View of the hazy Hong Kong island
When I worked in Hong Kong many years ago, like most people here, I worked long hours and spent most of my leisure time in shopping malls, hotel coffee shops, trendy restaurants, bars and clubs. I rarely ventured out of Hong Kong island, even though I did manage to hike a few times, they were easy and popular ones like along the Peak and Tai Tam.
On this trip, I decided to explore Hong Kong's countryside esp. because the weather now is perfect for outdoor activities. Since it's hard to find friends to hike with me, I chose to join an online hiking group. I have never hiked with 40+ strangers before, but it turned out to be an enjoyable and sociable experience.
The hike began at Tiu Keng Leng, an area where former Nationalist soldiers, Kuomingtang supporters and refugees from China settled in 50s. The area later became known as 'Little Taiwan' but eventually the residents got evicted by the government before 1997 for new town developments. Nowadays, this area is completely occupied by housing estates, it's hard to imagine what it was like before the redevelopments.
The hike lasted about three hours and it involved climbing up and down several hills. For amateurs, it wasn't particularly easy but we all thought it was a good workout, much better than spending time in an air-conditioned gym! Yet the highlight of the hike was to see a baby Cobra... something that I never expected to see in Hong Kong!
Now I am really looking forward to the next hike...
Castle ruins
Tiu Keng Leng housing estates
Temple in Lam Tin park
Poisonous Cobra...
End of hike...
No comments:
Post a Comment