In John Denver’s immortal words, our bags are packed, we’re ready to go… but there’s a very important task to do before we leave…yum cha!
For all of its woes, social media is a wonderful thing sometimes. Moved by my complete inability to find yum cha, I’ve been rescued by Facebook 😊. A friend points us in the right direction while Google faithfully directs the way. It’s a little further north than we’ve explored before, but only just – we almost cracked it on our own.
We’re in Mong Kok, off the tourist trail,
and oh boy, is it interesting. The designer shops fall away, replaced with endless restaurants, knicknack and electronics stores. High rise apartments continue of course, quite colourful up this end of town.
Our aim is Dim Dim Sum, and what a good recommendation it turns out to be. In with the locals, all our favourites on order, it’s just what I’ve been waiting for.
We have sui mai,
eggplant stuffed with prawn,
prawn dumplings,
beef balls with ginger and leek (poor photo, sorry!)
steamed pork buns,
and rice rolls with BBQ pork and zucchini.
Delicious! As the internet cats say “my tummy has a happy”.
Yum cha craving settled we wander home, to collect our bags and make our way to the airport. You’ll not blame me in the least for my heels are dragging. I’d be happy to stay quite a bit longer.
A little while later, we’re happily ensconced in the Qantas lounge, all the additional time we allowed for protest delays, completely unnecessary. Now, I have no ability to override travel warnings, but if you’re thinking of coming to Hong Kong and hesitating, don’t. We didn’t have a moment’s trouble. Restaurants that once had to be booked weeks in advance are freely available, hotel rooms are not only available but heavily discounted, window seats to the best views are waiting to welcome you. The city still moves with ease. I’m so glad we didn’t cancel.
It’s been an incredible year and this, an incredible trip. The past year saw us travel for nine months of twelve, culminating in this, 143 day adventure. We met new friends, made friends on line and explored further than we’ve ever done before, breaking new ground in Poland, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bratislava. Each wonderful in their own way.
And as I like to do at the end, I ponder on what it is that I’ve learnt on this trip. It’s one thing, really. I’ve learnt that the human spirit won’t be defeated. Not by poor politics, challenging circumstances nor even by homicidal Nazis. That steel core in our forebears, the one that caused them to scale mountains, sail oceans and risk everything for something they believed in, that same resilience, it rebuilds, pulls the ones they have left close and starts again. We saw it in Poland time after time. Seeing the heart and strength of the Polish people after WWII is a truly humbling experience. It moved me to tears on more than one occasion.
I’d like to thank everyone who came along for the ride, whether you read everything faithfully, or just one post, whether you took a moment to comment or not, and most lovely, those of you who reached out to become friends. Thank you. Writing is somewhat of a lonely task. It’s an utter delight to know there are people reading my words. Even lovelier to know they enjoy them.
But on this trip, I’m going to leave the last word to a fellow traveler, Anthony Bourdain, who said most eloquently: “Travel isn’t always pretty. It isn’t always comfortable. Sometimes it hurts, it even breaks your heart. But that’s okay. The journey changes you; it should change you. It leaves marks on your memory, on your consciousness, on your heart, and on your body. You take something with you. Hopefully, you leave something good behind.”
Until next time my friends, Himself and I wish you all the best, and bid you adieu.
Miss Baci Travels 