Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Northwards and upwards from the Silvermine Cave area (Photo-essay)


Early on in my time hiking in Hong Kong, I was wary of going on any hikes on
Lantau Island on account of my having gotten the impression that Hong Kong's largest island only had super difficult trails. Upon getting more familiar with the Big Lychee's hiking trails though, I've discovered that not all of Lantau's hiking trails lead up (and then down) challenging peaks like Lantau Peak or Sunset Peak (Hong Kong's second and third highest mountains respectively).

Consequently, I've found my increasingly being wont to explore Lantau -- and, in the process, gone on trails such as the one that two friends and I went along from Mui Wo to Tai Ho Wan; one whose early part I previously chronicled via a photo-essay featuring views of the greater Mui Wo area. And now, here's starting again close to where I left off the last time around...

This view shows how far we had gone from Mui Wo --
and
far up from sea level -- already at that point in the hike

These flowers were growing near the
now disused Silvermine Cave

The largest spider I have ever seen in my life
(one which could very easily wrap itself
around my
entire face and head!)

Yes, the buildings jutting out into Silver Mine Bay
on the
right side of the picture is indeed the Mui Wo
ferry pier that the ferry I took from Central docked at


Since part of the trail that we hiked on has been
designated as the Hong Kong Olympic Trail to
commemorate the
2008 Beijing Olympics, sections of it
have
Olympic-themed decorations on them

In all honesty, however, I found the natural
decorations on view on this trail to be far more
fascinating
and beautiful

Be they seeds or fruits, they are pretty
and colorful
to my eyes

And yes, a day in which a butterfly stayed still enough
for me to photograph is a good one by my reckoning! ;b


To be continued... once more! :)

4 comments:

baroness radon said...

I have seen those spiders! And lived to tell.

YTSL said...

Hi baroness radon --

Is Hong Kong where you've seen your biggest ever spiders? That's most definitely the case with me! :)

baroness radon said...

I think so, there' some big mothers here in Hawaii, the cane spiders, but not like those dinner-plate-sized things in the trees!

On the other hand, the biggest centipedes I've ever seen are here. (I should blog about the time I found one in my underpants...) And we have bufo toads, and scorpions...but NO snakes, so no wudu..sidu?

YTSL said...

Hi again baroness radon --

Yikes re finding any centipede, never mind a super big one, in your underpants. As it is, I came super close to totally freaking out when I saw a large centipede scurrying about on the floor of my bathroom one day earlier this year!

And oh wow re no snakes. Lucky, lucky you indeed!!!