jaspertl

Hi folks,
I’m back and have to say first off that this was WAY the most amazing adventure ever. When we got back from South America we said to one another “where do we go that will ever be as exciting”?.

We were not disappointed in SEA and loved every second of this trip.
All the people that we met along the way were kind and helpful and did their best to help us.

Thank you everyone on this site so very much for all your tips and suggestions. We unfortunately couldn’t eat at every great restaurant suggested by rkk but we did some damage.

Disclaimer: I’ve tried to spell check and made complete sentences but if there are typo’s or misspellings I apologize.

Ok….here goes.
I’m posting mostly comments rather than a diary of every step we took.

1. For those of you concerned with cigarette smoke…we found very little smoking in the countries that we visited. (Thailand, Cambodia, Lao and Hong Kong) I was very concerned about this and pleasantly surprised that it was never a problem. The parks in Hong Kong don’t’ allow smoking…and by the way I’ve never seen a city of this size sparkle the way Hong Kong does…and I don’t mean the neon signs, it’s spotless! No trash anywhere.

AND A TIP!! Be sure and always carry toilet paper and a small amount of money for the loo all over Asia. You’ll find squat toilets in many places and they are pretty easy to use. 1. you go 2. you take the bowl from the water barrel that’s nearby and pour 2 cupfuls into the bowl and 3. whoosh, gravity takes it away. Bring lots of antiseptic handiwipes too. Many times there is no place to wash your hands.

2. On the flight there and back, I watched 5 movies and read 2 books. Our flight from LAX left at 12:05 at night and they served a meal when we got to cruising altitude and then again at breakfast. We flew Cathay Pacific 777 and had our own individual entertainment screen.

They had snacks throughout the flight and free alcohol. (I didn’t indulge) We had a 2 hr. layover in HK before flying on to BK so the total time from LA to BK was 20 hours approx. We were up for 42 hr. before we went to sleep because we up early the morning of the day we left and were running on adrenaline when we got there and stayed up till 8:00 p.m. On the plane, I took Ambian, had the sleep mask ect. ect. but all I could get was about 4 hrs. of sleep. I was too excited.

3 BANGKOK: The Jim Thompson house was mildly interesting. Not a must see IMO. It was pretty, it just didn’t knock me out.

4. Hamonique restaurant was our favorite meal in BK. We ate at “Prime” and found it was mediocre and VERY expensive.

5. I didn’t “get” the mango with sticky rice or the green papaya salad. Our favorite things were noodle soups and the curries.

6. We stayed at the Royal Orchid Sheraton and asked them for an upgrade to the towers. At first they said no, but when I asked again the front desk person spoke with the manager and we were upgraded to the 19th floor.

We loved being by the river and the Sheraton was great although they are still remodeling during the day which didn’t affect us because we were always out.

7. We toured with Nui and Tong. Both great experiences with a highlight of our whole trip and a lifetime experience being our day at the floating market, fishing village and train station with Tong. She’s a hoot…and her zest for life is infectious. We loved her and all the food that she had us taste at the floating market was delicious.

Tong bought iced coffee which I was hesitant to drink but she said it was OK, that she’d brought lots of people and no one has gotten sick. And I didn’t and it was delicious!!!.

Nui was great too. We had her show us BK city because there was so many things that we wanted to see in one day and thought it would be faster to have someone navigate for us. I’m glad we did.

It’s a big city with many different types of transportation and not everyone speaks English. We saw everything that we wanted to see and it was fascinating.

We loved Wat Arun and were surprised at how colorful it is up close. The stairs gave me thigh burn for 3 days. The Royal Palace is majestic.

8. I would have skipped Hong Kong and stayed longer in Lao or Cambodia. Hong Kong is exciting and a beautiful city but it’s a big city.

9. We had foot massages almost every night. I’m not a massage person but “wow” I could get used to that. After walking all day it was really a treat…and very affordable ranging in price from $8-24 American depending on whether you went out of the hotel and which country you were in.

10. Gallery Café had very good food and a nice gift store. I bought a beautiful bracelet there for $15.

11. If you go on a Klong tour, make sure that you ask for the areas that only has the small boats. AND, if you have a guide (Nui or Tong is who we had) have them book it for you. It was ˝ the price that the hotel quoted.

12. If you go to the Teak Mansion, you’ll need long pants or you can rent a wrap skirt for 200 BH refundable deposit.

13. The Marble Temple was under renovation and covered with scaffolding.

14. There are huge 4-5 ft long monitor lizards all over BK by the water. Watch for them.

15. We saw the Princess tooling around in a red mini-cooper. Nui pointed her out and said it’s unusual for royalty to drive their own cars.

16. We went to the Oriental for a drink and a lobby sign said “no shorts”. We (of course) were in shorts but they said no problem and invited us in. I think as long as you look presentable they don’t have a problem.

17. Immigration was easy in all countries. You will need a passport size picture for visas for Cambodia and Lao.

TO BE CONTINUED:

Kathie

Good start!

As you discovered, there are many places that do not allow shorts. It sounds like some places were flexible with you. It is unusual for the Oriental to waive it's no shorts policy.

Craig

Good start, more please...

rhkkmk

i'm so glad that you had a fantastic time....ain't harmonique great??!! i could use some of thier cashew chicken at the moment..

HK is fantastic, but yes it is a huge city, but when you compare it to your other stops it is not nearly as nice....its a trip in itself.. welcome home

jaspertl

Yep Harmonique was a great find...thanks for that!!!

OK so here's some more:
18. CAMBODIA: The Fodors book says that you need a photo for your 3 day Temple pass which is incorrect. They take your photo on the spot and put it on your pass which is $40.US for 3 days.

You will only need american dollars in Cambodia but as it's been stated on this site many times, ONLY BRING CLEAN MONEY! No one will take money that has rips or is excessively worn or dirty.
If you pass it off to someone that lives there they'll be stuck with it because the banks won't accept it. If you have small change due, it will be in cambodian change. (which you can use for the loo)

TIP!!! Be very careful with your pass though as they check it every time you enter the park and if it’s damaged or the ink is ruined by perspiration, they won’t accept it. (Ponheary’s advice) If you bring a little identification plastic card that goes around your neck ribbon thing from home (you know what I mean?) that you can put the pass in that would be great! Then you don’t have to keep pulling it out and it would keep it dry and safe.

19. We had both Ponheary and Dara show us the Temples and they are both wonderful people, knowledgeable and love their country and people.

Don’t skip the silk factory… I found it fascinating. I still have a little silk cocoon in my wallet that I pull out and show everyone how the threads are made from the worms saliva and they eat the mulberry leaves and blah blah...it's much better to see it yourself!!!

20. We loved the Shinta Mani hotel. I didn’t see the other rooms in the hotel but we stayed in a poolside room King bed and it wonderful. This was the softest bed that we slept in the whole trip. The buffet breakfast is fantastic with lots of choices too and included in the price.

21. Tonle Sap lake was very interesting with the stilt houses and boats although the people that live along this lake are very poor and that was difficult. Many of them live right on the river banks and what they catch is what they eat for dinner. We saw a family grilling water snake that they had caught. It looked and smelled really good!

There is only one hospital and the people line up 24 hours a day to see a doctor at the clinic. It’s run by a Swiss doctor who plays the Cello and he gives concerts to raise money. I think they are on Friday night but if interested you might want to check into it.

I brought different types of stickers to give the children (butterflies, happy face, stars etc) easy to pack and they loved them.

22. TIP!!! We took over 1200 photos. (4 GB) (and I was deleting like crazy) so be sure and bring enough memory cards and disks for your movie camera and regular camera. The disks and memory cards that we bought in Cambodia (movie and digital camera) were all defective…. They stopped working about 2/3 of the way through.

23. We love Tiger Beer! We love Angkor Beer! We love Khmer martinis!

24. The Temples were all magnificent but I think Bayon was our favorite. (but maybe Preah Khan and Angkor Thom were?? Heck….I can’t decide) We saw 3 days of Temples and I enjoyed every bit of it. Everyone of them is different and fascinating.

25. TIP!!! When I got to Siem Reap I bought about 5 white long sleeve white gauze cotton shirts with embroidery down the front.. They cost under $4 each and are the best travel shirts I’ve ever had for warm weather. You wash them in the sink at night, squeeze out the moisture and hang. They are dry in about 3-4 hrs. Amazing! I didn’t even wear my ex-officio shirts after I found these. They look sheer but if you wear a natural color bra (vs white) underneath it’s fine. You can’t see through them.

26. We ate at Bopha Angkor, Viroths and Khmer Kitchen (twice) in Siem Reap…all were really good.

27. All the dogs BK, SR and LP seem to be nursing or pregnant (the females I should say) but all of them looked to be fairly well fed.

28. I didn’t do it but thought the pools of water with the fish that give you a “pedicure” was the funniest thing I’d ever seen. They nibble the dead skin off your feet when you immerse them in the water.

29. If you have asthma or congestive problems you might want to rethink this trip. The pollution from the fires that are constantly burning (they burn leaves and trash) are brutal. My friend who’s had asthma since she was a child used her inhaler the whole time she was there and had a very difficult time with compromised breathing.

One of the things that I was amazed at….and it just shows you that I live in a bubble. Lots of times the locals would ask where we were from and we’d say California.

Many looked puzzled and said “in the U.S.A”.?? That blew me away that they weren’t sure where CA was. Even when I said Hollywood they didn’t recognize the name.

It was really refreshing!! Many of them wanted to have a photo taken with us also. And then of course we'd have a photo taken with them.

to be continued:

jaspertl

Leaving Siem Reap for LAO

30. Our flight to Lao had a stop in BK and then on to LP. They serve a meal on every flight. Even the flight to SR from BK had meal service and its only 1 hr.

31. You can put the departure tax on your credit card.

32. They charged an extra $1. for overtime when we got our visa at the Lao airport since we got there on the weekend.

33. Sa-Ba-dee is the how you say hello, good morning, good afternoon in Lao. It’s not spelled correctly (sabaidee is correct) but that’s the way it’s pronounced. We stayed at the Apsara and loved everything about it except the beds were a bit hard.
It’s right on the Nan Kahn river. The rooms are spacious and have lots of places to put your clothes etc. Breakfast was included with the price and consisted of eggs how you like em, fresh fruit, crusty french bread with butter and different types of fruit jams, a huge bubbling pot of coffee and fresh juice.

32. I got up every morning to watch the monks make merit. I saw one small child with his mother. He was kneeling with his own basket and the monks were giving him food out of their baskets. I was told that the very poor villagers will come into town to get food from the monks.

33. I bought about 6 silk embroidered scarfs at the night market. They were under $4. came in lovely jewel colors and made great gifts. I think LP had the best souvenirs of all the places that we visited.

34. We loved the 1 hour ride to the waterfall through the countryside. We saw a man working in the rice paddy’s with his water buffalo. The falls are beautiful and a pretty walk along the river to get to them with many beautiful trees. You can see the Asian bears also and buy a tee shirt to help their cause.

35. We took a boat up the Mekong to the caves the next day and that was very relaxing. It takes about 1 ˝ hrs each way and coming back at sunset was gorgeous.
TIP!!! We thought on the way back that it would have been nice to have a couple of beers for the trip….so I’d suggest picking up a six pack before you leave and putting it on ice for the way back if that appeals to you.

TIP: If you have to use the toilet when you get to the caves, be sure and bring a small amount of money (I think it was 5,000 kip (.58 American) It’s a REALLY LONG WALK UP A HUGE flight of stairs. I forgot money and had to walk all the way back down, and then up again. I wasn’t a happy girl.

Both the caves and the waterfalls was a combined trip and cost $75. U.S. for the 4 of us not including tips. We did them on different days and arranged it though the hotel and they added it to our bill. You’d probably save $10. if you book the boat and driver on your own. The boat that we took held about 20 people and there were only 4 of us and the driver on it.

36. For you ice lovers (like me) you can have ice almost everywhere in Lao. All the restaurants use purified water. Actually I found this to be true in most of the countries. Sometimes it’s even listed on the menu that the ice is OK to drink.

36. We had dinner at Tamarind and loved it. Especially the lemongrass, ginger infused vodka granita that they serve. It’s the best thing I’ve ever had in my life!!!!! Our Aussie waitress Tamara was darling and I’m going to see if she’d be so kind as to give me the recipe. (the food was really good too)
I bought some Tamarind and Coconut Sauce that’s served over ice-cream cake or whatever.

We also had lunch at a restaurant across from 3 Nagas (which we never ate at) called Biblio Café or “Un Petit Nid” really, really good green curry with vegetables.

37. Be sure and go to the morning market. You’ll see things there that are simple beyond. Beautiful vegetables of every color shape and size, fruits that I’ve never seen before and every type of animal/reptile for consumption. Not for the faint hearted by very very intresting.

38. We took some beautiful photos from the top of Phu Si Hill at sunset. It’s a long steep walk up but worth while in my opinion.

39. We had no problem finding ATM machines.

40. Down the road from our hotel there is a bridge made of bamboo where you can cross the river. There were kids swimming everyday and they’d built a makeshift diving board that they were doing back flips off of and just having a great time. The diving board was amazing…it really worked well and was made from bamboo. Their were 2 pole on each side that they would straddle and once to the end...dive or flip or whatever. Make it a point to go see it…. We also walked across the bridge (they charge a small amount) to get a look at the river bank from the opposite side. There are terraced vegetable gardens and its really pretty.

41. If you see them making these little pancake like things on a grill, try one. They kind of look likee coconut pancakes and are delicious. Tong turned us on to them in Bangkok and we're hooked.

I was sorry to say goodbye to Luang Prabang and could have stayed another few days.

To be continued….

jaspertl

Hong Kong.
We spent the next night at the Novotel by the airport. After we got off the plane we took the shuttle over to the hotel and checked in. They have a beautiful pool, even if you don’t swim, take a look. We ate in the hotel restaurant. Not memorable. Up early the next morning for our flight to Hong Kong.

All the planes on this trip were on time. No delays.

We went to the AOC counter for a ride to the hotel when we arrived and had been quoted 520 HK for the ride over the internet. There were 4 of us so we thought, fine, a little pricey but split it was about $15. a person plus tip. We were picked up in a 2009 500S Mercedes sedan so it was an nice way to ease into the big city.

We used the ATM at the airport to get HK $’s.

We stayed at the Salisbury on the 15th floor and the view of Victoria Harbor was was amazing. The hotel pipes in music to the rooms radio for the light show every night which I thought would be cheesy but it was fabulous. We loved it!

The first day we were there we went to Victoria Peak which was a disappointment. It’s basically a huge shopping center at the top and it was hard to see the building through the haze. At night city comes alive because the lights shine through the haze but for the 4 days we were there we didn’t see much sun.

We went to the Temple St. Market that night which was more souvenirs and lots of other stuff. Very hectic and lots of people. You can tell by now I’m getting a little burned out on the crowds and noise and shopping.

The next morning we took a taxi to the Kowloon walled city park which was really pretty. They have a lovely zodiac garden with sculptures of all the signs. Beautiful bonsai exhibit also. Then we went to this Temple (I can’t remember the name of it) but it was amazing! There were thousands of people celebrating Chinese New Year holding burning incense…we walked through with the procession and were the only western faces there.
The people inside the temple were holding cans filled with sticks and shaking them. I asked a gentleman if he could explain what we were seeing and he said that they shake the can and when a stick comes out it will have a number on it. Which is a lucky number. You then make a wish and take the stick (with the number I guess) to a fortune teller who will tell you if your wish is going to come true. Or something to that effect….We loved being there and experiencing something so different and interesting.

We then went to The Nan Lian Garden WHICH IS A MUST!! It is beautiful and we spent at least an hour there. We had a passion fruit chocolate at the candy store inside which was an intense burst of flavor. We also went to the Chai Lin Nunnery which is very close by. It’s also beautiful and very well worth seeing!!!!

We went to the Penn to have a cocktail but we were not happy with the bar area. It’s not at all comfortable. In the bar area you either have to stand or sit at a “bar bench” that’s behind the bar which blocks the view of the harbor lights or sit on the other side of the dining room at a big long table when the stools don’t have foot rests, your feet dangle and you feel like Edith Ann. And I’m not short……… so we left and went to the the Sky Bar at the Sheraton which was perfect. Gorgeous view…good vibe highly recommended.

Had dinner at a restaurant called Superstar which was really good. I left home without Cicerone’s Hong Kong Restaurant list which I was very upset about. So we had to wing it….Shrimp in honey sauce, fried green beans (so good!!!_) sweet and sour chili with chicken, fried noodles with shredded pork…all the people in the restaurant were locals. Not one western face which is the way we found all the restaurants to be. Luckily they had menus with pictures so we could point to what we wanted. We found one thing to be very interesting. When the waiter brings the bill, he hovers over you while you figure out tip etc. We were having a hard time figuring out how much tip to leave and need additional time for it so it made us a bit nervous.

We visited the Natural History Museum the next morning which was great.
the in the afternoon Larry, Robb and I took the subway from the hotel to see the Big Buddah and Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island. It was a little bit confusing at first but between the 3 of us we managed well. The tokins are easy to buy…push what station you want to go to, put in the money, and it spits out the ticket and change. We needed to take the red line to the Lai King station where we got off and changed to the orange line to Tung Chung station. They we took a taxi to the Big Buddah which was $150 HK. (split 3 ways it was fairly inexpensive…$7.00) Then from there we got another taxi which took us to the other side of the island to the Tai O Village, an old fishing village with houses on stilts, and market that was interesting. We walked around there for awhile and then started to get a little worried about getting back to catch the ferry. There was a bus leaving but had about 30 people in line already. And then lucky us….a taxi showed up. So away we went to the Mui Wo Pier back to the other side of the island and to the ferry back to Kowloon. It was quite an adventure…..

We had dinner that night at a really good restaurant that night called Mui Dan Tang. All locals (again) and the best meal we had in Hong Kong. It was the loudest restaurant that we’ve ever been in. Everyone was talking loud (150 people at least) the kids were all screaming and playing on their gameboys and there were at least 5 flatscreen tv’s on the ways turned up full blast. Despite it all the food was very good.




Hong Kong.
We spent the next night at the Novotel by the airport. After we got off the plane we took the shuttle over to the hotel and checked in. They have a beautiful pool, even if you don’t swim, take a look. We ate in the hotel restaurant. Not memorable. Up early the next morning for our flight to Hong Kong.

All the planes on this trip were on time. No delays.

We went to the AOC counter for a ride to the hotel when we arrived and had been quoted 520 HK for the ride over the internet. There were 4 of us so we thought, fine, a little pricey but split it was about $15. a person plus tip. We were picked up in a 2009 500S Mercedes sedan so it was an nice way to ease into the big city.

We used the ATM at the airport to get HK $’s.

We stayed at the Salisbury on the 15th floor and the view of Victoria Harbor was was amazing. The hotel pipes in music to the rooms radio for the light show every night which I thought would be cheesy but it was fabulous. We loved it!

The first day we were there we went to Victoria Peak which was a disappointment. It’s basically a huge shopping center at the top and it was hard to see the building through the haze. At night city comes alive because the lights shine through the haze but for the 4 days we were there we didn’t see much sun.

We went to the Temple St. Market that night which was more souvenirs and lots of other stuff. Very hectic and lots of people. You can tell by now I’m getting a little burned out on the crowds and noise and shopping.

The next morning we took a taxi to the Kowloon walled city park which was really pretty. They have a lovely zodiac garden with sculptures of all the signs. Beautiful bonsai exhibit also. Then we went to this Temple (I can’t remember the name of it) but it was amazing! There were thousands of people celebrating Chinese New Year holding burning incense…we walked through with the procession and were the only western faces there.
The people inside the temple were holding cans filled with sticks and shaking them. I asked a gentleman if he could explain what we were seeing and he said that they shake the can and when a stick comes out it will have a number on it. Which is a lucky number. You then make a wish and take the stick (with the number I guess) to a fortune teller who will tell you if your wish is going to come true. Or something to that effect….We loved being there and experiencing something so different and interesting.

We then went to The Nan Lian Garden WHICH IS A MUST!! It is beautiful and we spent at least an hour there. We had a passion fruit chocolate at the candy store inside which was an intense burst of flavor. We also went to the Chai Lin Nunnery which is very close by. It’s also beautiful and very well worth seeing!!!!

We went to the Penn to have a cocktail but we were not happy with the bar area. It’s not at all comfortable. In the bar area you either have to stand or sit at a “bar bench” that’s behind the bar which blocks the view of the harbor lights or sit on the other side of the dining room at a big long table when the stools don’t have foot rests, your feet dangle and you feel like Edith Ann. And I’m not short……… so we left and went to the the Sky Bar at the Sheraton which was perfect. Gorgeous view…good vibe highly recommended.

Had dinner at a restaurant called Superstar which was really good. I left home without Cicerone’s Hong Kong Restaurant list which I was very upset about. So we had to wing it….Shrimp in honey sauce, fried green beans (so good!!!_) sweet and sour chili with chicken, fried noodles with shredded pork…all the people in the restaurant were locals. Not one western face which is the way we found all the restaurants to be. Luckily they had menus with pictures so we could point to what we wanted. We found one thing to be very interesting. When the waiter brings the bill, he hovers over you while you figure out tip etc. We were having a hard time figuring out how much tip to leave and need additional time for it so it made us a bit nervous.

We visited the Natural History Museum the next morning which was great.
In the afternoon we took the subway from the hotel to see the Big Buddah and Po Lin Monastery on Lantau Island. It was a little bit confusing at first but between the 3 of us we managed well. The tokins are easy to buy…push what station you want to go to, put in the money, and it spits out the ticket and change. We needed to take the red line to the Lai King station where we got off and changed to the orange line to Tung Chung station. They we took a taxi to the Big Buddah which was $150 HK. (split 3 ways it was inexpensive…approx $7.00) Then from there we got another taxi which took us to the other side of the island to the Tai O Village, (about $50 HK) an old fishing village with houses on stilts, and market that was interesting. We walked around there for awhile and then started to get a little worried about getting back to catch the ferry. There was a bus leaving but had about 30 people in line already. And then lucky us….a taxi showed up. So away we went to the Mui Wo Pier back to the other side of the island and to the ferry back to Kowloon. It was quite an adventure…..

We had dinner that night at a really good restaurant that night called Mui Dan Tang. All locals (again) and the best meal we had in Hong Kong. It was the loudest restaurant that we’ve ever been in. Everyone was talking loud (150 people at least) the kids were all screaming and playing on their gameboys and there were at least 5 flatscreen tv’s on the ways turned up full blast. Despite it all the food was very good.

Left for home today....Still trying to recover from jet leg. Never traveled this far east and it's affected me more then ever before.

Now, the next ?
where do we go next....
thinking of eastern europe (Croatia) New Zealand or maybe Guatemala.

rhkkmk

best to return to thailand ....

romania is very interesting....argentina too and south africa...

jaspertl

not much interest in Croatia rhkk?
I've heard good things.

As much as we loved Thailand and SEA we'll probably not be back anytime soon. Not because we didn't absolutely love it, but because there are so many places we have yet to see.

Not much interest in this trip report. Kind of disappointing as I put so much work into it. Oh Well!

I really loved our emails back and forth rhkk and thanks again for all your help and everything!!! bye!!

rhkkmk

yea...i have lots of interest in it....go and let me know how it is...

Kathie

It's so good to hear about your trip! (I wouldn't assume that there isn't much interest in it, sometimes it takes people a while to get to it and respond)

All of your research and careful planning paid off. Soon you'll be encouraging others to follow in your footsteps.

Kristina

Great report. Sorry you didn't get more replies. Maybe because you gave so much info there were no questions. ;-)

Did you feel that watching people make merit with the monks in LP has become at all touristy? I'm sure it would go on with or without the tourists, but I've seen it in so many photos now, and heard how some tourists often even get in the way of the monks, that I wonder.

jaspertl

I was hoping that I'd hear from you too Kathie...you were such a big help. I hope you know how much I appreciate it.

My husband and two friendd that we travel with are always so amazed that I'm able to plan these trips for us, have them go so smoothly and enjoy every minute.

They all thank you too!!

hawaiiantraveler

jaspert,
many more people than you know love to read a good report and are very thankful that you took the time and effort to share your knowledge

Aloha!

Bella_Bluebell

great trip report, we would love to go to Luang Prabang & Cambodia again soon but kids are too little at the moment for the anti-malarials so lovely to hear about

jaspertl

thanks all for your encouragment!

Kristina: I was up every morning to watch the ceremony and there weren't really that many visitors on the street. I mean like it wasn't 3 deep at the curb.

There were people taking photos but all (that I saw) were respectful.

Gpanda

Thanks again for the wonderfully detailed report. It brought back memories and gave me some new ideas. You should receive a bonus for E-mailing RhkKmk. By corresponding with him, you kept him from bothering the rest of us. way to take one for the team!

marya_

I loved your report -- thanks. We have had a fair amount of itinerary overlap, so you brought back some wonderful memories and also taught me some new things. What a pleasure.

I am curious about the Nan Lian Garden in HK which is, you say, a must see but I don't know it. Can you say more about it?

jaspertl

We took a taxi so I'm not sure exactly how we got there but it's north of the harbor in Kowloon and is well worth the trip.

Why it's not more well known I don't know but i think it maybe because it's FREE and doesn't do much advertising.

It's well worth the time...there's a nunnery across the street that's also beautiful. Here's the link for info...

http://www.lcsd.gov.hk/parks/nlg/en/index.php

HI gpanda!! miss all you guys now that I'm not on this board constantly.....

marya_

Thank you for the additional information, jasperti.