From Shek Pik Reservoir to Tai O on foot, and then to Tung Chung by ferry (Photo-essay)

The 70-kilometer-long Lantau Trail is divided into 12 sections, with some sections (like the 9-kilometer-length Section 12) being hikeable on their own.  Others are not though because they begin or end far from where such as bus stops or, for that matter, roads accessible to vehicular traffic.  

Such is the case with the Lantau Trail's Sections 7, which ends at Kau Ling Chung, and Section 8 which begins there. So should you decide to go on one of these two sections, they have to be conbined into a 16 kilometer hike that takes one from Tai O to Shek Pik Reservoir (if you religiously follow the Lantau Trail routing) or vice versa (something I prefer since Tai O's got a number of places where one can have a good post-hike meal!).

To date, I've hiked from Shek Pik Reservoir to Tai O twice.  Photo-essays here, here, here and here chronicle the first time I went on this long and -- particularly after you leave the catchwater -- scenic trail; one I recall with particular fondness because it was the hike that introduced me to my first regular hiking companion (who returned to Canada a couple of years back but has returned for a couple of visits since).     

This second time around, I took fewer photos, not least because it was a foggier and grayer day than the first time I went along this trail.  Still, it was also a memorable hike since, among other things, I actually went on it with two other friends on a pleasant enough Christmas Day! ;)

 View out to the Pak Kok that means White Point in Cantonese

(not North Point, like is the case for a couple of other Hong Kong locales)

 Looking back at Kau Ling Chung, where the Lantau Trail's

Sections 7 and 8 meet -- and where a beach, camp site,

 official viewing point and obelisk are to be found

Certain sections of the trail are pretty close to the edge and

I must admit that the metal chain fencing does help me feel safer!

Considering its remoteness, it's rather surprising that 

Fan Lau village remains inhabited

Less surprising is that Fan Lau's remote beach does not attract 

all that many visitors, especially on a cool winter's day!

 Along the way, we passed through land described as
undergoing "farm rehabilitation" and which has since

 been closed to the public, necessitating a trail diversion

The Lantau Trail turns off south of Tai O's former salt pans

(that's now a mangrove area) but we walked over the breakwater

on their western edge towards the village proper

Rather than stay for long in Tai O, we elected to take

a fun ferry ride to Tung Chung, from whose MTR station

we caught trains back to urban Hong Kong :)