Hong Kong

Hong Kong has been a lovely change of pace from the rest of China. Where Beijing was a (*cough*) polluted place to get stuck in a crowd of people shoving to get on an not-quite-sufficient subway system, in Hong Kong, it's been easy to breathe, easy to navigate through a line, and easy to catch the subway just about anywhere. We managed to get our laundry done without having it bleached or discolored, we've been drinking the tap water with no ill effects, and we have yet to encounter people trying to run away with our empty water bottles (which are worth a few cents if you recycle them).



If we were to live in a city in China, we would live in Hong Kong.



Yet for all it's niceties, Hong Kong isn't very memorable. In short, the city seems more Western than Asian, and more familiar than foreign.



Not that we're complaining. After 24 days of seeing the rest of China at a very rapid pace, we needed to rest up and prepare for the next leg of the trip: India. We've picked up our plane tickets to Calcutta, bought a new camera to replace the stolen one, and received a package at the post office (thanks Mom and Dad Stevens!). Also, Marita recovered from her tummy bug, we bought new clothing, and uploaded pics to the blog, so I think that we're ready to move on to the subcontinent.



And hey -- computers here can actually access our website! No more censorship of Dean!



Actually, we did get to do some fun stuff around town as well. We spent lots of time exploring the Kowloon peninsula and the Central area of Hong Kong Island, and visited the peak overlooking downtown this afternoon. The food here's been really nice, and the weather lovely, if a bit humid. Thanks much to Ash and Raymond for the hot tips on places to check out. I wish that we had more time to explore!



We're off to Kolkata tomorrow. Next time you hear from us, we'll be dodging taxi touts near the ghats of the Hooghly. Wish us luck!



(On a jinx-inducing side note, my stomach was the only one on our tour to escape both diarrhea and vomiting. Stomach of Steel!)