a backpacker in hong kong

Last Friday I decided I would be a backpacker in Hong Kong. I had a twenty-four hour layover on my way to New York. I had been to Hong Kong before as a shopper, a tourist, a researcher and a trainee, so I decided to explore the city from a different angle.

Before landing in HK, I did some research on budget accommodations. I learned that if it’s price you’re after, you either stay at one of the guesthouses in Chungking Mansions or Mirador Mansions on Nathan Road. Both “mansions” (soon-to-be-condemned buildings really) house multiple “guesthouses” which were former one-bedroom apartments converted into fifteen-bedroom hostels. All the reviews I read were unanimous in the verdict that the accommodations were shocking --- grimy, rat/cockroach-infested, windowless, with rooms only fit for Lilliputians and bathrooms where you shower on top of the toilet.

I have stayed in many under $10/night rooms but none of them were half as bad as these rooms sounded. So I decided to play it safe for my sanity and safety. I opted for a “mid-tier” backpacker option, Lee Garden Guesthouse which was, well, overpriced ($45 for a single!) for what it was…a tiny, tiny room with one itty-bitty little window. (Don’t be deceived by the link. My room was a third the size.) However, I did have a functioning A/C, hot water, a microscopic television and my own phone. Also, it was extremely clean and the staff was helpful and friendly.

In backpacker mode, I took the bus instead of the Airport Express from HKIA to the city. It cost one-third the price and it took only 45 minutes to the guesthouse’s doorstep. I wandered around; I entered a noodle shop and randomly pointed at an item on the menu. Wrong move. I ended up with beef brain noodle soup. I tried a sliver of brain…it tasted pretty good until I remembered…Hong Kong…ex-British colony…mad cow disease and quickly put my fork down. In the evening, I watched the free light and sound show in the harbour, which apparently holds the Guinness World Record for the “World’s Largest Permanent Light and Sound Show.” Whoopeedoo. It was boring and bad for the environment. Al Gore would not be pleased.

But to be honest, way before the evening light and sound show, I got tired of walking the streets in the heat and humidity and succumbed to temptation. I let go of the backpacker dream and shopped like a true Filipino in Hong Kong.