It was about a 45 minute ride to the hotel. It cost about $350 Hong Kong dollars (about $45 AUD) which was not too bad considering the distance. The hotel also sent an email prior to explain estimated costs and gave a few options such as shuttle bus, so it was not a surprise. The taxis in Hong Kong charge HKD$20 for the first Two Kilometres and then HKD$1.5 for each additional 200 metres. They also charge $5 extra per piece of luggage (and also $5 extra for every bird or animal)

 

The hotel was part of the Chungking Mansion building and they had warned us in an email not to listen to anyone on the street or at the entrance as it’s a scam and they will take you to a different hotel. The hotel was part of a larger building with markets on the first floor, filled with shops that sell bootleg DVDs, fake phones, porn or Indian food. The ‘Mansion’ had five different blocks/wings, each with its own set of elevators. It was built in the 1960s as cheap residential buildings for the Chinese, and now houses many different nationalities, mainly Indian, African and Arabic from what I can guess. It turns out the place is infamous because of a string of fires, racial flare ups and robberies.

 

As soon as we leave the taxi there are two African men who ask if we want a room and have a place to stay, after telling them we are okay, they continue for a minute before leaving us alone, but not before trying to sell us some hashish. This was to turn out to be a regular occurrence over the next two days, each time we left or entered we were offered hashish and fake watches. The place is a labyrinth of little lane ways and it took a while even to find the correct set of elevators to go up. It was quite a daunting place and it and the whole building was in different levels of decay. It is quite a large complex, fifteen stories tall that houses around 4ooo people. Each block housing hundreds of hotels, hostels, lodges, flats and restaurants.