I never imagined that I would be able to travel to far flung places. After all I use a wheelchair and need an adapted bathroom. However, having come in to a modest windfall I was in a position to seriously think about the trip of a lifetime.

I`ve always wanted to go to Hong Kong - it must be all those Jackie Chan films!   I decided to look into it. Luckily my son knew some fellow students from Hong Kong and they gave me contact details for the tourist office. I sent an e-mail enquiring if there were any hotels with a flat floor shower in the bathroom. I got the reply that there were 3! I then set about finding a tour operator who used those hotels. Virgin seemed the best bet. However, I`m an inveterate web trawler and came across a site for `Quest Travel`. I rang them up and explained what I wanted and they came up with a price for the exact hotel flying with Virgin for considerably less than the Virgin brochure. I snapped it up! My son`s friends were optimistic about the ability to get around Hong Kong with a wheelchair but I decided to take my manual rather than the electric just in case I had to be manhandled at any point. Virgin Atlantic airways were wonderful. Lots of toys to play with including personal screens and headphones with the latest films, t.v. shows, albums and loads more including lovely food so the time certainly didn`t drag. 13 hours sounds awful but it was fine. The toilets I don`t think would accomodate a wheelchair - luckily I can walk a few steps and was seated near to the toilets so it wasn`t a problem. We decided to be adventurous when we got to Hong Kong. We knew there was a rail link from the airport and a station close to the hotel. The station platform had a symbol of a wheelchair so we stood by it. The train stopped exactly at the mark and I simply wheeled on, no step! Big breath and plunge in to the night life of Hong Kong. Ok, so it was a bit worrying the further we got towards HK Central as crowds of people just kept getting on at each station. We changed at Central to get the next train and although it was busy, access was fine. Lifts, no steps and easy to get on and off. We were helped by a train station employee when we got off at North Point who took us the easy access way; unfortunately we`d got off one stop early! Not to worry, our hero flagged down a taxi, we got stuffed into it and driven directly to the lobby of the hotel. Slopes, lifts, extremely friendly and helpful staff.

Well I won`t bore you with every single detail but suffice to say that I found Hong Kong to be very accessible. The hotel was fine, buses actually had a ramp that came down to the pavement and I simply rolled up into the bus itself. Almost all rail stations had lifts and we were told by Tyler, one of our HK friends, that those without had a contraption that attatched to the escalator and pulled the wheelchair up. He was keen to see me try it but unfortunately (!) I didn`t need it. I sailed on the famous `Star Ferry`, cruised on a large junk around the harbour, visited a traditional fishing village, went on the funicular railway to Victoria Peak,visited Macau, a temple, a race track and a casino. Not to mention the night markets, the really posh shops, the bargains to be had - you`d need an extra plane to buy all you wanted to! There was no need to worry about the food as there were plenty of western franchises inluding the ubiquitous McDonalds.

Where I was told there has been a change is in the number of people who speak English. Before HK was handed back to `the Motherland` most people were bilingual but since the border opened there has been a massive influx of people from mainland China and most don`t speak English. It was a little disconcerting to get into a taxi and have no idea how to explain where we wanted to go. One time the driver handed a mobile phone to me to speak to a lady in English and then I handed it back to the driver who presumably was told in Cantonese where we wanted to go! The other drawback was the lack of accessible toilets; I only saw 1 public toilet. All hotels will have toilets but many traditional venues have traditional Chinese toilets - these are like the old style French i.e. a hole in the ground. Not too good for the less agile!

The trip gave me confidence that I can travel. Okay, I need help and perhaps I still can`t do everything I`d like to but overall it is possible to visit your dream destination. Research is essential, compromise advisable but don`t be put off.

See some of my photos in the `gallery`

BDIN has lots of information on travel firms who specialise in travel for disabled people and also details on accessible hotels etc. Below are details of my travel, but do give us a ring and we`ll do our best to point you in the right direction for your own trip of a lifetime or a damned good annual holiday!

  My holiday was arranged by Quest Travel using Virgin Atlantic. I stayed in an adapted room at the Harbour Plaza, North Point, Hong Kong.