When our plane arrived at Hong Kong on Saturday, the airport was closed, the result of heavy traffic due to typhoon-induced delays, and complete insanity. We were re-routed to Taipei, the last place I thought I'd see again so soon. I left Canada looking for something on this trip, though I can't tell you what it was, and as I watched the sparkling lights of Taiwan's East coast grow nearer, I couldn't help but think that maybe I'd already found it.
We spent 7 hours in the Taipei airport. Rachel argued with immigration for a while before finally being allowed to remain in Taiwan rather than endure a pointless commute to Hong Kong and back. The trade off was that she couldn't have her bags. I landed at around midnight and found my way to my friend Dustin's apartment. He lives at the university, in a shared room with a Dane named Lars and a Sri Lankan monk whose approval of a female houseguest I was weary about, though he was genuinely pleasant to me while I was there. Lars had bedbugs, the toilet didn't work. The absence of air conditioning or a fan was troublesome, and the bed was rock hard, but after my 31 hour journey I was simply happy to be there and spent the night dreaming of cake.
We visited Lamma island, charting our hike around the car-free islet by playing rock paper scissors and were rewarded at the end by a dip in the ocean. We had to work our way through a pile of garbage and Dustin swears he saw floating poo, but it felt too good to be enveloped in the waters of the South China Sea again. The next day I chose to check out Mongkok, Kowloon, and got a stunning view of the city from Victoria Peak. I spent some quality time with myself in Hong Kong Park, a lush oasis of green goodness in the middle of overwhelming urbanity. I made friends with a woman and her teddy bear and with a girl who was photographing a delicate porcelain doll in various poses around the park. I met Dustin and some of his local friends at a karaoke bar which played music videos featuring Dustin and by this point was feeling Hong Kong-ed out. Hong Kong is a fascinating, albeit overwhelming place.
I caught the ferry to Macau this morning and made friends with a Filipino man named Robert who assisted me in finding my way to the airport without having to pay. I found my hostel on Soi Rambutri with ease, and am unsure as to how to describe my first impressions of Bangkok. I don't think I can make any fair judgments yet, because I'm exhausted and all I can think about is that all of the backpackers look the same (although I'm sure by tomorrow I will be equally decked out in beach bum gear) and how great it is that I can get pad thai on the side of the road for a dollar. Part of me wants to go wild on Kho San road tonight drinking alcohol out of a bucket, but another part of me feels kind of old and realizes that I've entered a different realm of life. I think I will save my energy for when it counts.
