The Final Leg of our Amazing Race

TUESDAY, August 5:
In order to fit in 8 countries in 8 weeks, we have been constantly traveling, always on-the-go, and we keep finding ourselves in 'Amazing Race'-type situations. These last 5 days, full of adventures, is no different. At the end of the last post were in a pickle at the Singapore train station having missed our train, but we made the best of the 8 hour layover until the next train and relaxed at a nearby mall. We successfully updated the blog, had a great cup of coffee, spent the remainder of our Singapore dollars, and boarded our train extra early at 3pm. The 7 hour train arrived by 10:30pm in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

We no longer book guesthouses or hotels before arriving in a new city; now we just get off the bus/train, walk around for less than 30 minutes with our packs and bags, and find a decent guesthouse to stay the night. This time was no different, managing the streets of our new destination like pros, we quickly found a room for the night, dropped off our bags, and headed out into the Chinatown area to explore a little before crashing. Immediately we appreciated the incredibly clean streets of Singapore, but also looked forward to exploring all the KL had to offer. We found our first Nando's of the trip (for any of our OZ friends, you will know how excited we were after not seeing one for over a year now!!)... and since it was closed we walked a bit further near Little India and found a local place to rest our feet and eat a delicious dinner of roti, rice, and curry chicken. We were able to spot the Petronas Towers lighting up the sky on our walk, but saved that adventure for another night.

WEDNESDAY, August 6:
We woke up and got going by 8am to see as much of Kuala Lumpur as we could! We made a stop near our guesthouse in Chinatown for a fun local breakfast. Chris ate noodle soup and Jennifer had a coffee and dumpling.

Local Malay food, as we soon learned, is a combination of traditional local Malay dishes, Chinese food, and Indian food..., which means we pretty much love Malaysian food. After breakfast, we ventured across some rather busy intersection without traffic lights to visit the National Mosque.

The mosque has a gorgeous blue twelve-point star roof covering a detailed mosaic temple. We had to see it from the entrance ways, as non-Muslims are not allowed inside. We had to sport some pretty styling purple ropes to walk the premises though!
Next, we navigated back across the busy intersections and walked to ante mosque, Masjid Jamek. The temple was beautiful, decorated with traditional Muslim domes and open areas for prayer. We walked around the temple (again, because we weren't allowed inside) and while Chris was welcome in his t-shirt and shorts, Jennifer had to wear a robe and full head-covering. After our visit there, we headed into the Central Market where we browsed the little shops and picked up a couple postcards. At 12:30pm, we met Chris's good friend Sam, who we both met while studying abroad at UTS in Sydney. Since he now works downtown KL, he was able to meet us on his lunch break for a quick bite to eat! After a great reunion by the McDonald's, we walked into Little India and followed Sam to the upstairs room of a local place where we ordered us food in Malay. Anxious to find out what he had ordered us, he explained that we were going to eat a traditional Banana Leaf meal-- where they place a huge banana leaf in front of you as a plate and fill it with rice, curry, chopped cucumbers, and as assortment of other veggies and sauces. Then we chose four different meat dishes to share (a variety of chicken and prawn). It was great to have Sam there to help us discover the real local side of KL.
We walked with Sam back to his office and parted ways, agreeing to meet up again for dinner. We then continued exploring the city, heading over to the Golden Triangle where we wandered some of the huge Megamalls KL is infamous for. First we walked through Sangai Wang, then over to Times Square mall... both enormous. Times Square even had an indoor theme park!! A good bit of window shopping, and then headed back to Chinatown near our guesthouse and met up with Sam again at 8pm. We took the LRT train to the end of the line to Kelana Jaya, where Sam grew up. He then drove us to a nearby shopping center in his fun little suburb of KL (actually its own city). In this strip-mall type center, he explained to us that we were going to eat at a Mamak, which serves a mix of Malay, Indian and Chinese foods, and typically has card tables and plastic chairs set up on the street. This particular mamak was obviously the most popular around, as the tables spread out on the sidewalk for some 50 meters down the shopping center. Sam, once again, ordered our local food in Malay and we waited anxiously to see what came out of the kitchen! We each picked our favorite fruit (Jenn- mango, Chris- pineapple) and they created a slushy drink served in a mason jar. For dinner we ate these delicious cheese and garlic nan breads, prawn fried rice, and chicken Chinese noodle dish. All so filling and yummy! Next, Sam took us across the street to a fruit stand, selling durian. It is a local fruit. which Sam told us we had to try! We watched as they cut open the fragrant fruit and revealed the fruit inside. The only hesitation was that the fragrance wasn't exactly appetizing. In fact the durian is known for it's unpleasant pungent smell. Sam told us we would either love it or hate it... well, we didn't love it. It was kind of creamy, definitely flavorful, and a taste we won't forget for a while. Sam loves it though, so he ate the rest! haha. We had so much fun exploring Kelana Jaya with Sam- something we could have never conquered without him! Then we took the LRT back into KL and fell asleep quickly at the guesthouse.

THURSDAY, August 7:
We woke early again for our last non-travel day of our trip. Our nostalgia is kicking in, savoring every minute of exploration and constantly reminiscing about the incredible journey so far. We left the guesthouse by 8am and took the LRT to KLCC (city center) where we stood in a huge line to get free tickets to visit the bridge of the Petronas Towers. We finally made it to the front and chose to come back at 5pm to visit the bridge. As we walked outside, we strained our necks to admire the gorgeous twin towers. They are the tallest twin towers in the world, and the 3rd tallest building- sparing no detail, the Islamic-inspired buildings were gorgeous. We walked across the street and relaxed a while, staring at the towers. Then we continued to explore and headed to the Menara Tower, the 5th tallest tower in the world. From the top of the Menara KL you could overlook the entire city of Kuala Lumpur, including an impressive view of the Petronas Towers. We listened to our audio guides and took the tour around the tower seeing all parts of the city, and then headed back down the tower and walked to meet Sam for lunch. We took Sam to Nando's for a delicious Peri chicken lunch. It was so great to taste our favorite 'fast food' from Sydney :)So then, we walked to the Chinatown market and browsed the many stalls filled mainly with purses, watches and scarves. As we were wandering, the sky rumbled and it started to pour! The rain was so intense, forcing many market stalls to bundle up in plastic to protect their goods, and water would roll off the roofs, flooding the streets quickly. We took refuge in a nearby cafe and treated ourselves to bananas and ice cream. After realizing the rain wasn't letting up, we made the short trek through the showers to our hotel to change clothes for dinner... followed by braving the rain as we headed for the LRT station. We made it to the Petronas Towers just in time for our 5pm appointment to visit the tower bridge! First we were shown a 3D video about the towers, and then given official-looking passes to visit the bridge, and finally we were taken to the speedy elevator! We were so excited to explore the beautiful towers up close. Up on the 42nd floor, even through the rainy weather, the view was exceptional. After plenty of pictures we headed back down (we were only allowed on the bridge for 10 minutes) and we browsed the KLCC shopping. Sam met us there for dinner at Madam Kwan's to eat some great Malaysian food. Jennifer had Nazim Lamak (coconut rice) and chicken and Chris had the local noodle dish... both delicious! Next Sam took us to his favorite bar, with the best view of the Petronas Towers in the city. We thought the towers were impressive during the day, but all lit-up, they filled the sky with light, and radiated through the night. We went to the top floor of the nearby Traders hotel for a cocktail while enjoying an incredible view of the Petronas Towers. We thank Sam for the local advice and fun hangouts he took us to... they all exceeded our expectations and gave us such a wonderful impression of KL :)
We managed to catch the last LRT home around 11:30pm, packed up our bags, and went to sleep for just a few hours...

FRIDAY, August 8:
After our recent issues with oversleeping we were not taking chances today since we had a flight booked from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Shanghai, China for 8:00am! We had the reception of our hostel bang on our door at 3:30am (after just a couple hours of sleep) to ensure that we made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. We left by 4am, easily caught a taxi to the bus station and got on the 4:30am bus to the airport. It all went as smoothly as we could have hoped! I suppose we've become backpacking veterans by now... just in time to head back home! We arrived at the airport before 6am and piled into fairly unorganized lines as we finally found a counter with a piece of hand-written paper reading "Air Asia flight D7 2602"... very official. We checked our packs and proceeded to security check, where we luckily bypassed the carry-on luggage scale (because we a positive that our newest addition souvenir bag is heavier than 7kg). And we made our way into the mass waiting room for a little break before our flight boarded, saying our final goodbyes to Malaysia. Before we knew it though they were calling our flight number and we walked out to the Air Asia plane. Our entire concept of travel-time has completely changed... a 5-hour flight? air conditioning? no one sitting in the aisles? Piece of cake.We couldn't believe that after a short nap, and relaxing a bit we were already beginning to descend into Hangzhou, China. That's right, Hangzhou, not actually Shanghai, but 3 hours outside the city. We figured actually flying into the Shanghai airport would be too simple, and Air Asia likes to complicate things, so we flew to Hangzhou instead.

I was mind-boggling to imagine that we had just retraced our entire 8 weeks of traveling with a simple 5-hour flight. I mean, we have spent hours upon hours on buses, trains, tuk tuks, taxis, motos,... and it was all undone with a short plane ride. The realization that we were actually ending this adventure started to sink in. But, we were armed and ready with experience and ready to conquer the last 24 hours in China. Through all 8 countries, we both agree that China is by far the most difficult language barrier to overcome. But we soon realized that with all we had learned while traveling, communicating via hand signals and a minor Chinese vocabulary was a lot easier than we found it 8 weeks ago. In fact, we got off the plane, easily made our way through customs, found our bags waiting on us, and bought tickets for a bus leaving in 30 minutes with incredible ease. We smiled at the thought that we finally knew what we were doing. The bus arrived at a random bus station in Shanghai around 5:45pm after several intense police checkpoints (security is intense due to the Olympics starting, even though we are in Shanghai and not Beijing). With the help of a very nice local, we found the nearby metro station, and figured out the correct trains we needed to take to get to the hostel we first stayed at 8 weeks ago in Shanghai. As we arrived at the East Nanjing Road station, we found ourselves in a bizarre time warp.

With the anticipation of our homecoming on the back of both our minds, we had not considered how odd our arrival back in Shanghai, where it all began, would feel. It was a firsthand look at how much we had learned, how much we had change since the beginning of our journey. We emerged from the metro station on Nanjing Road, much like we had back in June, only this time we could see Shanghai with new eyes. On one hand seeing that same exact image we had seen upon first arriving; it was without a doubt the same metro station exit we had taken the first time. On the other hand, it was a city we both immediately recognized after exploring it for only 2 days, 8 weeks ago! We had discussed while on the train that we wish wee had a map because we were not confident that we could find the hostel (some 15-minute walk from the station) without guidance. But when we stepped on Nanjing Rd, we both knew exactly where to go.
Also bizarre was the change Shanghai went through. In 8 weeks China cleaned the streets, cut down on motorbikes, and clamped down on the selling on fake goods; the change was apparent. We arrived at Mingtown Hikers Hostel and greeted the same reception staff as before. They told us we would have to wait until 10pm to see if they had a vacancy, but if they didn't we could sleep on the sofas in the lobby. Another change we noticed in ourselves was not only the fact that we hadn't reserved a room before arriving, but that sleeping on the lobby sofas sounded appealing to both of us. So we left our bags at reception and headed out to explore the city on our last night in Asia.
We took the metro to French Concession, an area of town we had yet to visit. We wandered around and finally found a local restaurant with a TV playing the opening ceremony, so we entered in hops of having a fun last Chinese meal. The waitress translated the all-Chinese menu for us in broken English and we ordered chicken noodles, and dumplings. As we ate our meal (which wound up being chicken-blood pieces, which we removed...) the waitress stood next to our table the whole time, telling us about the Chinese officials shown on the TV and chatting with us in broken English. She even insisted that we take pictures with her... she was so fun!
After dinner we headed down the street in French Concession in search of another fun local hangout. All along the street there were random televisions with locals all stopped to watch the Olympics! So fun to see how much they loved it!
As we walked along we eventually walked past this deserted restaurant where we noticed a television upstairs, what looked like a few locals crowded around, and the bottom floor completely empty except for one lady. We walked in, and without a single word we communicated that we wanted a drink, she typed the price into the calculator, we agreed, and she led us upstairs! So simple! For the next 3 hours, we sat at this small table directly in front of this small television playing the Olympic opening ceremony. The small crowd that was there already was actually just the wait staff hanging out, but before too long there was this huge Chinese family that rushed in and filled the three tables surrounding us (we would have felt popular, but we're pretty sure they were interested in the television, not us). Without speaking to each other, we started getting to know that family, and as we cheered for the USA team entering the Birds Nest stadium, they realized where we were from. They soon loved us and we had so much fun with them! They were completely crowded around our table to watch the games, just like we were part of the family :)
After the ceremony, we unsuccessfully searched for a taxi home, but after a while we just decided to walk. It was a LONG way, so when a local on a moto offered us a ride, we obviously have become braver throughout our journey, because we agreed and hopped on! As Jenn took picture while riding in the middle (of course) he smiled for the camera- so funny! We returned to the hostel to be assigned a 6-share room, moved our stuff upstairs and went to sleep for our last night.

SATURDAY, August 9:
We woke up and left the hotel by 8:15am to fit in one last exploration before heading to the airport. We walked down Nanjing Road to People's Square for a visit to the Shanghai Museum, which we didn't get to fit in last time. We walked through the various exhibits after waiting in line for an hour. Great to see some ancient Chinese artifacts one last time-- really helped us appreciate for the final time how vastly different Asia is from the Americas, and remind us about their incredible history.
We then headed back to the hostel, stopping at some last minute souvenir stores, Olympic shops, and enjoying the local feel of the old Chinese couple dancing along the street. We then took just 20 minutes to completely stuff our packs with the recent purchases and everything we had accumulated over the 8-week journey. Then we checked out of the hotel by 12:20pm, and began the 15-minute walk in the extreme heat with all our stuff back to that East Nanjing Road metro stop. After going through security and changing trains a few times we arrived at Longyand Rd. station, where we first arrived 52 days ago without a clue! This time we knew of an alternative to the hour bus- the Maglev train! It is one-of-a-kind in the world... a levitated magnetic train. Just 8 minutes later we found ourselves at the airport!!! The train got up to 431 km/hr... if only trains like this existed throughout China we would have gotten around Asia a lot quicker! We loved the last adventure before our final plane journey. We final checked in for our flight, got through security and arrived at our gate with a couple hours to spare. Jennifer was able to find her friend from school, Ke, who was departing for America at the gate next door! It was great for them to catch up. Chris found the Olympics playing on a television in the terminal. By 3:30 we were boarding the plane, getting cozy in our first class seats once again :)
As we got comfy, we realized that our stewardess friend from before was once again abroad the flight! It was very full-circle to see her! The flight went smoothly, in fact even if we had been forced to sit in the aisle, or stuffed back in the luggage compartment we wouldn't have complained after everything we've been through. Any 15-hour trip seems so simple and easy; having a chair that folds into a bed was actually nicer than some of the hotels we stayed in. It was almost too easy- watch 3 movies, eat some great food, take a short nap, chat about our trip with the stewardess... and before we knew it we had landed in Chicago!
As we pulled up to the gate we were told that the US Customs' computer was down, and we weren't allowed off the flight. Jennifer was nervous because she had a close connection back to Atlanta, but 45 minutes later we were allowed off, only to realize her fight was delayed anyway. We used the time to divide up our souvenir bag... she was like our third traveler- she weighed as much as a person, well, not really, but filled to the brim, of course. As we got off the plane, we were soon separated out as "citizens" and forced to stand in line with all the people who actually spoke English and didn't have a fun accent... how boring! We knew immediately that the reverse culture shock was kicking in and our need for adventure was not going to be fulfilled.
But without any problems we waited in the domestic terminal, our connecting flights were delayed a couple hours, but in the end what is a couple hours of waiting in an air-conditioned terminal? We said our final good-bye as Jennifer headed to Atlanta and Chris returned to Tulsa.
Before we knew it we were back in our parents' arms and comfy at home, but filled with new perspectives and ideas about life. Stay tuned for a conclusion post and updates! Thanks for reading and caring, we love you all. Also- comments should now be easier to post, we changed some settings we didn't know existed. Thanks for everything :)

5 Senses Review: HONG KONG

One of my favorite BIG cities. Everything about this place was just so fun and refreshing, so it was hard to pick out tops for for 5 senses, but here it goes!

SIGHT: First seeing the Hong Kong skyline on our first day was breathtaking. I had seen it on postcards and in pictures but actually seeing the dramatic skyline squeezed in the tiny piece of land between the mountains and the harbour was my favorite sight of Hong Kong.

SOUND: As we soared between mountains and up into the clouds on the Ngong Ping cable car the rain started pelting the sides of the car, and the wind whistled through the air vents. It was the sound of flying.

TOUCH: As I browsed the night markets on the last night in HK, I carefully felt each of the purses and watches, searching for quality amongst the lot of fake products, ha. But after time you could start to feel the difference between the various stalls, and I bought a semi-decent new purse!

TASTE: Our adventure to the sushi restaurant guaranteed some new tastes. But I was looking forward to the seafood since I'd heard how fresh it was in HK. Between the eel and squid we sampled, along with tuna, salmon and shrimp, some raw, some cooked, we tasted such a variety of new cuisine. All delicious!

SMELL: As we roamed the Buddhist temples and even strolled through some markets, the fragrant smell of incense filled the air. You could smell the temples before you even got near them, and as you arrived the incense smell was accompanied with heavy smoke from other ceremonial burnings.

Hong Kong & Hanoi-ing Travels

Last time we updated was in Beijing, and you can see from our map (in the first post) that we are a long way from Beijing now! We had no idea that you could fit so much in each day, but we are packing every minute with adventures and soaking up as much culture as we can!

WEDNESDAY, June 25:

Our last day in Beijing we got an early start around 7am to fit in one last adventure before our train left at noon. In hindsight this was probably squeezing in a tad too much, but we'll get to that in a minute. We started the morning off right with a delicious dumpling breakfast. Several guides we read had recommended this in order to experience a traditional Chinese meal, and we are glad we followed the recommendation. A girl working at our hostel translated for us and we confirmed that we were eating the best kind of dumplings, filled with pork. After filling our stomachs we headed via subway to Hou Hai lake in a quaint little park in Beijing. We walked along the lake watching the early risers getting their morning exercise; groups practicing thai chi, people swimming laps in the lake, and the old men playing cards under the trees. It was all so peaceful, I am definitely glad we made time for this excursion. We realized we had to hurry through though since our train departure time was only 3 hours away! We strolled through the Hutongs of this area (the old sections of town with lots of bicycles and market-type shops) and then caught a taxi back to our hostel. Leaving Beijing was our first time leaving a city that we won't have a chance to go back to (this trip at least, and since we fly home out of Shanghai we will be returning to catch the sites we missed). We knew going into this fast-paced trip that we can't see EVERYTHING, but we have adopted the sad motto of "if only we had one more day!" Back at the hostel we quickly packed up our clothes (which are mostly spotted and damp thanks to the hostel's washing) and proceeded with our packs to hail a taxi to the train station. If you didn't see this one coming, well, here is the story of our first bad train station experience... after being rejected by at least 10 taxis we finally found one willing to take us. Then, arriving slightly later than we had planned, we hurried to find our gate, and people rushed us from one side of the station to the other; from outside the terminals, through security, inside, and then back outside again. The language barrier created a mess where we knew we had to figure things out quickly since that departure time was creeping closer and closer. With the help of a few wonderful cops, some willing locals, and pure miracle, we managed to find the correct door- "Customs" at the last possible second. They closed the doors after we walked in and locked them (seriously, people were outside banging!). So we hurried through customs, since we were technically departing China and the customs agent politely asked, "you haven't done this before, no?"It was such a great feeling to lay down in that bunk bed, even if it was 3 levels high. A much needed nap, many rounds of Rummy card games, countless iPod songs, one sketchy meal from the dinning car, and a 12-hour night sleep later, we arrived in Hong Kong!

THURSDAY, June 26:

It felt so good to rest up on the train without feeling like we were wasting our limited time in a city. We even met new friends- one French guy who knew HK pretty well, and one American guy from Emory. These are our new friends on our journey through Hong Kong.

We joined up with them as we got off the train and our French friend led the way to the location of our hostel. After walking a while we took a taxi to "Mirador Mansion"... my expectation were not exactly reality as we pulled up to a city building filled with people hawking all kinds of goods. We fought through the crowds and waited for the lift to the 13th floor where our "hostel" guide took us to the next building over... our newest home "Chung King Mansion." It too should not be called a "mansion," and I will steal an accurate depiction from my Lonely Planet guide which calls it "authentically decrepit." home sweet home.

That was our room, first door on the right.These were the elevators to our new home, where we were always sure to wait in line for a lift.

We managed to take different elevators as our new friends from the train and unfortunately never saw them again! (I guess it was sort of a mansion). We put our stuff down in our room and headed out to enjoy the city. The train got in around 2pm, and by the time we got checked in and all it was nearing 5pm. We wandered towards the harbour, not knowing what to expect, but it truly was gorgeous. We stayed in Kowloon, which is across from HK Island, and offers incredible views of the skyline. We took tons of pictures (well, Jennifer did) and walked the Hollywood Street along the water with hand prints of Jackie Chan and the like. We were exhausted from the adventure, so we stuck around Kowloon exploring a bit more, and then made sure to watch the nightly laser show over the city, where the sky comes alive dancing to music and each building lights up in sequence- quite a sight to see! Back to Chung king where the international crowd harassed us to choose their restaurant for dinner. We stood there with at least 12 flyers in hand from Indian/Pakistani restaurants and finally choose one called "Pakistani Mess"... appropriately named. After dinner we braved the tough/interesting/sketchy/intense crowd that lingered around our building at night (don't worry mom, we survived it!) and locked our door tightly at night.

FRIDAY, June 27:

Without a window in our room it made it hard to wake up at the crack of dawn like we planned, but we still got a pretty early start. ... but of course it was raining yet again. We had breakfast near our hostel of eggs, toast and bacon- such a treat! Being in Hong Kong was vastly different than the previous stops. Having English and Chinese both as official languages made it so easy to get around. The international vibe throughout the city was refreshing, and it felt like Sydney in a way- especially with the harbour. Today wasn't so much for touring as it was for business- we had to get 3 more visas in order to continue on our journey.

*Side note: we also have realized how fortunate we are to have multiple entry visas into China, which apparently with the Olympics has been hard for American travelers to get, and we had no idea it was such a valued commodity! Many people we met couldn't go to HK because that would be their one exit from the country (if they only have a double entry)... and since HK is kept so separated from China, it counts as leaving.*

So we first went to the Cambodia consulate and didn't have a problem.Then we took the Star Ferry across to Hong Kong Island where we tracked down the Vietnam Consulate. We also made a stop by the post office, where Chris found his twin! haha, this guy was so tiny!! Minor delays in our plan as we got distracted in the Time Square mall. Several hours later we decided our motto for HK was "indulgence"... Jennifer bought some new clothes (necessary since many didn't fit and the hostel wash put spots on the rest). We both bought some official Olympic shirts and had a coffee treat. Then we headed across town to the Laos Consulate where we realized how champion we are at map skills (seriously, you should see us). It felt wonderful to officially have all the visas we need for the rest of our trip! We spent a good while admiring all the new stickers and stamps in our passports. Around 6pm we took the Peak Tram up the mountain behind HK. It was a steep train that ended with an incredible view back down over the city. We hung out on top of the mountain for a couple hours, watching the sun set over HK, and waiting as the lights slowly lit up around the city (and taking tons of pictures, of course). After heading down the mountain we walked to the IFC mall where we had an incredible sushi dinner at sen-ryo. *Thanks for that recommendation Bella* Jennifer's roommate from Australia, Bella, who lives in HK wrote an awesome list that we continued to follow throughout the weekend... we wish she was here with us!! At sushi we tried all kinds of fun things- eel, crab, squid, shrimp, tuna, salmon...! After a filling dinner we wandered to a fun part of town called "Lan Kwai Fong." If you go to HK, you HAVE to go here! It was so fun-- a walking street with bars lining the way and tons of people from all over the world! We had fun people watching and absorbing the incredible atmosphere. We caught the last MTR (their subway) back to Kowloon where we again braved our Chungking neighbors.

SATURDAY, June 28:

Another morning of oversleep in our window-less room, but without a worry since we decided the night before to turn our 3 nights here into 4. We both love this city so much already, and since we spent so much time getting Visas situated, we wanted to make sure we fit everything in without being super rushed. So we grabbed a danish breakfast in the MTR station and headed to Tung Chung on Lantau Island. It is the island just to the west of HK Island where Bella recommended we visit the Big Budda, and explore a bit! As usual, it was raining again today, but with stylish ponchos in our bags we were ready to handle anything. We took the 25-minute cable car, called the Ngong Ping 360, up to the top of a mountain as soon as the rain died down enough for the cars to start running again! The cable car lifted straight over a small bay, and up into the mountains and with the clouds hanging low it felt like we were flying. We literally sailed through the mountains, in the clouds. We went to the Po Lin monastery where we looked through the monastery, watched the locals burning incense and praying to the many statues surrounding us. We ate lunch there of vegetarian noodles and egg rolls and enjoyed the cultural experience. Afterwards we climbed to the top of the peak where the big Budda sat. It is the largest bronze sitting budda in the world, that's right! :) It was easy to enjoy as I loved equally the giant statue that lingered amongst the clouds and the surrounding mountains- what a view! As Jennifer's camera ran out of battery and the clouds drifted in, we headed back down in the drizzle. Considering the poor weather we have done a great job dodging the rain when possible and enjoying the few dry moments. As we sat near the cable cars, eating our free ice cream (with coupons from the cable car!) we watched the clouds rolling through, thick enough to eventually hide the Budda completely from our sight. We then enjoyed the 25-minute ride back down, and headed back to the hostel for a rest. We decided to eat dinner in our hostel (because obviously the ambiance of our closet-sized room was so appealing that we just couldn't help ourselves)... actually, we were enticed by the Indian food in the lobby of our mansion and since it was to-go only we opted to eat behind a locked door. After the rain subsided for a bit we braved the city once again, taking the MTR back to Lan Kwai Fong to enjoy the night life scene. We rode the long escalator through Soho for a while and then settled in Fong for a drink amongst the crowds. We even met some friends- students studying in HK who had some great advice for southeast Asia! We followed them to a club nearby which was on the 30th floor, offering amazing views. After enjoying the scene for a bit we caught the MTR back "home" to Chungking once again.

SUNDAY, June 29:

Another early start and off across to HK on the MTR. We browsed the classy IFC mall a bit and then ate brunch at the "city super"- a Whole Foods type grocery that offered fresh pastries and deli sandwiches. Then we opted to take the bus to Repulse Bay to see the other side of HK Island. Bella's recommendations were wonderful again, leading us to a beach sandwiched between lush mountains. Even on such an overcast day, many locals flocked to the beach. It began to sprinkle and the crowds simply took out their umbrellas and continued their beach fun. As the light rain turned to a down pour we quickly headed to the street where we found our oasis: Starbucks. A splurge we had been avoiding thus far, but it was the perfect escape from the rain and necessary caffeine jolt. We hung out there a while while Jennifer caught up journaling and Chris took advantage of his blackberry internet access which wouldn't connect in the city, and then he took a nap, ha. After a while we walked around the statues by the bay, ... and then took the bus further to Stanley Bay where we walked through the markets and along the water. The air was muggy after the rain, and the streets were still fairly crowded, but it didn't feel quite so touristy, the market seemed a lot like home. It was a long and twisty bus ride back to the city and then MTR back to Kowloon. A quick rest at Chung king (we just couldn't stay away from the place) and then headed up Nathan Rd. to the night market. Not sure what to expect we were pleasantly surprised by the rows of stalls set up. We ate an authentic dinner in the middle of the market- some yummy Singapore noodles with shrimp and ham. Then we proceeded to spend the rest of our HK money on some last minute souvenirs and gifts. Favorite items bought: Jennifer's new "nike" watch. Without a cell phone she can't even sleep through the night without worrying about what time it is, especially in Chungking! Chris found some Trinidadian flag patches that can be ironed on. An unexpected find for this part of the world. We headed home around midnight satisfied with our purchases and incredible experiences in Hong Kong!

MONDAY, June 30:

What a day. *sigh of relief* We knew starting this leg would be a tough one... we have 4 separate buses/trains to catch in order to connect Hong Kong and Hanoi, but it didn't quite go as smoothly as we would have liked. Although we did finally get to say goodbye to Chungking Mansion, which neither of us will even really miss. We left Hong Kong on an 11am train to Guangzhou... this 2-hour train was a piece of cake, and they even gave us bottles of water, a pleasant surprise. But as we made our way via subway to a different train station we realized the crowds and the rain were a bit overwhelming. An hour search of an ATM later, Jennifer was exhausted... only to find out that the train we were planning on taking was booked. We finally just booked the train for tomorrow, giving up hope of arriving in Hanoi on time, and submitting to the fact that we would have to spend a night in Guangzhou. As we walked, defeated by the city, and kicked slightly back into culture shock after being spoiled with the English signs and speakers in HK, we searched for a hotel for the night. By a miracle we wandered into a bus station and found a wonderful lady who spoke enough English to escort us into the "Members Only" waiting room and she found a bus for us tonight to Nanning! That is our next stop on this journey to Hanoi. So pleased with our discovery, we felt like we were on Amazing Race and we just found the fast forward, haha. After Chris returned our train tickets for tomorrow we bought tickets leaving at 8pm, giving us time to enjoy the Members Only waiting room and check some internet. The nine-hour bus ride was not as comfy as a sleep-car would have been, but it got us to Nanning before the train we had wanted.

TUESDAY, July 1:

We slept as much as possible in the semi-roomy seats, and enjoyed the two rest stops where Chris spotted the Southern Cross- a favorite constellation finally back in sight. We arrived in Nanning at 5:30am to a fairly sketchy bus station. We found our way in the dark to the taxis and paid slightly more than normal just to get out of that place. Thanks to Jennifer's overly organized planner, equipped with cute little pictures, we were able to point to a clip art picture of a train and 20 minutes later, the driver had taken us to the exact place we needed to be. Arriving with plenty of time we booked our next leg to Pingxiang, China, right next to the Vietnam border. Quite a cultural experience that turned out to be. Benches in seat of seats, and crowds of locals carrying boxes and crates of who knows what surrounded us. 3 1/2 hours later we arrived in our last Chinese destination until we return in August! The scenery was gorgeous though, making us even more excited to cross into Vietnam. We made friends with the only other English speaking people on the train, two girls from Canada, Sara and Heather. The four of us bargained with the aggressive motor-bike salesmen and eventually got to ride in the back of an open motorcycle cart to the Vietnam border. A short talk to the Friendship Crossing, an hour of formalities to get passports stamped and we had officially arrived in Vietnam! Just one short leg of traveling left before we were to arrive in Hanoi. Teamed with Sara and Heather, we got a taxi cab to take us to Long Son, where we haggled for a cheap mini-bus ride into the city. In the end of the bargaining we wound up on the ride of our life with a driver who didn't care to stay on the right side of the road. But somehow we arrived almost 3 hours later to Hanoi! We were dropped off at a hostel (not the one we booked) and aware of scams and such we were ready to leave for the hostel we had booked online, but as the rain picked up and we took a look at the rooms at the "Blue Sky Hotel" we were standing in, we realized that for just $5 a night the rooms were amazing (especially compared with Chung King!!). We were relieved to have a spacious room, clean bed, private bathroom, aircon, refrigerator, cable tv, and a clean enough floor to walk on without shoes! We cleaned up a bit and then met Sara and Heather to eat dinner and explore the city a bit. A Lonely Planet rec, we found "Pho" and for less than $1 each we had a great noodle dinner. We wandered around the Old Quarter where we are staying, found some night markets, dodged the motorbikes, and enjoyed our introduction to Hanoi. The two of us split a small tub of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream for less than $1 also, quite a nice splurge considering what a long day it had been!

A couple nights here and then heading south along the Vietnam coast. If you have any advice let us know, we're pretty flexible and looking forward to enjoying it all! All pictures are now uploaded, so enjoy!