The hike over the ridge...

I was told that my beginning month in Hong Kong would be slow so to counter boredom

and quench my thirst for exploration I've ventured to a few surreal locations. I live

in Ma On Shan and there is a "Country Park" about 15 minutes from my hotel. The first

day I went there I really was not sure how to get there. I mean it's relatively

obvious being that there's a giant mountain range staring you in the face everytime

you walk in my area but to find the trail itself took a bit of navigating.

I found the "family area/BBQ area" and discovered a large map. It showed a mix of

lines going this way and that way but I really didn't know where I ought to go for my

first adventure so I kept it simple and took the road. You can follow a paved road

about the width of one car a pretty good distance, about an hours walk. The road

brings you through some dense vegetation, wild sounding birds, and what felt like an

endless climb. I came to a fork in the road (doesn't that sound so unoriginal?) and

the signs were in Chinese so I opted to go right, I snapped a photo as a guide for my

return back to this point should I have needed to turn around and made it to a

"squatter village".

I Immediately thought to myself how similar this looked to some places I've seen in

Mexico. The "houses" were very make shift either with concrete walls or other

materials bound together to keep the elements out and everyone had fences around their

patio areas where clothes were hung after being cleaned. The walkways through the

village were a maze of walls (with an occasional window I'd peer into to see how cozy

these shacks could be) and I felt that I could have kept walking deeper and deeper but

opted to take a few photos and carry on with my original intentions of summitting the

ridge I had seen and walked towards earlier in the day.

The fork in the road where I was originally puzzled by the Chinese symbols was less

intimidating since I now knew which way was "up". I carried on and eventually the road

got rougher before ceasing to exist as its concrete caterpillar and blossomed into the

butterfly of a (real) trail I was longing for. I completely appreciate having roads

and accessability to beautiful places for those who physically cannot bring themselves

to the gorgeous spots (like the road up Mount Washington in New Hampshire) but at a

certain point I also appreciate being places only accessible to those who push

themselves to their physical extremes (like Mount Everest). I took my pack off, drank

some water, had a handfull of cashews and prepared myself for whatever lay ahead.

Dense bamboo occasionally lined the path which eventually felt more like a natural

staircase than a walking trail and I was a bit disappointed not to be able to see very

far into the growth since I had been listening to some wild sounding birds and wished

to see them. I hiked up appreciating the infrequent openings through the trees which

permitted me faint views of the tall buildings where my hotel was located making the

increase of my elevation blatant. Again, I came upon a sign but this time it was

written not in Chinese characters but still in Chinese and I opted to hike to a town

rather than to summit the Mountain I had been tempted to after studying the map

earlier in the day.

The scenery went from dense forest to somewhat of an open field with rolling hills.

This was exciting for me because at this point I could no longer see any sign of

civilization other than a trail which was well travelled. After twenty minutes of

this, the awe wore off and I was reminded how brutally hot the sun was now with no

trees to protect me from the direct rays of heat. One last sense of excitement was

given to me that day when I saw the trail headed towards a ridge where I could see no

mountains beyond its top. From my past experiences I knew that this meant I would be

getting a lovely view. My pace increased until I made it to that spot and my

assumption was proven to be correct. I could have cried at the beauty, this was a

setting which I never had fathomed I would be viewing in person. Miles ahead of me was

a sea littered with small islands with abruptly climbing hills from their shores and

hundreds of yachts and sail boats accenting the natural beauty of this view like the

stars around the moon on a clear night. Everything in my vision right then was

flawlessly beautiful.

I checked the time and it was only 10 am so after examining the town on the shore line

I had just been flabbergasted by I decided to walk to it. I made it down through the

thick forest and entered what appeared to be the wealthy area of this town. There were

large properties with convertible euro cars parked out front and comfortable vibes,

this was a place I could see myself settling in many many years. I was not sure how to

get to the water but it was relatively easy considering all I had to do was walk down

hill and assumed once it got flat that it would be obvious where to go. Again, my

assumption was validated and I found myself on the sidewalk of the towns center

dripping with sweat but completely satisfied with my trek. I had no intention of

backtracking that trail so I asked a British woman where the bus station was so I

could confirm that I would be bussing out of this town rather than hitch hiking.

The town of Sai Kung is obviously a fishing/boating location and the restaurants

lining the water boast gigantic tanks showcasing the freshest seafood from the fishing

boats. These were the epitome of seafood dining establishments and I was thrilled to

be staring into tanks at creatures I had no idea of what they were and how they may

taste. It was about lunch time and I was starving so I, like any legitimate American

dismissed the notion of consuming this what appeared to be magnificent seafood before

my eyes and ordered a pizza and a cocktail. The bus ride home was brief and I was a

happy boy...