers where you got free broadband use. That night we had bite-sized snacks of chilli beef, smoked salmon and scallops. You could have had soup, noodle dishes, cheese, puddings too! Plus any type of bread you could think of.
During the day you can come in for soft drinks, tea or coffee and cakes, biscuits and the once we went, there were mars bars!!
During our time in Ho Chi Minh we went to the top rated restaurants and splashed out big time. Our first meal for example of two starters, main courses and drinks came to £17! We went to Lemongrass, this was 5 minutes walk from the hotel.
At this point I have to say that I felt safe at all times. We knew about motorcycle thieves and I did without jewellery and left expensive bags behind. There is no point in even wearing costume jewellery as if it looks good you are more likely to come to grief. We did this in Rio which has a worse reputation and I'm sure nobody thought it was worth mugging us! The good thing is that, as things are so cheap, you aren't even carrying that much money.
You may have noticed that I spoke of Ho Chi Minh for the first time in my report. I just can't think of it as any thing but Saigon and most of the locals feel the same. Besides which the downtown area we were in IS Saigon and the whole province is Ho Chi Minh. I'm rambling now- back to Lemongrass. We had asked for a table upstairs as we knew they played traditional music there. Our starters were marinated skewered beef and beef wrapped round sugar cane. These came with small bowls of noodles, basil and mint leaves, cucumber and lettuce and the Vietnamese fish sauce nuoc mam( which is delicious). Vietnamese like to play with their food. You are expected to use your fingers quite a lot. What you do is, using chopsticks, pick out a lettuce leaf, put the herbs in it, then the cucumber and beef. Then you roll the lettuce up with your fingers and dip it into the sauce. Delicious!
We found that usually the starters were bigger than the main courses. This is a plus for me as I always seem to like starters best!
For my main course I picked prawns in caramel sauce. I knew this was a popular sauce here and also thought that if I didn't like it I wouldn't exactly starve( remember the snacks earlier!). It was different certainly but a big hit. Husband picked lemongrass chicken- their signature dish and we both tried each others. We also had 2 beers, a coke and a red wine for the £17. Lemongrass was quite ordinary to look at but it was probably my favourite in Saigon.
We went on to Saigon, Saigon bar at the top of the Caravelle hotel. This was one of the hotels used by reporters and where they congregated to get their 5pm briefing from the US army chiefs. Great views from the bar. We sat at a table on the wrap around balcony. Quite a good group playing as well. Husband thought the girls would catch their death in the cool season but seemed to enjoy watching them.
We had an early start the next morning where the horror of the Cu Chi tunnels awaited me so we went back to the hotel about midnight.