Hok Tau-Sha Lo Tung circular hike (Photo-essay)

"Focus on the journey, not the destination", advised a wellness expert named Greg Anderson. And although I would not always agree with another quote by him to the effect that "Joy is found not in finishing an activity but in doing it", I do reckon that it can often pay dividends to try to enjoy the time one spends getting to a place rather than just fixate only on what's at a journey's end.

At the very least, focusing on the journey is what makes it so that one can go on a circular hike and not feel like one ends up going nowhere! And this especially so when, as was the case more than a year ago, a friend and I went on an excursion in Hong Kong's north that not only began and ended in the same vicinity (i.e., Hok Tau (Irrigation) Reservoir) but also involved our spending less than half an hour in the area where we were geographically the furthest away from the hike's starting cum end point (Sha Lo Tung) due in large part to a number of large black ants in that neck of the woods having become greatly attracted to my friend!!

Even on that day itself, I had felt that the time we had spent hiking was time well spent. (This not least because we got to spend a few hours outdoors getting some needed exercise on a day in which the weather was actually pretty pleasant.) But looking at the photos I took that day really confirm to me -- and hopefully those of you checking them out as well -- the beauty of the surroundings in which my friend and I were during the hike (see here (for a photo-essay that has thus far remained comment-less... *sob!*) and now also this blog entry too):-

Small and delicate yet growing well in the wild

I wonder when was the last time these doors
in Sha Lo Tung were opened and
the interior space behind it inhabited

This rickety wooden bridge's presence helpfully
prevents people passing through this area
from getting their feet wet

An insect so small and camouflaged that it's not at all
easy to spot -- and yes, it feels like quite the achievement to
have done so (and be able to successfully photograph it)! :b

Photographing my friend photographing the kind
of scenic landscape that can take one's breath away
when one comes across it on a hike :)

Reflected bits of bright blue sky light up
the waters of a stream we passed by

A more close up view of the formidable Ping Fung Shan
range that links to the more famous Pat Sin Leng

Near hike's end: Green vegetation on
the eastern banks of the reservoir at Hok Tau