Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Scenic and interesting sights along a hike to and from Cheung Sheung plateau (Photo-essay)

Years before I moved to Hong Kong, I already knew of the Ngong Ping plateau on Lantau Island which is home to the Po Lin Monastery and its Big Buddha.  But it was only after I started hiking around the Big Lychee that I got to know of the existence of the Ngong Ping plateau that lies within Ma On Shan Country Park, and still other cool plateaus at Luk Wu and Cheung Sheung.

On one summer's day that was cooler than many others can be in Hong Kong, a hiking buddy and I went again to Cheung Shung Plateau -- but this time via Section 3 of the Maclehose Trail rather than the Cheung Sheung Country Trail as had previously been the case. Rather than continue along the Maclehose Trail after reaching the plateau though, we headed back to Pak Tam Road via the Cheung Sheung Country Trail -- with our hike to and from the plateau being made interesting by the scenery along with several critter spottings made along the way! ;b

 Far from the urban jungle and yet 
still very much in Hong Kong :)

One does have to trek uphill a bit on trails 
like this one to get those kinds of scenic views!

 Vistas like this make it feel worthwhile to me though :)

A moth whose delicate white wings are so see-through
you can see the green of the leaves below them

 Cows and calves at rest on Cheung Sheung plateau

The front section of this bug has me thinking it's an ant but
 its back section doesn't look like that of most ants I've seen! :O

 One of the nice things about hiking during the humid parts 
of the year is seeing how green and lush the landscape becomes

 And one of the best things about hiking during the summer
is the sheer variety as well as number of interesting critters
one comes across out in the wild :b

4 comments:

Bill said...

Hi Yvonne,

This is the kind of photo-essay I look forward to on your site: words and images creating a capsulized experience of hiking in Hong Kong's
countryside...Second photo from the bottom reminds me of a Malaysian rainforest (specifically one I saw on Tioman Island).

Bill

YTSL said...

Hi Bill --

Thanks for your appreciation. It's great to know at least one reader of this blog likes my hiking photo-essays.

Re that second photo from the bottom: I've never been to Pulau Tioman -- yes, really -- but my general impression is that the Malaysian rain forest generally has trees with thicker trunks than those to be found in Hong Kong. Nonetheless, I take your point re the similar imagery. :)

Sofia said...

I didn't know Hongkong have mountains and forest? I thought it's just a city, a whole country in a city. This post is so cool, I must see this myself. :)

YTSL said...

Hi Sofia --

Yes, Hong Kong has mountsins and forests. In fact, some 3/4s of Hong Kong is countryside, and some 40% of the territory is country parks and nature reserves.

And maybe when you see it for yourself, you may want to migrate here... ;b