Back to regular programming now that I've finished reporting on the 21 films I viewed at this year's Hong Kong International Film Festival... and that means the first hiking photo-essay since the one I put up close to a month ago about the Lau Shui Heung Country Trail hike that my regular hiking companion and I went on last spring! (Something that should please those of my friends and this blog's readers who have missed seeing photo- as opposed to text-rich entries when visiting the past few weeks!!)
Going further back in time: fairly early on in my Hong Kong residency a few years ago now, a hiking fiend friend introduced me to the wonders of Tai Tam Country Park via a hike up Violet Hill to Repulse Bay Gap and then eastwards along the banks of a couple of the Tai Tam Reservoirs. Close to 60 hikes later, I decided to hike up Violet Hill again -- this time with the woman who's now my regular hiking companion -- but then follow the Tsz Lo Lan Shan Path southwards to Stanley. Also, this time around, the plan was to take things slower, with frequent pauses to satisfy the shutterbug parts of us, with the result that I have at least a couple of photo-essays worth of photos to share from the day's outing:-
Unlikely as it may seem, these stepslead to an area of hiking richness!
...and in the case of the path up Violet Hill,lots of steps await to be climbed!
The view looking southwards into thecentral green heart of Hong Kong Island
Back northwards lies the hazy urban jungle
If you don't glance back from time to timewhile on this trail, you'll not realize
how close you actually are to the city...
Whenever you spot this structure in Hong Kong,it means you're at a trigonometrical station
and the top of a peak :)
View from Violet Hill of a couple of the Tai Tam Reservoirs, Tai Tam Harbour, the Red Hill Peninsula and more
Green land through which a hiking trail snakes its way,and the pale blue sea beyond that looks like it melds with the sky
To be continued next week! :)
4 comments:
Hi ytsl,
Your photos of this hike are interesting as I like steps built into the hiking trails, looking at the dirt trails surrounded by greenery and seeing how close you are to urban areas while being away from it all.
Hi sbk --
Glad you like this photo-essay. Incidentally, don't know if you noticed but my hiking companion preferred to go on the step-less trail next to the steps whereas I preferred the steps. Different strokes for different folks! :b
Hi, just wondering what do you have to do to climb violet hill? Ask permission etc etc I'd love to climb but have no clue where to start!
Thanks, pictures look beautiful :D
Hi Anonymous --
No need to ask permission to climb Violet Hill -- it's located within Tai Tam Country Park.
If you have no clue where to start, I suggest you equip yourself with a good hiking book or two -- something like Alicia M. Kershaw and Ginger Thrash's "Above the City: Hiking Hong Kong Island" published by the University of Hong Kong Press:-
http://www.hkupress.org/Common/Reader/Products/ShowProduct.jsp?Pid=1&Version=0&Cid=15&Charset=iso-8859-1&page=-1&key=9789622097360
Also, as they will suggest, it'd be good to equip yourself with a Countryside Map for Hong Kong Island:-
http://www.landsd.gov.hk/mapping/en/paper_map/cm.htm
On the day itself, make sure you also bring plenty of water and a walking/hiking stick would be good too.
Good luck and hope you enjoy. :)
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