Kuk Po and the neighboring spaces bordering Hong Kong's Frontier Closed Area (Photo-essay)

So what lay ahead after on the 15 kilometer Northeast Hong Kong hike (chronicled thus far in five previous photo essays here, here, here, here and here) that two friends and I went on whose main objective was to get to the picturesque walled village of Lai Chi Wo after we made it to our main destination?  The answer: quite a bit of a trek out still; one that involved going northwest-wards and up to the natural gap between still higher ground known as Fan Shui Au and then down hill to an area bordering Starling Inlet (AKA Sha Tau Kok Hoi) that, as we found out, is home to some more (near) abandoned villages!

In all honesty, although I knew about Lai Chi Wo (and its fung shui wood) long before I went on this particular hike, I was unfamiliar with these other (near) abandoned settlements that I similarly found to be very interesting to visit.  All told, because we reached Kuk Po and the associated space which borders the Frontier Closed Area of Hong Kong that borders Mainland China pretty late on into our journey, we weren't able to explore it much.

Instead, we tarried just a short while to do such as snap a few photos and mentally plan our next visit to this borderland area before heading along to the still inhabited village of Luk Keng (that's also home to a green minibus route terminus) that was the end point of this particular trek (but which I've already targeted as the starting point of the next excursion that will take me to Luk Keng)! :b

The earth god shrine at Kuk Po -- and my shadow approaching it!

A calendar in an abandoned house points to its last day 

of its occupation having been February 11th, 1989

A well maintained sacred space in one of the otherwise 

pretty much abandoned villages

 

Strange as it may seem, the tall buildings in this photo

are actually in Mainland China while the unbuilt-up space

in the foreground is situated in Hong Kong

 One of its buildings may have a red star on it

but this row of houses lies on the Hong Kong side

of the Hong Kong-Mainland Chinese border

 Perhaps the most impressive single building we saw on 

this hike -- once home to a school built in 1928 and said to 

have been inspired by Guangzhou's military academy!

Somewhat surreally, these buildings and villages that look like 

they are from another time actually exist in the present day -- 

and in an area where a modern looking Mainland China 

is to be found just across the water and border

Panoramic view of Kuk Po (and the hilly range 

over which lies such as Lai Chi Wo)

And coming up next week: another photo-essay... but this time, from a different hike! ;b