Hiking Lantau Trail - Stage 2 & 3 - Lantau Peak

Fantastic views of Lantau if you are lucky to have a clear day.  How to get there: Tung Chung MTR - Exit B then bus 3M (not frequent) or taxi to top of the hill -Nam Shan. Trail starts on your left. Return: Various buses to Tung Chung

YouTube video below here

Tags: .Hiking Lantau Trail - Stage 2 & 3 - Lantau Peak..

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Hiking Razor Back (Tai To Yan), Hong Kong

A few tough hilly bits at the beginning but very manageable 3.5 hour hike with some great views around NE Territories
To get there: From Tai Po Market KCR, take bus 64K to the Kadoorie Farm stop. The trail starts on the opposite side of the road. You finish at Fanling MTR.

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Tags: .Hiking Razor Back (Tai To Yan), Hong Kong..

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Hiking Stage 4 of the Wilson Trail

Easy-ish 3 hour hike (hilly at the start) with good woodland and coastal views
 
How Get there: Take the MTR to Choi Hung station (exit C2) and then Minibus 1A (Sai Kung). After about 7 mins the steep ascent, just past a Shell service station alight at the next bus stop. This is Tseng Lan Shue. From here it is a five-minute walk to the start point of Section 4, enters the hills at the base of the slope, beside a Country Parks map (ask a local if stuck)

Return: walk down Shatin Pass Rd or as a shortcut take the steps near the temple

YouTube Video below

Tags: .Hiking Stage 4 of the Wilson Trail..

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Hiking Stage 9 & 10 of the Lantau Trail

To get there: From Tung Chung MTR station take bus 11 and hop off before the Shek Pik Reservoir and veer left.  To return: Get bus back to Tung Chung MTR.  Time taken: 3.5 hours. Difficulty: Easy
Stage 9 is quite scenic and passes some nice beaches. Stage 10 is 'All along the Catchwater' so paved but quite boring :-(

More pics below

Tags: ..Hiking Stage 9 & 10 of the Lantau Trail..

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Hiking Clearwater Bay Walk (High Junk Peak), Hong Kong

This is  a fairly easy 3 hour hike with some great scenery around Clearwater Bay

How to get there: Take MTR to Tseung Kwan O and then minibus 103M along Clearwater Bay Road. After about ten minutes you will see a bus-stop with purple trash bin and trail head map and set of steps on your right. Jump out there or next stop and walk back. 


To return walk down the hill to Po Toi O and catch the minibus back to the MTR or walk back the very scenic road for 20 minutes to the bus terminus on your right where there are many buses and minibuses.

YouTube video below here

Tags: .Hiking Clearwater Bay Walk (High Junk Peak), Hong Kong..

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Hong Kong HIKING Highlights

Take a look at the amount of green on the satellite image below and you can hopefully start to understand why Hong Kong is by far the best city in the world for easy and quick access to wonderful hiking trails. You might need to scroll around the map depending on your screen resolution.

What is interesting and somewhat bizarre as you look at this map is the concentration of the grey area where huge 50 storey apartment blocks are piled high, one next to the other as if there was no space available. Nothing could be further from the truth, but you’ll hear no complaints from hiking enthusiasts as they can access trails in minutes where other city dwellers might have to commute hours. 

Attached below are my favourite hikes in Hong Kong that I've done so far.  I’ll add more as I do them but with over a thousand kilometres of trails it could take me a while to complete this blog post! I've also started to venture off the main trails where the terrain is a bit rougher but more rewarding.

If you have a hike you think should be listed here then just let me know in the comments below.

Click on the map to scroll around and view more of Hong Kong!


View Larger Map

Maclehose Trail Stage 2 – Tai Long Wan - Click Here Stage 3 – Pak Tam Au - Click Here Stage 4 and 5 - Ma On Shan - Click Here

Wilson Trail Stage 3 - Click Here Stage 4 - Click Here Stage 9 - Click Here

Lantau Trail Stage 2 and 3 - Lantau Peak - Click Here Stage 7 and 8  - Click Here Stage 9 and 10  - Click Here

Hong Kong Trail Stage 8 - Dragons Back - Click Here

Country Trails Plover Cove - NE NT - Click Here High Junk Peak - Clearwater Bay - Click Here

Other Trails Sharp Peak - Click Here Castle Peak - Click Here Robins Nest - NE NT - Click Here Lai Chi Wo - NE NT  - Click Here Razor Back - Click Here

Recommended Hiking Links as follows:

AFCD - Hiking Trails
AFCD - Country Parks
Roz's Hiking Pages
Hike in Hong Kong
HK Walkers
HK Outdoors
HK Tourism Board

Recommended Transport Links as follows:

HK MTR
Minibus
Buses
 

More links and photos coming soon!

Tags: Hong Kong HIKING Highlights, Hiking in Hong Kong, Hiking Trails in Hong Kong, Best Hikes in Hong Kong

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East Asia Games

The buzz and excitement in town this last week in Hong Kong has been about the East Asia Games which is like a mini annual Olympics for countries of East Asia.  There was a HUGE fireworks that kicked off the opening ceremony last week and finale fireworks carried on for thirty minutes - pretty darn impressive display.

We managed to score tickets for the final of the football between Japan and Hong Kong but showed up a wee bit early i.e. 2pm for a 5pm kick-off so I snapped a few snaps out of boredom.

Here's the missus posing with the mascot / emblem.  It's a 40,000 seat stadium and eventually filled up to capacity. Although this guy below had a whole section to himself to read his paper!

I'm a self confessed geek but this guy below wins the Gold Medal for geek of the year!

I managed to capture the first goal on video which went to Japan as the locals 'booed' non stop.

Hong Kong eventually won 2-1 in extra time so 'they' all lived happily ever after!

Tags: ..football, East Asia Games..

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Hiking Plover Cove, Hong Kong

This probably rates in the top 3 hikes I've done in Hong Kong. Weather of course can make a HUGE difference to the scenery.  On this particular day it was spectacular but very hot and extremely humid and there's virtually no shade so I would advise bringing extra water. I had 2.5 litres which was barely enough. I didn't meet a single solitary soul for 5 hours on this hike - It was all very Robinson Crusoe-ish without the cannibals and Man Friday and the ship wreck and the storm and..... Okay so it wasn't very Robinson Crusoe-ish but it was an isolated spot for sure and the signs below weren't that inviting either.

 

How to get there: Take the KCR to Tai Po Market and then minibus 20C (fast) or bus 75K (slow) to Tai Mei Tuk and veer left along the water towards the reservoir. Walk all the way to the far side of the reservoir road/dam where the trail starts on your left. Time: Approx 5 Hours  Return: The same way.

More photos and video below - Enjoy!

Tags: ..Hiking Plover Cove, Hong Kong..

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Hiking Sharp Peak, Sai Kung, Hong Kong

I'm always up for a challenge and like to push the envelope at least as far as hiking is concerned. This is what greeted me on my recent trek to the summit of Sharp Peak. Showing me this is akin to telling a fly to stay away from a freshly laid hot steamy pile of dog shite. I was not to be deterred.

This is the summit in the distance. It looks a tad intimidating but it's only 468 metres to the top.
As I turned a bend I bumped into a four legged hiker taking a break. There are quite a lot of these 'wild' cows in Hong Kong. This was to be my only encounter with a living breathing thing for several hours.
It's a tough but manageable trek on a steep gravely path to the top.
It's worth the effort however as the view from the top is pretty spectacular.
The walk back to the road is pretty darn impressive too.
How to get there: Take the MTR to Choi Hung - Exit C2 for green minibus # 1A to Sai Kung terminus - then bus # 94 to Pak Tam Au - Walk up the road and take Maclehose Trail Stage #2 - after an hour you'll see a sign for Sharp Peak on your left. Return the same way or head on to the beaches of Tai Long Wan

There's some good video and loads more photos below - Enjoy!

Tags: .Hiking Sharp Peak, Sai Kung, Hong Kong..

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Hiking Stage 9 of the Wilson Trail, Hong Kong

How to get there: Stage 9 begins at Cloudy Hill. Outside Tai Po Market KCRC Station, take a taxi to Tai Po Tau and follow the hill trail to Cloudy Hill. You can also take a short cut by catching green minibus no. 52B for Hok Tau Wai at Fanling KCRC Station, which will take you to Lau Shui Heung Country Trail from where you walk to the Stage 9 starting point in Cloudy Hill. For your return journey, get on the main road that meets the end of the trail. This location is just south of Nam Chung. Turn right here and a half mile walk will take you to the village. There, walk down Luk Keng Road to catch green minibus no. 56K for Fanling KCRC Station.


Seems like I upset a few Irish peeps with my last blog post and I had some vocal (by way of email not comments) 'unsubscribers' for my apparent 'anti-Irish' stance. I hate to lose readers and I don't think I'm 'anti-Irish' but I'm certainly not singing Ireland's praises either - to be sure. Alas, so be it and onto the more important stuff.

So I realise I'm blogging a lot about hiking recently but I simply can't help it. Sorry if it doesn't 'rock your boat' but it does rock mine and this my mindless rant of a blog after all so I can do what I want. I'm discovering more incredible trails every week so there's more of this drivel coming your way shortly.

In fact, I plan to put together a hiking portal with links to my favourite hikes including marks out of ten and links to good hiking info websites etc - more to come on that soon. Any objections? Suggestions? Indifference? - Let me know in the comments pls.

Tags: ..Hiking Stage 9 of the Wilson Trail, Hong Kong..

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