for day 4, i went hiking at the dragon’s back...
frankly, i woke up feeling a little unmotivated to hike. after all, i had walked quite a bit when i visited macau and lamma island the past 2 days and my body was aching badly. and so i lazed in bed until quite late before i decided to pull myself up and headed out of the hotel. the dragon's back trail is located in shek o and i had heard so much about it. i had previously wanted to visit it but missed the bus stop and ended up in some villages and this time round i told myself i will make it to the trail.
the trip to dragon's back was not unfamiliar to me. i took the mtr to hsiao qi wan station (the same place i went to on day 1 when i visited the sinseh) and boarded bus no 9 from the bus depot located just next to the mtr station. when i arrived there, there was already a small crowd of tourists and i could only guessed they were also going to the dragon's back trail. in no time the bus came and seated next to me were 3 young 20-something asians (2 female [one of whom bleached her hair blond] and 1 male). from the way they spoke and their slang/ accent, it was obvious they were from some western countries. much as i am quite chill about non-asian asians, i couldn't help but thought they were a little over the top, and somewhat disrespectful. they spoke and laughed loudly, scream at the littlest things (such as when the bus ran over a stone and we experienced a little bump), and commented at every thing they saw, including street names, signages, etc. inside me, i was like - hey, please behave yourself can? anyway, the bus came to a particular stop where everyone alighted. i followed suit and found myself at the start of the dragon back's trail.
the dragon's trail is a ridgeline along the shek o district and rose up to 230-over meters above sea level at its highest peak. on this ridgeline, one can have a really good view of hong kong and the surrounding islands. it took some 15-20min of hard climbing before i reached the ridge and it was superbly windy. the weather, some 18 degrees celsius, was really nice and cooling and perfect for the hike. i had expected this hike to be relatively simple and had not prepared any bottled water nor carried my backpack along. i also did not want to hurt my shoulder further as it had started aching after my climb in lamma the day before. and so, with only my light sweater tied around my waist, i started my hike along the dragon's back trail. the trail was really pleasant - quite undulating and rather steep at times, but overall, it was very refreshing. the cold of the winds did helped me a lot as it kept me going. i surprised myself at certain stretch when i actually ran... heh heh... i stopped multiple times to enjoy the scenery around and it was really beautiful. imagine this - as you walk, the mist (or clouds) whisked by at high speed across the ridge and during the occasional clearing, you get to see the sceneries in the distant. gorgeous right? it took me about 2-3 hours to complete the full stretch of the dragons back trail. i was glad i did it.
for some reasons, i started having diarrhoea when i reached the end of the trail. it was superbly uncomfortable to have to endure a churning stomach as i made my way back to the mtr. went back to the hotel after that and rested in my hotel. day 4 evening was an unfortunate one where i got cheated by someone of hkd200. shan't talk about it here as i wanted to focus the post on the trail. suffice to say, when i mentioned it to my hk friends, they were shocked and to a certain extent, embarrassed by it. sighs.
No comments:
Post a Comment