Tai Long Wan

Went on a hiking adventure in the New Territories this past weekend - we took the train into Hong Kong territory, hopped on a bus, took a cab, and then a mild hike through mostly rural territory to the stunning Tai Long Wan (Big Wave Bay). I loved it because the most we saw on our trek in were a few other hikers and some sleepy little hamlets. The trails were paved and marked, however, so it wasn't exactly Lewis and Clark, but still refreshing to escape the dense bustle of the cities. It's amazing that all this lies a mere few miles from crowded Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Thus far, the hungry developers have been resisted from sinking their teeth into this beautiful territory and so other than the few houses, noodle huts, and hiking trails, it remains largely untouched, and I hope it stays this way.


Tai Long Wan

I had to leave that same night with Devi, while the others stayed behind to camp. Not quite knowing where we were going or how we were to find our way all the way back to the train, we enlisted the help of one of the restaurant owners, his English-speaking daughter, and Aussie boyfriend. They told us they would call the speedboat for us and pointed us in the direction of the peer, about an hour's hike north, through another village and over a hill (which felt more like mountain). The kindly old owner even gave Devi a bamboo hiking stick, and with that and my flashlight which I had wisely purchased earlier at the bus terminal, we took off for the peer. Once there, we had no idea where the boat was but luckily ran into this peculiar group of Cantonese people who were wandering around wearing those flashlight headbands (the kind of thing you wear to go spelunking) and they immediately and without any reservation made it their sole purpose to get us on a speedboat, escorting us from one end of the peer to the other, calling their friends, and finally flagging down a boat. We hopped on and were off, speeding across the bay to Wong Shek Pier on the other side. The speedboat through the still darkness of the water was the highlight of the weekend.

From Wong Shek Pier we found a bus back to Sai Kung bus terminal and another bus to Sha Tin Central, a huge ritzy shopping mall. After a day of hiking and swimming and a long, tiring journey back, I don't think we quite fit the description of mall goers at this point, so naturally we had to take some pictures of our disheveled selves against the backdrop of Estee Lauder and Clinique. Hey, you never know when you might need a bamboo stick to go shopping. . .

So after that it was the train back to the border and into Shenzhen, a long ride on the Shenzhen metro, and another busride to Nanshan District. We ended our adventurous day with the wonderful street food (stir-fried rice noodles - perhaps better known as Chow Mein) that is a hallmark of the Chinese street scene.

Just a quick little adventure to break up the weekday routine!

(I still can't get this new version of blogger to work properly, but thanks to my neighbour, I have found a new way to post photos. You can't change the size or the alignment of them, however, so it's just basically a list of photos. Hopefully blogger will work out these glitches sooner rather than later. Enjoy!)


On the trail to Tai Long Wan


Stunning colours


Lonely boats on the beach


Traversing the rugged terrain of Sha Tin Central


You can accomplish anything when you have a bamboo stick


Ahhh MSG-laden street food makes everything better