Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Hong Kong Phooey, Part Twooey

Well, day 3 in Hong Kong down, about 12 hours left to go, about which I am happy.

Things have not gotten any less crazy, humid or expensive here, I've been eating McDonald's as it seems to be the cheapest available meal option (the exact opposite of Liaoyang) so I'm energy-less and cranky.

Today I went out to Lantau island, which is supposed to be a lovely wilderness dotted with idyllic beaches. Unfortunately I got suckered into a bit of a tourist trap, catching a bus to see the World's largest bronze seated outdoor buddha. Quite the distinction. Nice to know those monks begging in the street are putting the money to good use.

I was originally planning to stay at a hostel on the island, but after realising that it was in the middle of nowhere (though with handy access to a certain buddhist folly), $60HK in busses and ferries from where I need to be tomorrow, and an overpriced mosquito haven to boot, I decided to get back to the mainland. Unfortunately, I'd already locked my pack in the hostel office, and the lady wasn't back until 4pm. That gave me three hours to sit and contemplate the world's largest bronze seated outdoor buddha.

Things in my pack that I was unable to access that I would have quite liked at this time:

Money
A raincoat
Insect repellant

Anyway, I survived, with a mild case of sunburn. There were some pretty butterflies around though.

On that note, I finally found a 'supermarket' here in Kowloon. I'm pretty sure its as, if not more, expensive than shopping at 711, but at least all the overpriced crap is in the same place. I managed to buy some sunscreen that met all of my requirements of being A) not $90HK B) not containing 'whitening' agents and C) higher than SPF 10.

It's of Japanese origin, I don't remember the name, but I do recall that its SPF 50+, and has the words 'Sun Killer' emblazoned on the tube. My current theory is that it somehow accelerates the fusion of Hydrogen into Helium in the sun's core, thus ensuring that the sun will use up its available supply of raw materials that much faster. In the short term, this will infact enlarge the sun, causing significant discomfort to all life in the solar system (though possibly promoting sales of SPF 50+ sunscreen). Eventually however, the sun will 'die' shrinking to a relatively cold, dwarf state, thus sparing the purchasers of this product from its harmful effects.

The package also says 'kiss me' and we all know I can use any help I can get in that department.

Iminent solar death aside, tomorrow, all going to plan, I will pick up my visa for Vietnam, and board a train to Guangzhou in Guangdong province. Once back in the Mainland, with its reasonably priced beer and lack of Indian suit peddlers, I will board a train to Nanning overnight, and then the next day a series of trains, buses and taxis across the Vietnamese border to Dang Dong. From there its a short hop to Hanoi.

Or so I have been led to believe.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

no thoughts (pardon the pun) of joining the monks anytime soon then eh... it'll get better.

Diana said...

sunk killer is my favorite brand of sunscreen!