Guangzhou to Hong Kong
The train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong isn’t a bullet train, but only takes about an hour and a half. Our train didn’t depart until noon and you don’t need to check in super early, like you do at an airport, so we had a very relaxed morning and left for the train station at about 10:30.
As we put our bags through security, the agent pulled me and my bag aside and said “knife?” “Why yes”, I replied, “I have a giant cleaver in my bag. Is that a problem?” I called over Sophie for some help in determining what I needed to do. The agent took down my passport information in her log and informed us that I needed to check my luggage, which I could do in the waiting room for the train. The cost would be $60RMB, and since we had strategically planned not to have any Chinese currency left over, I had to borrow a $100RMB bill from Sophie.
Sophie took us up to the secondary security point where we said our goodbyes. Guangzhou is a city with a population of 13 million, or something like that. Amazingly, you can still run into people more than once. Sophie started talking to a worker there, confirming that the checked bag station was in the waiting room. He answered her, and then told her that he had seen all of us up at White Cloud Mountain the other day.
The waiting area for the train is a large seating area. We were about 20 minutes out from departure and some people were already starting to line up. We had assigned seats, so didn’t have to worry, but some of the seating is first come, first serve. I went over to the checked baggage area, where no one was heading toward. Two men were sitting behind the counter, looking very unenthused and disinterested in anything. They didn’t even glance at me as I walked up or stood at the counter. Finally, I said, “check bags here?” The more grumpy-looking of the two didn’t look at me, but gestured toward the passengers lined up at the entrance to the gates, made a general gesture in that direction, and muttered a syllable or two. I decided I had made a good faith effort to check my bags, and that was all I could do. They have my name and passport number now, though, so if any of those employees decide to name names, I’m on the list.
We arrived at the Kowloon Station in Hong Kong and easily navigated the MTR (Hong Kong subway) to the area of town where our flat was located. We decided to rent a place from Airbnb and found a 3 bedroom apartment that was about half the price of any hotels we looked at. We got detailed instructions about how to enter it, how to answer questions about us staying there, and how to operate the a/c and hot water heater. Everything went just as described. I’m not sure of the square footage, but it is a very small (especially by Alaskan standards) apartment with three bedrooms, each just big enough for a bed (one room has bunk beds), a small kitchen, and 2 small bathrooms. One bathroom has a small shower (did I mention everything is small!), and the other the bathroom doubles as a shower itself. The great thing is, it has everything we need and it is really nice being all together for a change. We all claimed our rooms, organized our stuff, and pulled out the clothes we needed for the Hong Kong portion of our trip.
We are staying in the Wan Chai district of Hong Kong. It is super-central and bustling neighborhood; right below our flat is a snack shack serving all sorts of interesting street food items, mostly of the Chinese variety. As we go to bed (we’re on the ninth floor) we hear all sorts of street sounds of buses honking, a dog barking, and music. It is definitely the sounds of a city.
To conclude our first afternoon in Hong Kong, we went to a large shopping mall and tracked down a Michelin-star rated rice noodle shop. We ordered their signature dish, which was quite good, as well as several other dishes to share. We then wandered to a small grocery store, got some food for breakfasts and dinners (our plans are to just eat lunches out), and headed home. The Last Samurai was playing on tv and so we had a family movie night and retired to bed.
