July 27-29, 2014

DANANG and HONG KONG

It’s July 29, 2014, and as I write this we are sitting in the Hong Kong airport getting ready for our return flight to Seattle. We can’t believe our trip is coming to an end and we are a little relieved to be heading for home. It’s been a few days since we’ve written anything – so this will be a multi-day post. I’m not sure if it’s the last or not…it depends on how many topics I get to before boarding the plane.

Vietnam – in one word…INCREDIBLE. We feel a little guilty that we didn’t get out and explore more, but spending downtime at the beach was so good for us…but maybe not our skin as Dawn and Xixi got pretty bad sunburns. Xixi set a personal record and was in the water for a total of 9 hours (6 hours straight). Danang City was so relaxed and welcoming – we had a few really good conversations with restaurant staff as they practiced their English. We couldn’t have been happier with the resort and hope to return their one day and to explore the North and South of Vietnam as well. The resort’s guests were truly international and had all come to Vietnam hearing how hospitable and beautiful the country was. Although we looked forward to home, we all could have used another day at the beach.

Danang, Vietnam

It wasn’t possible to align the flights from Danang – Hong Kong – Seattle in a single day, so we had another layover in Hong Kong. We arrived late Monday night to Hong Kong and our flight to Seattle didn’t depart until 9:00 the following evening. So, we had a nearly a full day to explore Hong Kong before needing to be at the airport.

We decided to take the train into Hong Kong Island and to ride the Peak Tram to the highest hill in the Hong Kong to take in the views. This was our first significant time in Hong Kong and it was really fun to get out and explore on our own. We slept in, left our bags with the hotel and then headed into the city. Downtown Hong Kong is crazy and we all enjoyed fighting the crowds as we navigated our way to the Tram. We had grabbed a map from the concierge and used it to find our way. The street signs were also plentiful…but not necessarily helpful (good thing some passing strangers were nice to us).

Hong Kong

The views from the tram ride were fun and fighting the crowds in order to ensure our place in line, while exhausting, is also part of the experience. We didn’t have a lot of time, so we got to the peak, looked around, snapped some photos and then went back down the hill.

Some of you know my fondness for good craft beer. Let’s just say that 25 straight days of no other option than mediocre Chinese lagers was getting to me and I was a little thirsty. On the flight from Danang, I had read about Hong Kong’s fledgling craft beer community. I noted the location names and addresses and then somehow convinced the family that we needed to visit one. The family was great and didn't complain at all about being pulled along on the quest. We decided to check out a pub that featured both international and Hong Kong beers for a late lunch. It was really fun trying to track down the pub through the twisting side streets of Hong Kong. We found it without too much difficulty and were rewarded with some great food and even better beer. I sampled a few options from an up-and-coming local brewery called “young master.”   The pub owner was really nice and we geeked out on beer talk, while the family put up with it. I usually buy a pint glass from the craft breweries we visit…and he didn’t sell them, but he gave me a “young master” branded glass as a souvenir.

We wrapped up our lunch and then wound our way back through Hong Kong to the train station. We made it back in plenty of time to claim our luggage, change clothes and go through immigration. I’m running out of time now…so maybe another post will be written while we are in the air.

This is not the post we want to end such an exceptional journey, but we did want to capture what we did for the last three days. At least one more post will follow…it will probably be written back in Seattle in the next day or so when we all wake up at 2:00 in the morning…unable to sleep and recovering from jet lag. 

Next stop - a short layover in Taipei and then Seattle.