Hello Excellent Ones,
I have over a week off for Chinese New Years and have decided to spend the week hiking and biking Hong Kong's incredible trail system. Seventy percent of the Hong Kong territory is natural and hundreds of kilometers of hiking trails crisscross the territory. Built by the British they go up and down over mountains, along ridges, and through jungles. They are great. I was not a great hiking fan before I came to Hong Kong, but because the trails are so interesting here I am converting. So this week I am going to provide you a few glimpses of what I did each day.
Monday 23/January
Today was Chinese New Year. Kung hei fat choy. That is a new years blessing, means hope you get rich. Went on a rather cold, rainy day, plus 10, ok I am becoming a wimp, with an old, 63 year old, but very spry and in shape friend named Gary, to Pat Sin Long Peak. Lots of climbing, when we got to the peak the wind was howling and the cloud cover was thick. My hands actually became numb. I had forgotten what that was like. We also got rained on, so not ideal, yet there were some decent views. Later ate Thai. Pineapple chicken is great.
Tuesday 24/January
I took the ferry from Kowloon Bay to Hong Kong island. From there I hopped on a subway, transferred to a bus and alighted at the Dragon's Back trail head. Up, up, up I went until I walked along a mountain ridge (the Dragon's Back) and if it wasn't for the brush I would have been blown into the South China Sea. The view was great even though it was again, like yesterday, cold and cloudy with a threat of rain. Still it was a great hike, a clear day would have made it even greater, and I enjoyed it. Walking through a jungle later was fun and seeing four little dogs all wearing Chinese style coats was amusing. The master tried to get the mutts to sit so I could take a picture, but they didn't cooperate.
Wednesday 25/January
A winter monsoon invaded Hong Kong bringing cold temperatures, 8 degrees and rain! I headed to Cheung Chau island, a small island shaped like a dumbbell, a half hour ferry ride from Hong Kong. I was going to hike the island, but the wind and rain kept me to exploring the narrow streets, which have numerous eating places and shops. Snacks like spicy fish balls, squid on a stick, dried fish, sushi and numerous other delectable seafood treats were offered. Yum! I say that in jest believe me. Despite the poor weather conditions there were a lot of people out and I found it interesting. The weather outlook is not promising for Thursday either. Maybe I will have to explore a museum tomorrow. Oh no!
Thursday 26/January
The plan was to go to Lantau island, but winds, cold! and low lying clouds caused me to scuttle those plans and seek the relative shelter of the Amah rock to Lion rock trail. This trail is relatively easy to get to, relatively challenging, and has spectacular views of Shatin, Kowloon, and Hong Kong. Most of the walk is through a jungle, which is protection from the wind, and is always interesting especially with monkeys having fun playing in the tree tops. My friend and I had a good trek and found the energy to get up to Lion Rock which like mentioned before affords incredible views. Today however, all we got was an incredible view of thick cloud cover and a blast of cold, winter monsoon winds from Siberia. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be better. Yet weathermen are all alike around the world. Liars!! But here is hoping for a sunny day. It would be nice to see Mr. Sun again.
Friday 27/January
No sun, lots of clouds, no hike. Wahhh. Instead I headed to a park relatively close by called Lok Fu. Kowloon and Hong Kong are sprinkled with all these little parks, which when you consider this place is one of the most densely populated places on earth, are badly needed to keep everyone sane. It is basically your backyard. There are also a few random hills scattered in Kowloon and because they are well forested they are like an oasis in a concrete desert. Maybe tomorrow the weather might be a tad better and I will embark on an adventure.
Saturday 28/January
The weathermen are as useless in China as they are in Canada. Big prediction for today was cold, plus 12 (come on it feels cold when you have experienced plus 25 for most of the year) overcast, with rain. Dead wrong. It was sunny, plus 25, blue sky day baby. I went to Mui Wu on Lantau Island. Lantau's claim to fame is that they have the airport, the Big Buddha, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Yep you can see Goofy dressed up in old fashioned Chinese clothes for lots of Hong Kong dollars. Otherwise Lantau is relatively unpopulated, a few villages here and there and has some great beaches, plus lots of thick jungle and mountains. Its quite beautiful actually.
Today I saw village homes (three story houses that are common in rural areas) fishing boats, a waterfall so sad I did not take a picture, a cave so sad I did not take a picture, jungle trails, incredible views, a dancing dragon grooving to the beat of ear splitting drums and cymbals, the dragon was trying to chase evil spirits away out of homes, kinda of impressive, free ranging cattle, (which are common on Lantau), a vendor bundled up to the plus 20 evening cold, selling bananas and roots in front of Mcdonalds, several fishing boats, cool birds, elephant grass, a slick ancient stone walkway through the jungle, more hazardous to walk on than useful, and finally huge container ships bringing in no doubt high quality items from China to a Walmart nearest you and by the way do you like this excellent example of a run on sentence, which my old high school English teacher would have lambasted me for. I am even tired rereading this. Whew. Needless to say I had a great day. I expect the weather I experienced today on Lantau will be similar to that in heaven. I did stop once and reminded myself, today is January 28, yet it feels like a July 28 in Canada. Boy is it tough not to feel a little giddy over the weather here at times. Ya hoo! Sorry folks. I will try to restrain myself next time. So that is it for this rather long and exhaustive entry. Next Wednesday I get back to the grind, thankfully it will be a short week, and I can rest up on the weekend. My brother's right. Hong Kong is paradise.
Till next week.
Love adios and peng on!
Dirk
I have over a week off for Chinese New Years and have decided to spend the week hiking and biking Hong Kong's incredible trail system. Seventy percent of the Hong Kong territory is natural and hundreds of kilometers of hiking trails crisscross the territory. Built by the British they go up and down over mountains, along ridges, and through jungles. They are great. I was not a great hiking fan before I came to Hong Kong, but because the trails are so interesting here I am converting. So this week I am going to provide you a few glimpses of what I did each day.
Monday 23/January
Today was Chinese New Year. Kung hei fat choy. That is a new years blessing, means hope you get rich. Went on a rather cold, rainy day, plus 10, ok I am becoming a wimp, with an old, 63 year old, but very spry and in shape friend named Gary, to Pat Sin Long Peak. Lots of climbing, when we got to the peak the wind was howling and the cloud cover was thick. My hands actually became numb. I had forgotten what that was like. We also got rained on, so not ideal, yet there were some decent views. Later ate Thai. Pineapple chicken is great.
Tuesday 24/January
I took the ferry from Kowloon Bay to Hong Kong island. From there I hopped on a subway, transferred to a bus and alighted at the Dragon's Back trail head. Up, up, up I went until I walked along a mountain ridge (the Dragon's Back) and if it wasn't for the brush I would have been blown into the South China Sea. The view was great even though it was again, like yesterday, cold and cloudy with a threat of rain. Still it was a great hike, a clear day would have made it even greater, and I enjoyed it. Walking through a jungle later was fun and seeing four little dogs all wearing Chinese style coats was amusing. The master tried to get the mutts to sit so I could take a picture, but they didn't cooperate.
Wednesday 25/January
A winter monsoon invaded Hong Kong bringing cold temperatures, 8 degrees and rain! I headed to Cheung Chau island, a small island shaped like a dumbbell, a half hour ferry ride from Hong Kong. I was going to hike the island, but the wind and rain kept me to exploring the narrow streets, which have numerous eating places and shops. Snacks like spicy fish balls, squid on a stick, dried fish, sushi and numerous other delectable seafood treats were offered. Yum! I say that in jest believe me. Despite the poor weather conditions there were a lot of people out and I found it interesting. The weather outlook is not promising for Thursday either. Maybe I will have to explore a museum tomorrow. Oh no!
Thursday 26/January
The plan was to go to Lantau island, but winds, cold! and low lying clouds caused me to scuttle those plans and seek the relative shelter of the Amah rock to Lion rock trail. This trail is relatively easy to get to, relatively challenging, and has spectacular views of Shatin, Kowloon, and Hong Kong. Most of the walk is through a jungle, which is protection from the wind, and is always interesting especially with monkeys having fun playing in the tree tops. My friend and I had a good trek and found the energy to get up to Lion Rock which like mentioned before affords incredible views. Today however, all we got was an incredible view of thick cloud cover and a blast of cold, winter monsoon winds from Siberia. Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be better. Yet weathermen are all alike around the world. Liars!! But here is hoping for a sunny day. It would be nice to see Mr. Sun again.
Friday 27/January
No sun, lots of clouds, no hike. Wahhh. Instead I headed to a park relatively close by called Lok Fu. Kowloon and Hong Kong are sprinkled with all these little parks, which when you consider this place is one of the most densely populated places on earth, are badly needed to keep everyone sane. It is basically your backyard. There are also a few random hills scattered in Kowloon and because they are well forested they are like an oasis in a concrete desert. Maybe tomorrow the weather might be a tad better and I will embark on an adventure.
Saturday 28/January
The weathermen are as useless in China as they are in Canada. Big prediction for today was cold, plus 12 (come on it feels cold when you have experienced plus 25 for most of the year) overcast, with rain. Dead wrong. It was sunny, plus 25, blue sky day baby. I went to Mui Wu on Lantau Island. Lantau's claim to fame is that they have the airport, the Big Buddha, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Yep you can see Goofy dressed up in old fashioned Chinese clothes for lots of Hong Kong dollars. Otherwise Lantau is relatively unpopulated, a few villages here and there and has some great beaches, plus lots of thick jungle and mountains. Its quite beautiful actually.
Today I saw village homes (three story houses that are common in rural areas) fishing boats, a waterfall so sad I did not take a picture, a cave so sad I did not take a picture, jungle trails, incredible views, a dancing dragon grooving to the beat of ear splitting drums and cymbals, the dragon was trying to chase evil spirits away out of homes, kinda of impressive, free ranging cattle, (which are common on Lantau), a vendor bundled up to the plus 20 evening cold, selling bananas and roots in front of Mcdonalds, several fishing boats, cool birds, elephant grass, a slick ancient stone walkway through the jungle, more hazardous to walk on than useful, and finally huge container ships bringing in no doubt high quality items from China to a Walmart nearest you and by the way do you like this excellent example of a run on sentence, which my old high school English teacher would have lambasted me for. I am even tired rereading this. Whew. Needless to say I had a great day. I expect the weather I experienced today on Lantau will be similar to that in heaven. I did stop once and reminded myself, today is January 28, yet it feels like a July 28 in Canada. Boy is it tough not to feel a little giddy over the weather here at times. Ya hoo! Sorry folks. I will try to restrain myself next time. So that is it for this rather long and exhaustive entry. Next Wednesday I get back to the grind, thankfully it will be a short week, and I can rest up on the weekend. My brother's right. Hong Kong is paradise.
Till next week.
Love adios and peng on!
Dirk
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