My Around the World Adventure: Greetings from Hong Kong (HONG KONG)

I have decided I prefer Hong Kong to Ho Chi Minh City. I arrived early this morning after taking a 5:00 AM flight from Saigon. It is not that I wanted to get out of town early, but that is the only United Airlines flight from Saigon to Hong Kong. The plane was packed! I enjoyed my days in Saigon, but the inability to do much walking around the city limited my ability to see as much as I would have liked to. It is a fascinating and exotic city, which I continued to look at through the lens of the late 60's and early 70's. It is hard to imagine that we had any interest in being there and fighting a war for as long as we did. It is now certainly a vibrant city with a great deal of potential. The sad reality, however, is that it seems all of the money goes either to the Communist Party or its members who benefit most from the development taking place in the city, and country.

And now it is Hong Kong, a city I visited more than 20 years ago when it was still one of the Commonwealth countries. It is certainly a major world class city. In the short time I have been here, I revisited some of the sites I did 20 years ago. There is a lot more here, including a new airport and many more skyscrapers. It is a booming city and on the move. I guess I am a big city kind of guy at heart. Who knew!

One other piece of news, I decided it is time to go home and start packing for my move to Chicago. I have enjoyed every aspect and moment of my travels since early January, but it is time to go home. I cancelled my plans to visit Beijing and Vancouver, cities I have already visited, and to return to Boston on Saturday. I am looking forward to being home, even for the short time I will have left in Boston. I will move to Chicago in early July to begin my new job on July 15th. As I have already told a few friends in Boston, prepare the fatted calf!

Until then, some photos from Hong Kong...

I think the skyline of Hong Kong rivals that of NYC.

The hills of the New Territories in the distance.

One of the boats of the famous Star Ferry Line whose ferries traverse Hong Kong Harbor.

A tour boat sampan cruising the harbor.

One of the locals on her personal sampan.

The promenade along the Kowloon side of Hong Kong harbor is called the Avenue of Stars. Like Hollywood, there are stars on the ground with cement impressions of the hands of movie stars or simply their names. Dotted along the promenade are little displays such as these and sculptures with a cinematic theme which you will soon see.