Hello Hong Kong

The great thing about traveling is that there is no plan.  After leaving Indonesia I really didn’t know where I was headed to next.  One of the main factors in determining my next stop was the price of airline flights.  Being in Southeast Asia flights are relatively cheap but since Bali is a hot destination in July and August flying from there to anywhere is expensive.  Since I had quite a few airline miles on Cathay Pacific (based out of Hong Kong) I was able to book a “free” flight from Bali to Hong Kong and then from Hong Kong to Cebu, Philippines.  All of this for under 35,000 miles. 

Hong Kong Skyline

Since I had never explored Hong Kong before I decided to spend a few days there.  I knew that Hong Kong was going to be expensive and after talking with friends who have stayed in Hong Kong I realized that my best bet for a cheap room was to stay in the Chungking Mansion.  

Chungking Mansion

Chungking Mansion is a 17-story building in downtown Hong Kong that is well known as having the cheapest accommodation around. It is made up of five towering concrete blocks and even though the building is supposedly residential, it is has over 80 guesthouses, shops, restaurants, and other services.

Chungking Mansion

I was a little nervous to stay here since I had received an email from the guesthouse I was to stay at warning me that when I got to the Chungking Mansion there would be a crowd of Indian men outside the building trying to persuade me into seeing their “quality” guesthouse.  I was told to push past these men and take the first elevator up to the 12^th floor and there I would find the New Peking Guesthouse.  

Entrance to my guesthouse

Luckily I was staying in Block A so the elevator was near the entrance to the building.  If I was staying in Block E I would have had to walk for what seemed like miles (when you’re fighting off Indian salesmen) to get to the elevator.

There are 2 elevators per block and one goes to the even floors and the other to the odd.  The elevators are tiny and you can cram about 8 people in them.  There are always long lines to get onto the elevator and if too many people try to cram into the elevator and the weight limit has been reached, an alarm will sound and the doors will not shut until someone reluctantly gets off.  Since there are 17 floors you spend a lot of time waiting for the elevator.  I came to dread taking the elevator and unfortunately I was on the 12^th floor and with 90 degree heat I was not so inclined to take the stairs.

The room I stayed in was $30 a night and was similar to a jail cell.  There was just enough room for a bed - I could touch all four walls when lying on the bed.  And the bathroom was nothing more than the tiniest sink I have ever seen and a toilet. 

My tiny room

The view from my room was the backside of Block B and mountains of trash down below.  I do have to say that is was very clean and there were several amenities like TV, aircon, towels, blankets, soap, WiFi.

View from my room

Many of the people staying in the building are laborers from India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Middle East, and parts of Africa.  Needless to say that riding the elevators and staying in Chungking Mansion you meet some very interesting characters.