Lantau Trail (Sections 1 & 2) and other beauties of HK

Labour Day 2015 fell on a Friday, which made it a "long weekend" of 3 days. Just enough for a quick getaway, and it's HK yet again! 

Yes Inn @ Causeway Bay

Accomodation this time was the good ol' Yes Inn, but instead of Fortress Hill I decided to give Yes Inn@Causeway Bay a try. Located just across Causeway Bay MTR station and accessible by airport bus A11, Yes Inn is always easy to get to. 

Other than location (and free and reliable wifi), what I like most about Yes Inn is the simple yet modern deco and the relaxing atmosphere. At the main reception area there was a pantry with free coffee and tea, refrigerator (remember to label your items unless it's free for all) and even a free massage chair (limited to 15mins)! 

And the rooms. Budget accomodation in HK is always going to get you tiny rooms, but now I share this room with a dozen other travellers, men and women. It's a mixed dorm, kind of a first time experience. Each traveller still gets his/her personal space in the form of a mattress with curtains. There's also a cupboard that's electronically locked with your own access card so you can leave the room with a peace of mind. 

Triple deck bunk beds line up alongside a narrow corridor. 

I'm glad I was allocated a "ground level" mattress, no need to climb up and down the ladder. 

HK Trail - Day 0

我又厘香港啦！

I'm back in Hong Kong! 

With a mission this time: To run the entire HK Trail 50km in 4 days. 

Haha I can imagine you guys may have 2 types of questions in your head, depending on your background:

1) What are you crazy, how to run 4 days in a row?! And that's more than 10km/day?!!

2) Why do you need 4 days just to complete 50km?!?! Many people do it within 10hrs!! 

Chill guys, that's just part of my itinerary apart from the usual touristy stuff. There's a possibility I could throw in a session of kayaking and climbing as well, keep fingers crossed. 

So as some of you may recall (maybe none of you), I last trekked Section 8 of HK Trail in Dec 2013, called the Dragon's Back, famed to be the most scenic trail route in HK. I also trekked the majority of Wilson Trail a few years ago and 1/3 of MacLehose Trail some years ago. This time it's different coz I'm gonna run. No more heavy backpacks and carrying lots of food, water and tent! 

The trails in HK are pretty well marked. If I'm going to get lost, it's probably from the public transport to and from the trails. That's why the preparation is important, starting from tonight. It's extremely important to have wifi in your room for this, and (again) I want to promote Oi Suen Guest House: reliable wifi, friendly staff, clean rooms, attached bathroom and toilets (for most) and in close proximity to outdoor gear shops (e.g. Chamonix and RC Outfitters) so you don't have to lug your shopping over long distances back to your room. 

希望天天都有好天气叻！

Pray for good weather everyday!

The gear I brought along, including a compass and headlamp in case I get really lost in the trail. And a Go Pro for the blog. 

I love Hongkong - Sights, Smells and Tastes

Happy New Year! Yes it's coming to the end of 2013, which is also the 1 year anniversary of this humble blog (clap clap clap). Incidentally the 1st post in this blog was about Hongkong Wilson Trail, on 13 Dec 2012. So it's quite apt that one year later, I will also post about Hongkong, this time it's about the other aspects of HK. 

As mentioned in my previous HK post, I have a special affiliation to this former colony, from the TV programmes, movies, songs, celebrities, and having visited this place many times since I was a kid, and this being my 4th Dec in a row in HK. However this is the 1st time I didn't book a return air tic - flew to HK by Jetstar, returned by Scoot. I was advised by cheapfares.com (or was it lowfares.com?) to fly by such, and true enough the total was cheaper than any return ticket. Give it a try on your next trip.

First meal in HK was disappointing. Ordered roasted goose with rice at the airport because I was hungry. That could be the worst roasted goose rice in the whole of HK. Actually the meat was ok but the rice was too dry. Anyway it's good to start badly so all the later meals will be good in comparison. 

First meal in HK, Roasted Goose rice at Maxim Cafe at the airport. It didn't look so good without photo editing, and the rice was very dry. Just to fill the stomach.

Wilson Trail Section 7

Somehow I have this affection for Hong Kong, maybe contributed by the fact that I grew up watching cantonese TVB serials with my mum and listening to songs from Anita Mui, Alan Tam, Sam Hui....you know what I mean. I also used to spend my entire school holidays in HK when my mum was working there. And this is my 3rd consecutive December in HK.

Anyway, this post is about Wilson Trail in Hong Kong. More specifically, it's about Section 7, which is probably one of the most scenic along Wilson Trail. It starts around the Shing Mun Dam area, northwards along the beautiful Shing Mun Reservoir, through the forested Shing Mun Country Park and ends at Tai Po town. We only had a day (actually we expected half a day to complete) so yah, 1 section is probably enough.

The adventure starts the moment we exited from the MTR. The instructions we had says exit from MTR station and take minibus 82....but from where?? It wasn't from the street directly below the station. We asked a "Hongkonger-looking" passer-by and he brought us along the street, crossed a road and into another street. Wow, there you are...82 bus stop!