Hong Kong Trail: Sections 1-4

Those SWIC hikers can get me to do anything...including hiking 25k in one day! I met up with my Shenzhen friends to hike sections 1-4 of the Hong Kong Trail. I did section 8, known as Dragon's Back, with them in January and again with the AWA hiking group last month. I guess it was time to branch out.

Section 1 begins at The Peak, which is a great starting point since there's a Starbuck's for the coffee lovers and toilets. Some hikers might even start late enough to enjoy the shops in the mall. We took a bus from Central, but there are many options to get up to The Peak. The Peak Tram is probably the most popular, but also more expensive.

The Peak is the highest point on Hong Kong Island so the hike starts with the best views of Central and Kowloon. I bet the first 3km offers varying views like this.

Although this section is categorized as easy, it is still 7km long. We were prepared with plenty of water for hiking all four sections, but we used a mini filtration system to refill our bottles when we could along the trail.

Section 2 is a fairly easy 4.5km walk through the woods. This section is popular for quick hikes because you get a lot of nature in a short time and it's easy to start/finish at either end.

The trail heads toward Aberdeen and along the way you get some great views. If you opt out after section 2, the hike can end by continuing down into Aberdeen and past the large cemetery ---> center of photo below.

This section is mostly concrete walking paths and steps, but it's all very manageable. Although most of this section is shaded by foliage, walking along the catch water is open to the sun.

The last part of the trail is a flight of steep steps, but off to the right is a shelter perfect for a quick rest or even lunch. There's also a great viewing area of some of the outlying islands like Lamma, Peng Chau and Lantau. I could even see Discovery Bay!

Section 3 takes about 2 hours to cover the 6.5km because like section 2 it's mostly an easy walk through the woods. We passed by lots of small waterfalls, but much fewer people.

Best hiking material = linen. My tank was so comfortable all day!

Dirt trails mean a lot of happy hiking, but there are also a lot of rocks and roots in the path. So while feeling closer to nature, my neck hurts from looking down so long and occasionally I trip  or stub a toe. Like I said, happy hiking!

We stopped for lunch along this section and one of the girls shared these amazing gluten-free pumpkin muffins (she modified this recipe). I can't wait to make some of my own.

Section 4 is another 7.5km of comfortable hiking trails with a brief climb near the end. This part of the trail was probably 50/50 paved/unpaved and took about 2 hours to complete.

There's nothing better on a hike than enjoying some unexpected scenery. We were thrilled to come across the occasional poinsettia, especially since it is nearly Christmas.

We knew the end was near when we started getting glimpses of Ocean Park, a marine-life theme park with animals and rides divided into zones. The main attraction is the pandas.

The end! We made it! From here we hopped on a bus back to Central. My friends went back to Shenzhen and I caught the ferry to Discovery Bay.

I'll mention here that I did this hike right after returning from Phuket and catching a cold (probably on the plane). I was feeling, meh at the beginning, but by the time the final photo was taken I was feeling pretty miserable. Somehow I still finished my longest hike so far!

Coming up: Hong Kong Trail: Sections 5-7!!

5 Days in Phuket, Thailand

Warning: many pictures in this post!!

Thailand is officially the 12th country I've visited and the 9th in just a year and a half. mrC and I took advantage of his days off and headed to the beach. There's just something awesome about being able to stay in your flip flops all day in December!

We spent most of our days at Karon Beach, right across from our hotel. Karon was perfect for us. It was beautiful and relaxing. The beach is about 5K long, so it feels less crowded than places like Patong. The sand was clean and the water was clear. Funny thing about the sand ---> it squeaked when we walked barefoot. I've never had that happen before!

On our last day, the red flags were up because the surf was rough. I loved playing in the waves that day. The waves kicked up a lot of sand, so I ended up with sand everywhere but it was worth it.

There were probably four boats picking up people all day long to go parasailing. It was crazy watching the "monkey man" accompany the customer. He climbed right up on the ropes WITHOUT a harness line and guided the parasail.

Locals came around selling all kinds of things: sunglasses, elephant carvings, paintings. I found this cute bikini! There were also many shops and restaurants within walking distance of the resort ---> I found a cute cover-up and those snazzy flip flops at the beginning of this post.

I never get tired of sunsets on the beach. 

One day we went on a half day city tour to some popular tourist stops in Phuket. We were picked up at our hotel and traveled around by van with 10 others in our group. We were first taken to Kata Viewpoint for some great views of Kata and Karon (the beach farther away in the photo below).

Our next stop was to Phuket Safari (which our tour guide kept calling saf-a-ri and confusing all nationalities in the van, haha!). We were allowed to feed a baby elephant (who gave thank you kisses), we walked through a small mini orchid farm, and went elephant trekking. Our elephant was Lucky and she loves Lady Gaga music. We also saw some monkeys and a parrot. If you can't tell by the smile, I had a lot of fun.

Next we went to see the Big Buddha which you can see from a great distance as it is 45 meters tall and sits on top of a hill. The Big Buddha is made of concrete layered with Burmese jade that shines in the sun making it a symbol of hope. The views of Phuket from the top were amazing.

We made stops at a souvenir shop (really a high end jewelry store) and a cashew nut factory. Cashew nuts are native to Thailand. We learned a little about the processing of cashew nuts at the factory tour. Cashews are manually opened one by one and it’s no easy task, that’s why they’re more expensive than peanuts and (sometimes) almonds. Aside from the fact that each cashew apple only bears one nut.

Our last stop was to see Chalong Temple. There are 29 temples in Phuket, all beautiful and all welcoming to visitors. I was wearing a tank top and shorts, so I couldn't go inside but I heard it was beautiful.

We saved our full day trip for a June Bahtra cruise. This trip was recommended by a friend in Shenzhen and cruising on a Chinese junk boat sounded fun. After about an hour ride to a marina, we set "sail" up Phang Nga Bay (the boat had an engine). We spent most of our time relaxing on the cushions in the front of the boat and watching the beautiful scenery.

When it was time to go island hopping, we switched to a long-tail boat so that we could get up close to the land.

One visit was to Khao Phing Kan, the island made famous by the James Bond movie, Man with A Golden Gun, filmed there. James Bond Island is not a big island - mostly some caves, the beach where the famous duel scene took place, and a bunch of souvenirs stands. It was fun to walk around, but we stayed out of the muddy water at the suggestion of our tour guide.

Our next visit was to Panyee Village, a fishing village built on stilts. Many people in the village now also work in the tourism business: on the boats, selling souvenirs, at the restaurants. We saw children in their classrooms and visited a small museum before ending up on the other side of the village.

After returning to the June Bahtra, the crew served a delicious Thai buffet lunch of fresh fish and chicken with rice and vegetables.

On the way back to the marina, we stopped for some swimming. mrC and a couple other people jumped in, but the rest of us had seen the VERY LARGE jelly fish and stayed safely onboard. All of the swimmers were just fine and obviously braver than me!

We stayed at the Hilton Phuket Resort in Karon Beach and loved it. Every morning we had breakfast at the Sails restaurant with a view of one of the three pools and a waterfall. The buffet breakfast had everything you could want.

When we had enough sun at the beach, we found lounge chairs in the shade at another pool on the resort. From here we could still see the beach but enjoy the breezes under the umbrellas while sipping on smoothies.

One afternoon we went to the spa for a couples massage. They gave us refreshing lychee tea, and soothing foot scrub, and then a lovely hour long massage.

The only way to get around the resort was on foot (much like here in Discovery Bay) or use the shuttle to get to the Welcome Lobby where public transportation was arranged. The only other cars in the resort were the airport transport.

We had our choice of five restaurants in the resort plus some cafes and room service. Our favorite was Thai Thai Restaurant. mrC loved the phad thai and I loved the sweet and spicy pineapple shrimp.

You would think I'd have tried fresh coconut water by now especially after living more than a year in China, but I actually had my first taste poolside. I wanted to like it (because of all the benefits), but I just didn't.

This was one of those vacations that you just want to continue indefinitely. I loved hanging out in the clear blue water and playing in the waves at the beach.

Have you ever made sand squeak?
Do you like coconut water?
Ever been to Thailand?

Hiking: Tiger's Head - Lo Fu Tau

A couple of days after the Mui Wo hike, my new friends showed me another popular trail in Discovery Bay, Tiger's Head.

This was the hardest hike I've done, besides climbing a volcano in the dark in Bali.

The hike can start two ways: 1) climb to Lookout Point and then continue to the Tiger's Head trail head or 2) walk up Discovery Valley Road to the trail head. We choose option #2.

The start of the trail was pretty painless and even offered great views of the final destination off in the distance.

Pretty soon the friendly incline and well defined dirt trail became a bit more tricky. More rocks were scattered on the trail and it started to feel like a climb and less like a walk.

At some points the trail was also a bit overgrown (we would later run into workers trimming back the trail). It didn't interfere too much with the ability to hike, but I kept thinking about what animals might be hiding in the brush!

The last push to reach Tiger's Head Peak was the hardest. The trail was very steep, significantly uneven, and may have caused me to wonder once or twice what I had gotten myself into. However, about five minutes after reaching the top, I forgot all about the climb. The views of Discovery Bay and the rest of Lantau Island were just stunning.

I was admiring the view of Tiger's Head on my way to the summit
when this little woman came down carrying her groceries!

An additional little climb got us to the summit (with more great views!) and connected us to the rest of Lo Fu Tau (Tiger's Head in Cantonese) Country Trail.

Most comfortable hiking shorts ever! (see here)

From the summit we got a view of the ridge trail that would be our way back down to civilization. From here the trail looked nice and easy ---> read on to see what it was really like!

Lo Fu Tau Country Trail skirts the edge of Lantau North Country Park which conveniently places distance markers and maps at the trail heads. From Tiger's Head we could follow the trail all the way to A Po Long (the starting point) and then take the Olympic Trail either to Tung Chung or Mui Wo.

Looking toward A Po Long

We decided to loop back down to DB using the ridge trail. This is considered an unmaintained trail (although someone obviously does care for it) so hikers are on their own meaning there are no markers or maps along the way ---> at least none that we saw or that I could find online.

Most of the trail was a rocky dirt path with steep descents at times. It was not as fast going down as the view earlier suggested it would be.

We saw some interesting rock formations along the way down. Some were large enough to climb up on for those important I didn't do it unless I have a photo moments.

Eventually we took a path on the right. Before heading down I looked back at how far we had come from Tiger's Head and the summit of Lo Fu Tau. I was feeling pretty good about that effort.

The last part of the trail was overgrown and so steep I had to get down on my butt at times. I started to reconsider how good I was feeling just moments before up on the ridge. But thankfully the path leading us down into "The Greens" village of Discovery Bay wasn't too long and then it was high fives all around. 

This is a good trail for hiker's ready to transition to something more challenging. The trail distance was just about 3.5 miles and took us about 2 hours. The elevation gain is around 1400 feet. The hard parts are relatively short, but if you have bad knees you might want to bring a hiking stick.

A few other hiking posts I've written:

Exploring Chiwan, Shenzhen
Shenzhen International Garden & Flower Expo Park
Dragon's Back and Big Wave Bay

Shenzhen Botanical Gardens

Kuta, Bali: Mt. Batur Sunrise Trek

Hiking: Tai O to Tung Chung

Hiking Discovery Bay: Lookout Point Loop

Hiking: 3 Best Parts of the MacLehose Trail Section 2

Hiking: Mui Wo to Discovery Bay