Hike sights between Tsuen Kam Au and Ho Pui (Photo-essay)

The hike I went on with two friends one afternoon began at a place (Tsuen Kam Au) which I've been to lots of times already and ended in another section of Hong Kong (Ho Pui) which I've become pretty familiar with.  However, none of us had previously been on much of the trail we went along -- marked on the relevant Hong Kong Countryside Map as a clear line (denoting that it'd be easy walking) but turning out to be steeper and more slippery than I had thought it would be!

Worse, we actually were going downhill on that trail rather than uphill -- and while it does take more energy to go uphill, my experience is that one has to exercise quite a bit more care when going downhill.  As a result, this was one of those hikes where I took way fewer photos than usual. Indeed, it wasn't until we got to Ho Pui Reservoir that I felt able to go into major camera clicking mode, which was just as well since it really was the most photogenic area we passed through during our trek... ;b 

Early on in the hike, we were provided with a reminder of there being 

village enclaves in -- not just bordering -- Hong Kong's country parks

What appeared to be wild banana trees 

grew on the hillslopes along with other vegetation

This watery section was actually far less scary looking

in real life than it appears in this photo! ;b

As weird as it sounds, it's pretty much guaranteed that

you'll get good views near graves in Hong Kong's country parks!

A number of streams run into the reservoir at Ho Pui

For the most part, the water in the reservoir's fairly calm,

with the breeze causing just small ripples on the surface

 Some vegetation stay green throughout the year but others don't, 

and consequently help make the scenery look more colorful :) 

In addition, there is foliage in Hong Kong that

don't need the fall to come along to be noticeably red! :b