Hong Kong Solo Travel | 2 Night Stopover

After deliberating whether to stop at Singapore or Hong Kong on my way to Australia, I finally decided Hong Kong and booked the flight. I assumed the language barrier would be much greater in Hong Kong than Singapore, so the thought of being alone in Hong Kong frightened me a little. Therefore I decided to step out of my comfort zone and book two nights in Hong Kong. If it doesn’t scare you, you’re not pushing yourself out of your comfort zone right? 

I flew from London Heathrow on the 22nd October 2018, which took 12 hours to Hong Kong International Airport. On arrival, I had already pre-booked my airport shuttle bus via Expedia with Vigor. There are lots of alternatives to airport shuttles. You can catch the metro or take a taxi. However, I wanted my transport planned and ready for when I got there, as it would be one less thing for me to worry about. Vigor were really easy to use. They have a stand inside the airport arrivals, so it’s very easy to find them. You then sit and wait until your bus arrives, then on you pop with the other passengers and go to your hotel/hostel! I also pre-booked my return with Vigor. The transfer to and from the hotel cost me £23.38 through Expedia, which is pretty cheap I’d say! I’m not sure if it would be cheaper to catch the train, but to save the hassle and stress, £23.38 was completely worth it. 

The transfer from the airport to my hotel on Hong Kong Island took around 45 minutes. I booked my stay at the Best Western Hotel Harbour View. Trying to find a reasonably priced hotel was quite difficult. The Best Western seemed the best price for the location and amenities. I paid £108 for 2 nights stay in a standard double room. My room included a view of the harbour which was amazing. I also received free Wi-Fi. However, had to pay for breakfast which wasn’t great for the price. I paid 160 HK dollars for 2 mornings for a very limited and weird selection. 

I arrived at my hotel early evening, so decided to have a wonder around to get a feel of the area. One thing that worried me about HK and does in any location, is how safe it is. Especially for a female solo traveller. I headed out with my backpack on which I had padlocked the zips and a money pouch under my t-shirt. But really, there was no need for that level of consciousness. I never felt threatened or unsafe in HK. Obviously, still use your common sense. Don’t keep all of your money in one place, don’t walk down unlit streets etc. But those rules go for any place when travelling!

After walking around endlessly trying to find a place to eat (or pluck up the courage to go into a HK restaurant), I got pulled into a restaurant by a lady and got sat at a table. Which I’m glad she did as I would have backed out and ended up in McDonalds. I was the only tourist and stood out like a sore thumb, especially when everyone was using chop sticks to eat and I was using a spoon! The language barrier resulted in me not receiving part of what I ordered and instead receiving rice, fried squid and an iced tea. I’m not complaining, it was lovely and the best egg fried rice I’ve ever tasted! Eating in a restaurant in a different country is an experience in itself. The different foods they eat, the cutlery (if any), people praying and the social aspect. In total, the meal cost 134 HK dollars which is around £13.20. I then bought 2 cans of Tiger lager from the shop and retired to my hotel room which set me back 15 HK dollars (which is around £1.50, bargain!)

To get around HK, I walked everywhere. Which isn’t the greatest idea as it was 27 degrees. I didn’t realise how humid HK was until I was 40 minutes away from the hotel wearing black leggings and a jumper and lumping my medium sized backpack around. HK have a Metro which I’ve heard is fairly easy to use. However, I would have not stumbled across some of the beautiful hidden treasures I did if I wasn’t on foot. I used Maps on my iPhone to get around. Although I didn’t use any data, you can still use the map and figure your own way if you have your location services switched on. You can see where you are in comparison to the things around you and co-ordinate your own way. Don’t get me wrong, my co-ordination isn’t great so I ended up going the long way round most of the time. There’s so many different smells as you walk around HK, mostly the smell of fish coming from shops that I can only describe sold dried out fish and other things like pigs ears. I walked down a street of around 20 shops which all sold these items and were always busy with customers. I wanted to ask how they were cooked or if they were just eaten raw but no one spoke great English. So if you know, please let me know! If you are sensitive to the site of dead animals, don’t let it be a shock when you see animals hanging in shop windows and on the streets. I sat eating one meal across from a shop with a dead hanging pig in the doorway. 

I was never aware of how well known HK is for it’s shopping. I stumbled across the IFC Mall which is huge (it’s 2 separate buildings). The majority of shops I saw were very high end and designer, which goes for the airport shops too! New to the IFC mall was a Shake Shack, which I haven’t had since New York, so I had to treat myself! The Shake Shack meal cost 110 HK dollars.

Hong Kong was my first destination going solo, so will definitely stay with me forever. It was fun to step out of my comfort zone and experience a different culture. If you’re interested further in my trip to Hong Kong, please check out my vlog:- https://youtu.be/SR48FMU5ulc. I will be doing a separate blog post on what I got up too in Hong Kong, all free! Perfect for the budget traveller. 

Other useful information:

• The plugs are the same as we get in the UK, three pronged. 
• My doctor advised me not to drink the tap water in Hong Kong however reading on the internet, it states it’s safe to drink. So it’s totally up to you, but my hotel supplied bottled water anyway so I stuck with that. 
• Arriving into HK you will be required to fill out an arrival card. Make sure you do this before you get in the queue for passport control, like I did! 
• If you feel water dripping on you in the streets, don’t worry, it’s just the air con units!