Hangzhou to Hong Kong

 

As our time in Hangzhou was over we bought train tickets to Hong Kong.  We tried to buy “hard sleeper” class because they’re cheaper but there were only soft sleeper tickets available.  As we boarded the L139 train for our 23 hour journey, we were thankful to have the soft sleeper tickets.  The soft sleepers  are four person cabins with comfortable pillows and blankets.  The cheaper hard sleepers consist of a dorm style sleeper car with bunks stacked 3 high and no separate cabins.

We shared our cabin with two elderly
Chinese men who, because of their age, were given the two bottom bunks.  They were friendly and we were able to communicate that we were both getting off at Shenzhen and then taking the local train into Hong Kong.  After a few minutes they decided to lie down and so we climbed up to the top bunks.  There we would stay for most of the
23 hours, there not being anywhere else to sit except the smoky dining car.

The two men below us had the following provisions with them for the trip: glass jars of Longjing green tea, sunflower seeds, dried green beans and a peeled pomelo.  They munched on them the whole time and never had what I would consider a “real” meal.  They shared some of their tasty pomelo with us.  All I could offer them was some Ritz crackers, which they politely refused.   

The train arrived in Shenzhen about an hour late because of construction on the track. Shenzhen is a Special Economic Zone of China and is basically a giant shopping mall for Hong Kong residents.  Apparently, many Hong Kong tycoons also maintain a mainland mistress there.  It is pretty much devoid of culture and travelers rarely stop there except for shopping. From the train station it was really easy to clear customs and buy a train ticket on the KCR fast train to Hong Kong.  We were in Central Hong Kong about 45 minutes later.

We arrived at Marlboro guesthouse where we had made reservations online.  It was on the second floor of an apartment building which had a sign out front that clearly stated “No Guesthouses Allowed”.  Not a good sign.  When we got to the front desk we were informed that they had received our reservation and deposit but that they had no rooms available.  Not to worry though they would send us to another guesthouse.  Too tired to argue with them we followed a man a couple of blocks through the busy streets of Causeway Bay in Hong Kong. 

He led us into his own apartment where his wife and yappy dog greeted us.  We were shown to our room, which we soon figured out was in fact the master bedroom.  The last thing we saw before going to sleep was his wife spreading a blanket on the floor of the living room for them to sleep on.  We decided to leave first thing in the morning.