Day 24/25 – Hong Kong to Manchester

January 17th / 18th 2009

Last day, and it's going to be a long one so we stay in bed as late as possible before packing for the final time.

Checking out bang on noon we take a walk around the electrical shops of Mong Kok before taking the MTR to Central and a trip up the Peak for one last look at the view. It's busy at the terminus, weekend of course which must make a difference but also it's a beautiful day weatherwise and the visibility from the top is even better than earlier in the week.

Back down the Peak and we stroll through Central to return to Kowloon on the Star Ferry, this brings us out on the front at Kowloon so we can once again admire the view as the sun goes down and lights come on Hong Kong side.

We return to our hotel for the final time, via a stop off at Sim City, an electricals bazarre in Mong Kok that I just can't resist, and get comfy in the lobby to wait for our transfer to the airport which arrives on time.

At Hong Kong airport, what a faff. Dropped off at Terminal 1, check in desks for Emirates are in Terminal 2 so we have to walk quite a way to get there only to find that once we have checked in we then have to get 2 internal trains to get back to Terminal 1 where our departure gate is situated.

Was cursing the Emirates check in staff as they put us in the middle 2 seats of the central 4 – which is about the worst place to be, however as it turns out I have nobody sitting next to me and while the armrests don't allow for genuine spreading out we're not quite so squashed in either. A genuine gripe though, we're boarded over an hour before the flight is due to leave. Now have been on a few flights previously where early boarding means early takeoff, but we actually take off late so we've been on the plane a good hour and a half before we actually move! Manage about 4 and a half hours sleep or so during the just short of 9 hour flight which is pretty good for me.

Sitting in Dubai airport, Emirates are at it again, our flight is 7:55am but they've started boarding at 6:30am. No chance this time, we leave it a bit.

Final flight passes without incident, not much sleep, an hour at the most so watched a couple of films and some TV.

Our final driver and guide waiting at the airport, father and mother-in-law, so amazingly not a single mishap from 7 destinations!

Home, sunny day, cold, back to the real world, unfortunately...