At last, warmth.

Off the plane I stepped onto Athenian soil, a balmy 18 degrees. The plan was simple enough. I was to make my way to the CouchSurfing meeting at the Barrio Cafe in the centre of Athens and act out the character of the traveller with the lost documents, appealing to the CS Ambassadors.

When I stepped off the metro in Athens Central, I got lost. All the tiny streets going in every which direction, disorientated me rather badly and I ended up wandering around in the night looking for streets which I was supposed to turn up. I sat Wedown on a wall to try and reorganise myself when I was approached by Mike, a Canadian and fellow CouchSurfer. He told me that he had been in Athens for about a week and also the year prior, offering to help me find where I needed to go. Unfortunately, he was just about as useless as the map I was using and it ended up being me who found the Cafe in the end. It was good to have someone to talk to, though – you never know how dangerous these places are at night.

Arriving at the cafe, I staged my act to the first ambassador I saw, Lena. She was much less stressed than I had hoped and the joke kind of faded into nothing. Basically she said that I could sort it all out in the morning. When she found out it was a joke, she kicked me repeatedly in the leg yelling “LIAR!!”. Soon afterwards, I found my host for the first two nights in Athens, Vanessa, and later we headed back to her place, a huge apartment about seven metro stops out of central Athens.

The following day I had agreed to meet up with Mike to check out some of the sights. The first stop was the western world’s most prominent historical place, the Acropolis. We began to walk up the hill and came to a place which had a pretty good view over the city.

View over Athens

Further up we walked, I had an arguement with the ticket office lady over my student ID which has no expiry date on it, and after paying more than I wanted to, we were inside the complex. The main structure which everyone comes to see in the Acropolis is the Panthenon, a huge columned building which was covered in scafholding, my new pet hate. I thought that maybe I had come in a bad time, being winter, but later found out that the scafholding had been on there for 25 years and they were nowhere near ready to take it down. This was confirmed through seeing a number of photos of the Acropolis which all seemed to have been taken in the late 70s.

Panthenon

Down below the Panthenon is the Theatre of Dionysus.

Theatre of Dionysus

After seeing these two amazing sights, we walked back down the hill and checked out some more crazy ruins which I can’t remember the name of.

Lunch was had, then Mike decided that he should probably get back to his hostel and start packing as he was going to head back to Israel (where he was working or attending school or something) that evening. So we parted ways and I decided that I was going to walk up to the top of the Filopappou Hill.

On the way up I passed the Jail of Socrates.

Socrates Jail

Soon I made it to the top. The temple was less impressive than it had looked from a distance (though still cool) but the view of the Acropolis was pretty amazing.

Filopappou Monument

View of the Acropolis

On the way back I walked down through Pynx and past the Ancient Agora, but unfortunately it was closed. That was first on the agenda for the following day. I headed back to Vanessa’s place and that night we hung out, chatting about classic cars (she drove in a Citroen 2CV rally across europe) and good music and such.

Vanessa had friends coming to stay for the next few days, so this meant I had to leave the following morning. But it was ok, I had arranged to stay with Lena, the woman who was kicking me, and her seven year old son, Angelos, so I headed out to her place which was on the opposite side of Athens. Once set up there, I headed back into the centre as the Ancient Agora was calling me. There I met a Chinese American guy who was also travelling alone. Once again I was asked for directions in a city I know very little about, but this time I knew where I was going as he was going to the same place.

We hung out, walking around the ancient ruins, with the most impressive part definitely being the Temple of Hephaistos and Athena.

Temple of Hephaistos and Athena

From here I wandered down towards my last ancient site, the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

The following day I visited the Museum of Archeology which was pretty amazing, although you can really see only so many marble statues, no matter how impressive they are. They also had a pretty good Egyptian collection and a gallery of Greek vases, none of which I recognised from my 7th form Classics class. After this was my time to check out all the crazy markets and shops which Athens has to offer. A jersey and backgammon set were bought, then I headed home.

The night Lena, her son, and I attended a CouchSurfing meeting in a local park which included crazy games, moonlight backgammon, and a small party at Lena’s upon return. Wine was served from 1.5 litre plastic bottles which looked like they should have contained meths. I thought the Grecians would have more pride in their wine considering ethey had a god devoted entirely to it.

The next day it was time to leave, I was heading for Rome but the mission was long. At first I was ripped off by a taxi driver, not by much, to get to the correct bus station to leave for Patras. On top of my fair he charged me for luggage and for the fact that I called him to come!! At the bus station I ran around like crazy with not much time to spare, only finding my bus at the last minute.

After a three hour bus ride, I arrived in Patras, with enough time to get myself on the Superfast ferry to Bari in Italy. Now this was an ordeal. Firstly, I went to the cabin which my ticket stated. There were two guys in there who started yelling at me about “reception! Reception!”. I so went to the reception to find that my ticket was wrong (like everybody’s) and got given a new cabin. I was alone in a 4 bed cabin which was nice, until aout 1:30 am which a bunch of children busted in and woke me up. The guard then made me get up, pack my stuff and go back to the reception again, to which they sent me back to the room. Now around 2am, I was back in the cabin with no children, but had gained the loudest snoarer in history. I managed to get back to sleep, only to be woken two hours early by the other guy in my cabin going on about us almost being at Bari.

Two hours later we were at Bari. I got off the ferry, became comfused for a while, then took a taxi to the train station, but not after being accosted by a random guy who wanted to take me there for five Euro – not in your random car!

In Bari I had a few hours to kill, so I headed to the tourist information centre, got a map and decided to check out the Old Town. There were town walls which you could walk upon.

Bari City Walls

And a large church.They also had a castle which was pretty cool and had been rebuilt and extended many times over the years.

Bari Castle

Soon it was time for the train to Rome, so off I headed and by that evening, I was ready to sleep!

Hong Kong – Day One

I arrive in Hong Kong’s new airport (which I have just heard is sinking!) after an 11 hour flight from Auckland only to discover that at 10pm, the temperature is still a balmy 29 degrees. If I thought I was going to have to wait until I got to Scandinavia to experience a sauna, then I was wrong. On top of the torrid heat, the humidity must have been the closest to 100 that I had ever experienced… and this was only the beginning.

I was picked up at the airport by Dad’s friend George’s younger sister named Vanessa (and some man who I can only assume was her boyfriend or husband). After an interesting drive along the brightly lit Hong Kong motorway we finally reached Kowloon Peninsula and the neighbourhood of Tsim Sha Tsui where I was to be dropped at the Ramada Hotel. It was nice enough, and the cool air was incredibly refreshing after being outside – I think this is why everyone in Hong Kong is constantly shopping, to keep indoors and stay out of the heat! By the time I got to sleep it was almost 4a.m. NZ time and I was exhausted.

Hotel room view

I woke early to discover that the view from the hotel room was not the prettiest. But that was cool, I wasn’t there to stare out the windows naked. The first thing I did was to explore the local area. I was amazed at the sheer number of both neon signs and indian men chasing me down the street, trying to measure me up for a suit which I ‘could not travel without’.

The day was hot, in fact it was the hottest day that Hong Kong has recorded so far this year. Not only did two people die from heat exhaustion, but I couldn’t for the life of me figure out why it seemed to feel like it was raining. Then I discovered the source. Water all over the ground was puddling up as a result of the constant dripping of apartment air conditioners which were attached high upon the sides of buildings.

I decided it was time to get out of the heat, and after a short walk I found myself at the Hong Kong Museum of Art.

 

Hong Kong Museum of Art

I had found my refuge from the inferno outside and was glad to have a seat as well. All that walking (in jandals by the way) was beginning to put a strain on my precious feet. Along side an international exhibition there were galleries showing the history of Chinese calligraphy and also of the importance and evolution of the figure of the horse in Chinese art and culture. Unfortunately I did not not spend much more than 2 hours here as there was much more to be seen and I only had two days.

 

Hong Kong Island

 

My next stop was Hong Kong Island, and to get there I decided to ride the famous Star Ferry across from Kowloon.  After a ten minute sea voyage to rival only Fullers, we were docked at Hong Kong Island Central, Hong Kong’s playground for the rich shopoholic. Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton were all in direct eye view, along with hundred of other shops selling items which I could neither afford nor wanted. None the less, I decided to explore the area and was pleasantly surprised that these super-shops disappeared after a short walk up the hill. Behind this expensive shopping area was the complete opposite, an area full of rich-smelling restaurants and colourful street vendors selling everything from fruit and toys to key cutting and boot polishing services.

 

Street Vendors on Hong Kong Island

Following this hike amoungst the back hills of Hong Kong Central, I decided that I would venture into the subway. I was sweating like something that shouldn’t sweat, so lucky for me the subway stations were air conditioned. With quick decision on the mind, I bought a ticket to Wan Chai, a suburb only a few minutes down the line. May I say here that the Hong Kong subway is the most efficient and easiest public transport system I have ever used (not that I have used many). The main reason for this trip was to visit Golden Buahinia Square and after a short trip and a lot of walking by the means of following signs that did not exist, I was lost. Luckily for me, a woman who worked in property services for a large building was able to direct me in the right direction and in fifteen minutes I had found the square which was built to commemorate the handing over of Hong Kong from the British to the People’s Republic of China. There in the centre stood the Golden Buahinia, and behind it; two red flags, none of which I really took notice of. I think the heat was starting to get to me.

 

Golden Buahinia Square

I had killed enough time now, and it was about time for me to do what I had come to Hong Kong Island for in the first place – to ascend The Peak. The Peak sits high up in the hills behind the bustling city of Hong Kong Island. Home to a small number of serious mountain climbing enthusiasts, The Peak first gained public access in 1888 when some Scottsman by the name of which I can remember decided to run a tramline up to the, well, peak. I decided that there was no better way to experience life as it was than take this tram. The visitor information says that the incline is 27 degrees; it felt to be much more, reminding me of the initial climb of a roller coaster before it launches into madness. Unfortunately for the speed demon inside me, once the tram met the peak, it stopped and everyone got off.

 

The Peak Tram

The next step was to climb to the top of the observation deck. From here you could see what felt like the entirety of Hong Kong city. The view was amazing, and as night fell and I ate an expensive and poorly made Thai red curry, that amazing turned into spectatular – even if I had to purchase a second observation deck ticket.

 

Hong Kong from The Peak

 

Hong Kong from The Peak at Night

I had seen what I had set out for. Hong Kong from above both at day and at night. It was time to call it bedtime for me, and after a short walk to the Central station, followed by a swift subway ride, I was back in Tsim Sha Tsui. Then I was lost. Again. Nevertheless, after almost walking back to the ferry terminal I found my hotel. I was sunburnt, my jandals were as thin as paper and were killing my feet and I was tired as a sloth. The slumber calls.

P.S. If anyone is actually going to read this, don’t expect everything to be that long. I’ve just been killing a day relaxing after being awake an uncountable number of hours. In future I might just pull out the exciting stuff!