Up in the sky and back on solid ground

Hong Kong, Taichung and Taipei, 10.8. 2012

Did I tell you my flights alone took 31 hours?
Since I was flying via Hong Kong, the 11 hour waiting propeled me into the city and up in the sky again, since I wanted to see what The Peak looks like. I took the fast train into town, which took me just 25 minutes with the airport expess, leaving me time to explore the streets. I of course had to see the worlds longest covered escalator in all of it's 800 m, although I had some trouble finding it :)
After that I enjoyed a walk along the main street in the centre with all the locals staring at me,
which is becoming a recurring theme here in Asia.
I walked over to the Peak tram which took us up the biggest hill in the city and layed us off in front of an anvil - shaped building with a 360 degrees platform. The view - the best in Hong Kong :)
Some of you may know - I have a thing for picniks on top of buildings ;)
So yes I had one there with people staring again...

I did have a slight problem breathing at first, due to the humid air. It also rains all the time, so if I was laughing at the with the umbrellas at first, I began to understand now. Half of the time it was against the sun and half of the time against the rain... In Slovenia we have this fable My umbrella can be a baloon. Kept thinking about, how apropriate it would be to swich that just a little :)

On my way back I wouldn't be me if I didn't stop at the occupy movement in HK, very cosy I might add.
Take a look :)

 And their message to us :) :

Since I didn't have much time, I just walked around to the ferry station and in the tiny streets with little local shops, buying the shot glass my best friend collects that makes it much easier for me to buy souvenirs for her. Barbi, I'm love you :p
After that I hurried to the airport to take on the last part of my journey by air, not knowing the weirdest part of the journey is yet to come :)

From Taichung airport, where I landed, I had to get to Taipei.
Easier said than done, and this picture was in my mind the whole 5 hours it took me :

I'll keep my strugles to myself, but as always on a trip there was a stupid looking grin starting to show on my face and a weird sense that everything was gonna be fine. And so when no one spoke english, I just started chatting up local students on the bus station and they showed me the way, helped me buy a ticket and asked someone to show me which bus to board :) 

Guys, seriously, why ever would you take the fast train if you can take the bus and see the sideways? 

After arriving at my final destination a few hours and 3 bus changes later, I found myself staring at a map again. Not even 10 seconds into that, there was a local asking if I needed help in perfect english with an american accent. My hostel was right across the road and I got my second Call me if you need anything phone number in the last 5 hours :) 

If I wanted to blend in at the beggining of my journey, that thought was totally gone now.