‘Twas the night after Christmas

This was my second visit to Hong Kong in two months after two years between visits because of you know what. I’ll go into a little more detail on accommodations and border crossing because a lot has changed from pre-pandemic.

This was a side trip while I was in California, and I arrived the evening after Christmas with a flight east scheduled for the next day. In the past I’ve reserved a room at Hotel Cascadas and also gotten a hotel in San Diego so I could cross the border at 3 or 4 am and avoid any long waits. This year I got a passport card to get across the border more quickly, and now that the cheapest room at Hotel Cascadas is up to 75 bucks a night Sunday through Thursday, I opted to only book a room in Tijuana.

My flight got into San Diego and I took the rental car shuttle to within a short walk to the trolley, which I took to the border. During my November visit, I paid 30 bucks for a visa. I passed through the border around 10 pm this time and flashed my passport card and visa form and the guy waved me through without really looking at either. I grabbed a cab and paid seven bucks. Even before the pandemic, I had enough cabbies haggle and try to rip me off when I offer six that I just pay the extra buck to avoid any hassle.