join the huge ferry to Hong Kong

Friday 19th April
Up at a leisurely pace, feeling very stiff. Lovely sunny day. Catch a bus at 8 a.m. up the river, go miles, too far, and have to walk back. Customs immigration and a duty-free orange, ground floor of an old warehouse. Duty-free shop has three bottles of spirits and four boxes of cigarettes, in total. Everybody is very relaxed and smiling. The officials in their baggy uniforms want you to dawdle and speak English with them. Eventually board the huge ferry to Hong Kong, Belgian and built in 1957 it needs a coat of paint, but is very comfy with a library, bar, games room, dancing lounge, empty swimming pool, promenade deck, Chinese cinema, and restaurant. Only about half full which is very pleasant after the crushing hordes. My neck however is killing me and I spend most of the trip flat on my back in the dormitory reading Pu Yi’s autobiography and a three-week old Sunday Times.