The incense spirals at Man Mo Temple

1. From the airport, it is a short 24-minute and super inexpensive train ride into downtown Hong Kong (and a roundtrip day pass is only about HK$160 or US$15). The view from the train is absolutely stunning and in itself a joy.

2. The city is super walkable. Once arriving at Central station, you can literally walk all of Hong Kong without hopping on a single bus or riding in a cab. The train station shows multiple maps that list the walking distance to each of the common tourist attractions, with even the most distant locale being only 20 or so minutes away.

Beef Noodle Soup

3. You will do yourself an injustice if you do not eat while you are in this city. Take an unexpected turn down an alley and look to see where all the locals are running to grab a bit on their way to work. We entered a noodle shop that was hopping with business people and were not disappointed by an incredible beef noodle soup that a generous local helped us order when we realized their was no English on the menu. Anything that has a sticky bun is also worth it- the pork buns (though I don’t eat them) are infamous for a reason.

4. Hong Kong is surrounded by water which means there are ferries and piers that should absolutely be visited. The water is a distinct green-blue which actually reminded me quite a bit of the venetian waters and gondolas I saw last year. Even though it was slightly rainy when we were there, there is a warmth in the fog. The wind is definitely moist and if you’ve got curly hair- you’re better off avoiding a straitening iron that day.

The Hong Kong Bottanical Garden

5. The terrain of the city, with its hosting Tai Mo Shan Country Park mountains, is definitely steep. The metropolitan skyscrapers are earily framed by mystical green and rocky mountains that hide their heads behind the clouds. Make sure to wear good supportive shoes and visit the botanical gardens that scrape the mountainside.

6. Hong Kong does not escape the diversity of the new millenium and in your one day, you can visit Man Mo Temple, an Islamic Mosque, and a Catholic Church. The Man Mo temple is small but impactful, ironically situated on Hollywood Road tucked between two very modern buildings. The incense spirals are stunning and the smell of spice and offerings feels distinctly separate from the bustling city surrounding its ancient walls.

7. Lastly, I was surprised at how affordable Hong Kong is for a tourist. The attractions are not fraught with high-cost entrance fees (even the botannical garden is free!) and the ease of walking and not having to rely on public transportation means that the only expenses incurred in one day are the cost of the train ride and any food and souvenirs. My entire visit was only $25 dollars, but the memories were definitely priceless.

Related posts:

1. While Traveling In… India
2. While Traveling In… Nepal
3. That one time in India

The Bone Chandelier at Sedlec Ostuary

There is a small town outside of Prague (Czech Republic), reachable by train, called “Kutná Hora.” At one point in its history, this small neighbor competed with Prague economically. Still part of “Bohemia” and now the Czech Republic, this lesser famous town is only worth the visit if you’ve got the time. I certainly wouldn’t recommend missing part of Prague in order to see it.

The main reason to visit this quaint little town is that it has some amazing photo opportunities. In November, which is when I visited, the streets were deserted. It felt like a ghost town, but the absence of humans made the layers of fog and chill seem more crisp and made the glossy streets and multi-colored trees seem like a painting you were magically given permission to walk through.

The site I particularly came to see was the Sedlec Ostuary, called Kostnice Sedlec in Czech. For our part, we call it “The Bone Church.” With an exciting history that includes ties to “Black Death” and thousands of graves, If you’re not freaked out by piles of bones, then this place is a spooky yet fascinating display for you to see.

Church workers infamously constructed piles of bones from the many bodies originally buried in the area as well as a family coat of arms (ironic?) and a chandelier. This leaves the place looking like permanent Halloween art installation.

Just a short walk from the train station you arrive at, you’ll need to ask one of the station staff for a small map to tell you how to get to the Church. It’s about a mile or so walk, with small town charm to feast your eyes on as you stroll. The train to get back to Prague comes every two hours, and since you don’t need a reservation to ride in either direction, you can peruse at your leisure.

If I’m being honest, I will say that the church is much smaller than you think it would be. The information cards they give you (translated into many languages) are not particularly well-written or informative, but give you some context for what you’re looking at. The tell-tale souvenir skulls that you can purchase as well as the “flatten a penny” machines made the church feel less than holy. But the pictures you get… they can’t be beat.

The surrounding graveyard is also rather picturesque as it is quite small and surrounded by fields of colorful trees. I was impressed by the local devotion to making sure that no grave was flowerless or forgotten.

Overall, I enjoyed (but was underwhelmed by) my extremely brief visit to the small town of Kutná Hora. It was a cheap & fast train (about 1 hour & US $20 from Prague), an extremely picturesque view along the way, and a wonderful treat for my camera’s lens when I arrived. I was lucky enough to have plenty of free time, otherwise I would have passed.

To see more pictures from this interesting locale, check out my FlickR page: HERE

Related posts:

1. A Review| Bhaktapur, Nepal
2. A Review| Phokara, Nepal
3. While Traveling In… Hong Kong

Patty and I did the entire Triangle in 36 hours, thank you very much. And if you are ever considering doing something similar in the future, I am telling you right now… DON’T.

Let me explain.

To get from Delhi to Agra (home of the Taj Mahal), Patty and I decided to share a taxi with two lovely girls that we met at our hostel. The four of us packed into an air conditioned sedan and met our driver at 5:30 in the morning. After naps in the car, we arrived at the Taj close to four hours later. It was epic and monumental and everything you’d ever hope it would be (more on that by clicking HERE). While Agra Fort is another popular destination in the area, we knew that there was a larger one back in Delhi (the Red Fort), and that we had to get on the road.

Patty and I arranged for another private taxi to drive us the almost 5 or 6 hours it takes to get from Agra to Jaipur. In case you don’t have a calculator handy, that’s 11 hours in one day in a taxi on the crazy streets of India.

Standing in front of an absolutely stunning masterpiece

We had a very difficult time reaching our contact in Jaipur, so we just crossed our fingers that we’d make it into town and somehow the stars would align and we’d find him when we arrived. The good news is, we did find him after an extremely exhaustive attempt at using multiple cell phones and numerous numbers. We met Kaushl’s brother (remember him from THIS entry in Nepal?); his name is Dewang. He graciously met our taxi and drove us to his friends house.

Unfortunately that’s where things got a bit sour. The gentleman’s house that we went to was nowhere near the old city we were hoping to see. He spoke no English and was just plain awkward. At one point he literally attempted to convince us to fly off the roof with him. It wasn’t fun.

The next morning we decided we didn’t want to stay another night and risk continued discomfort in the city- so we decided to high-tail our butts back to Delhi. We didn’t want to spend another $100 on a taxi, so we had Dewang book us “sleeper tickets” on a train. Paying a little extra for a rush order, we found ourselves with about 4 hours to explore all of Jaipur. Impossible. We decided to focus on the most important part- the City Palace (which was gorgeous).

The lattice and pink architecture of Jaipur

After taking many a picture, Dewang escorted us to the Jaipur train station. If you’ve never experienced riding the trains in India, then you haven’t experienced India. Sprawling and massive and scary and full of noise, there was not a more overwhelming option for us to choose for the final leg of our whirlwind journey through the Golden Triangle. Mice ran at our feet, stinky men stared and invaded our space, and we just prayed we’d make it back alive.

Six grueling hours later, we rolled into Delhi station. There are three stations in Delhi, by the way. We had arrived at the one opposite the one we had told our taxi to meet us at. So we waited… By ourselves… At the Old Delhi train station. Rats. Bats. Men and women urinating right in front of us. What’s not to love?

How about the taxi ride back to the hostel? We had an extremely long drive (because we’d gone to the farthest possible station), and the van pickup almost ran out of gas. So we had to drive around looking for a fill-up. At 1am. The drivers are crazy, remember, so inevitably we hit a big bump and I went sailing up and cracked my head into the roof of the van.

At that point in the journey- I just lost it. I cried uncontrollably in a van while Patty attempted to comfort me and the driver and hostel staff person asked if I should be taken to the hospital. After Patty confirmed that I didn’t have a concussion, I just begged them to (safely) get us home.

Stepping foot into Nirvana Hostel was like coming home, after all. We marched right into our room, I crawled into the shower and just CLEANED myself. I believe Patty’s favorite quote that I sobbed from the shower was “I… just… like… need SO much soap.”

The good news is, that was the low point of the entire trip we’ve had abroad. It’s over and done with and we experienced it and learned from it. There will be more blogs about specific sites we enjoyed afterwards- because there were quite a few that are breathtaking.

The point of this particular entry is that adding haste into an already stressful travel journey between three cities in five days was not a good choice. I don’t know that I wanted much more time in India, at least not on this visit. But I do wish that I hadn’t rushed us so much. I do wish that I’d taken the time that India deserves.

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