Hong Kong: Mar 20: Lantau Island

On Saturday, I decided to take advantage of my last full day in Hong Kong (before returning to Shanghai) by spending the day outside in nature. I took these pictures this day; they accompany this narrative but do not replace it.

I got up early to attend at 8am a free tai chi class sponsored by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. It was a small class: just three people. I had fun learning the movements, many with strange names (that make sense when you do them) such as grasping the bird's tail and needle at the sea bottom. I found tai chi more exercise than I expected, mostly caused by more stretching than I'm used to at one time. I also found it hard to coordinate my breaths and actions as I was supposed to--getting the movements correct was hard enough--but I think this just proves I'm a novice.

After the tai chi class, I grabbed breakfast, had a bit of confusion with trams and buses, eventually made it back to my hotel, checked out, and stored my bag. Then I was off to Lantau Island to hike. Why is it always hazy in Hong Kong when I do a long nature hike (but not otherwise)?

An hour later, after a tram and a metro ride (which, once on Lantau Island, nicely followed the coastline), I waited in the exceedingly long line for the cable car ride to the top of the mountain. Though overcast, the cable car ride would be a 25 minute trip versus an hour by bus, so I decided on the cable car. Good thing I did, as the views turned out to be great.

Once atop, I walked quickly through the Ngong Ping themed village (which was 95+% shops), stopping only at the Nature Centre to look at the exhibits (geology, ecology, etc.) and pick up some trail maps. I was slightly tempted to stop in the village to watch some of its videos such as one on the Buddha, but I didn't think I had time.

Instead, I headed to the Big Buddha. It's about 100 feet tall--pretty impressive. I wondered how it was built, so I bought a ticket to the exhibition inside. The exhibition turned out to be worthless. Later, I went online and read about it; the story is much less interesting than I hoped: because it was constructed relatively recently (early 1990s), they basically used modern construction techniques.

I had lunch at the nearby monastery's vegetarian restaurant, then quickly explored the monastery itself, before heading off to begin my hike. I was worried about my hike. The trail I picked, leading down to the relatively undeveloped oceanside town Tai O, was supposed to take 4 hours. It was almost 3pm. I know I always hike faster than map estimates, but the trailhead for my trail looked like it was a substantial distance away, and I was worried about being able to finish the trail before I lost daylight, let alone finishing the trail in time to see Tai O before darkness fell. Nevertheless, I decided to hike along the road to the trailhead and see how the timing was going. I started my GPS recording my route and off I went.

Once at the trailhead (half an hour later, I think) for the segment of the Lantau Trail I planned to walk, I realized I'd likely not be able to finish the trail before dark, even if I hiked faster than average. Happily, the map by the trailhead showed a trail that wasn't on any of the maps I carried. It's a "country trail" that I could use to shortcut part of the Lantau Trail. With this shortcut cutting off a fraction of the distance, I figured I would probably make it to Tai O before dusk.

I set off at a rapid clip, keeping a close watch on the clock, keeping photography breaks to a minimum, and keeping an eye out for trail crossings. I didn't want to get lost on Lantau Island alone near sunset!

My plan worked great. I had a nice hike, though admittedly under slightly warm conditions and a hazy sky, climbing up and down rolling hills with views vaguely reminiscence of fjords, and often visited by butterflies and accompanied by the sounds of crickets. The trail was empty; I met only a few other groups over the whole length. I made it to Tai O easily before nightfall. My GPS said I'd hiked around 8 miles in 3 hours and 30 minutes (counting breaks and pictures), climbing 1,700 feet in the process. Not bad.

I walked past the shabby homes and garbage at the edge of town and down a long pier into Tai O proper. The town's of interest due to its ramshackle houses on stilts above the creek. Right now, it appears to be a tourist destination: many tourists wandered around town with fancy cameras. Most of the businesses seemed to exist for the purpose of selling stuff (mostly dried fish) to the tourists. I guess this is one way an old fishing village can survive.

Around 6pm, I caught a bus to a town on the island with a metro station. The bus ride was scary: the road was windy and often up and down, sometimes with a steep drop-off on my side, and (in my opinion) the driver drove too fast. Nevertheless, we made it. A long metro ride later, I picked up my bag from the hotel I spent the previous night in and walked the half a dozen blocks to my new hotel, a Ramada. The new hotel wasn't quite as nice as my old one (both were comparably priced), but my old one didn't have any availability for this night so I had to move. The Ramada was still perfectly acceptable.

Finally, I walked another half a dozen blocks for at late meal at my chosen dinner destination.