The next couple of days I ended up checking out all that Kowloon had to offer, with a walk around the touristy Tsim Sha Tsui and Hong Kong’s Avenue of the Stars along the boardwalk one morning. After strolling around looking at the various attractions, a quick train trip then took me out to Sha Tin where the Ten Thousand Buddha Monastery lies. The top of the peak holds an already impressive collection of tiny Buddhas, but your trek up the hill is just as entertaining with the entire path lined with an amazing collection of buddhas in various positions and incarnations.

I also managed to have a look at the many different types of markets that Kowloon is home to such as the famous Temple Street night markets, bustling with tourists and probably one of the only places you’re likely to get a bargain on things in Hong Kong. Other markets that I visited included the Yuen Po Street Bird Garden (despite all the avian flu going around), and the Tung Choi Street Market (also known as the Ladies market).

When I was planning for this holiday, I realised that Hong Kong is a busy city, and because in some ways I wanted to get away from what I can get back in London, I ended up booking a separate hotel for the second part of my stay in Hong Kong. So for the second part of my week in Hong Kong, I stayed at the Silvermine Beach Hotel on Lantau Island, one of the only hotels I could find on this particular Island on the Internet that wasn’t near the airport. Lantau is a beautiful and more pristine Island compared to Hong Kong Island and Kowloon and has many walking trails that I had planned on taking. Unfortunately the amazing humidity built up to the point where the sky burst open for almost literally a day and made it quite difficult to go on the trails since I had little wet weather gear. Instead I ended up taking the bus ride up to the Po Lin Monastery, home of the Tian Tan Buddha Statue that towers over the entire island. Amazingly lush green landscapes surround the bus on its trip there and it is a nice way to see a different side to Hong Kong.

I really enjoyed all the different aspects that Hong Kong has to offer, and the different types of Chinese food I consumed were simply delightful. It was a great week long trip but it was nice to finally arrive back in Brisbane. More pictures from my stay can be found here.