I'm planning to go to Hong Kong on Sep 2. The weather reports ay Thunderstorms. Are these just regular showers or Typhoon type weather? <BR>never been to Hong Kong so any advice will be appreciated!!

Hi Rob; <BR> <BR>I'm typing this at 9:45 AM on September 1 here in Hong Kong, and I can tell you the forecast of thunderstorms is accurate -- we've just had a big one, and it's still pouring down rain. <BR> <BR>These tstorms are associated with a tropical storm that's long past HK, but has unsettled the weather here for several days. There's no worries about any actual typhoon conditions, i.e. serious winds and therefore airport disruptions and such -- it's just thundershowers, which in HK typically bring very heavy rain but little other chance of severe weather. <BR> <BR>Also be prepared for very humid air with temperatures ranging from lows around 26 C to highs in the low 30s, i.e. from around 78-90 F. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps.

Ross(Hope you're still around!): This is somewhat unrelated, but, being that you live in HKG, I wonder if you could help me out with this: I'm scheduled at stay at the Dorsett(Princess) Seaview Hotel that's located a block away from Tin Hau Temple. What's the cheapest and simplest way from the airport to the hotel? N22 Airbus to MTR (Yaumatei) or Airport Railway to Kowloon station and cab to hotel? (Sorry to butt in, Rob. I'm scheduled to go there in mid November, so, hopefully, no typhoon!)

Hi Lost Soul; <BR> <BR>Well, depends on a couple of things. You've got the essential choice -- bus or train/taxi -- to make. The train is much quicker (takes about 20 minutes); you can take it to Kowloon station, which costs around 70 HK dollars or so, but then you'll need to take a taxi to the hotel, which will be a short ride, but will still likely add 20-30 HKD and another 15-20 minutes by the time you've got off the train, got a taxi, and so on. The bus -- the A21 during the day, or the N22 in the wee hours -- will take longer, i.e. around an hour or so, but is only about HKD 40. You could get off the bus on Nathan Road, the main drag in that part of town, and likely just walk the two or three blocks to your hotel. The drawbacks are that Nathan Road is really busy and it can be confusing to find your stop and get your bearings, but if you ask the driver when you get on the bus to make sure he stops at the stop nearest your hotel, you should be fine. <BR> <BR>You might want to take a look at the HK airport website (www.hkairport.com) for further details and to see which parts of the airport these modes of transport leave from. <BR> <BR>BTW, November is unfortunately not out of the woods in HK for typhoons, although they're much less likely than right now, which is peak season. <BR> <BR>Have a good trip.

Ross, thank you for the quick response. I am really going to have to think this one over: Air Bus versus airport railway. From your description, the airport railway route seems the fastest and least complicated. I will have spent 14+ hours getting to HKG so maybe the extra HK$$$ spent in getting to the hotel post haste might be worth it. I was last in HKG around 1983 so I guess I'm due for a development shock! Thanks again, Ross, for your kindness in answering my question. Rob, have a good trip!

Hi Lost Soul; <BR> <BR>No problem! I made one other little check, and found I was a bit off on the pricing: the bus is only HKD33, and the train is HKD90. I hope this doesn't further confuse the issue! <BR> <BR>If you do choose the train/taxi option, which indeed might be the most stress-free after that hellish flight, it would help if you had in hand a card or a printout of a webpage or something that had the name of the hotel and its address in Chinese characters. Otherwise, you might have trouble getting the taxi driver to know where you're going, as the hotel you're staying at isn't one of the best-known ones that all taxi drivers would recognize in English. <BR> <BR>Enjoy your stay -- having mentioned in my last post that November is still typhoon season, I didn't mention that otherwise it's the best time of year weather-wise here -- dry (i.e. not humid) with days in the 70s and nights in the 60s -- i.e. really the best time to visit!

Thanks, Ross. Got the message. Will follow your advice.

ross, <BR> <BR>would appreciate if u can give your views on booth lodge -- salvation army,

Hello Harish; <BR> <BR>To tell you the truth, I don't know much about it, other than that it's in the Yau Ma Tei district, and that it's just off Nathan Road. It's in fact very near Lost Soul's hotel. Yau Ma Tei is not really the heart of the typical tourist experience in HK, which is just down Nathan Road in the Tsim Sha Tsui district, but it's still pretty centrally located and easy to get around from. You can follow the same directions from the airport I gave to Lost Soul, i.e. train/taxi or Bus no. A21. <BR> <BR>The only other thing I might mention is that places like the YMCA and Salvation Army lodges, although I'm sure they're still probably the most inexpensive places to stay in HK in absolute terms (other than the infamous Chungking Mansions, of course), aren't *relatively* as quite as good deals as they used to be, since overall hotel prices here dropped a lot in the general Asian economic crisis a couple of years ago. Now even quite decent hotels like the Marco Polo and Hong Kong Hotel run deals in the 400-500 HKD a night range -- might be worth checking out. <BR>

The Airport Express Trains stop at Kowloon Station. From there, you have free shuttle buses to the hotels. As I recall, on my first trip to HK...I travelled this way. The shuttle bus is free, but I recall waiting about a halfhour in Kowloon Station. My last three trips into HK, I asked my hotel to arrange the transfer from the airport direct to the hotel. <BR> <BR>In Arrival Halls A there are three or four counters. My hotel, The Hong Kong Hotel, 3 canton road, TsimShaTsui, Kowloon...arranges with one of the companies. <BR> <BR>You arrive at the particular counter, give your name. They have it on a list. They give you a particular color sticker, and let you know how long. The driver comes to meet you, identifying you by the sticker on your lapel, and you go to the bus or van. Its virtually door to door, and you have the airport cart for your luggage. I believe most of the hotels charge about $120 HK for this service per person. This is about $15 US dollars, and is door to door. <BR> <BR>Contact your hotel to arrange it for you. Or you can do it at the counter when you arrive. <BR> <BR>Michael From New York..