Sunset Peak

I don't do enough hiking in Hong Kong.  It's so easy to get so absorbed into the city itself that you forget that you are surrounded by forests and nature.

Ed on the other hand had fully embraced the hiking scene since he had moved to Hong Kong.  He suggested a big hike for everyone out on Lantau Island which seemed like a great idea.  It always seems easier to hike in Hong Kong when you have a "hike leader" who acts as both guide and organiser.

For this hike, we would be doing something a bit more challenging than the normal hikes on the island.  Ed had tasked us with climbing to the top of Sunset Peak before walking to Cheung Sha beach for food.  Sunset Peak is the third highest peak in Hong Kong.  The hike itself wouldn't be too difficult, but it was definitely a bit longer than the short one of two hours hikes most of us normally did.

We arrived by ferry at Mui Wo and began the walk up.  Our group was a fairly varied collection which included Hong Kongers, Australians, Europeans and Russians.  At first, we went through jungles and relatively thick forests.  Not surprising given where we were in the world.  It was helpful for us to have the canopy of the trees protecting us from the heat of the sun.  As we got further up, the trees started to get more sparse and the clouds also started rolling in.  It was still warm enough without the sun, but we were thankful to avoid the harsh glare.

One of the German girls who had come hiking with us was surprised by the change in scenery.  She lived in the North of Germany and she mentioned the surroundings felt far more like Denmark than a part of Hong Kong.

It was easy to understand her perspective.  When thinking of Hong Kong, these windswept grassy hills aren't the first thing to come to mind.

There were plenty of rocks for us to climb and there was definitely a great sense of achievement for reaching the top.  The walk down towards Cheung Sha was treacherous though.

As we started to descend, it started to rain.  The rock paved paths went from being helpful to slippery and we struggled to get to the bottom without falling.  The group split in two as the fitter and more experienced surged ahead, whilst the rest of us took more care.  We arrived completely soaked, but still happy that we had made it all the way.

Returning to the scene

Years ago, I visited Hong Kong when I was just a university student.  I had a great time and one night I was even taken out to party in Lan Kwai Fong by some family.

We had a great now out and I remember they took us out for dinner at a Russian restaurant.  I even wrote about it all on this blog.

That was years ago.  This is now.

My Russian friend Ayuna wanted to take some of us out for dinner at a Russian restaurant.  She suggested we go to "Ivan the Kozak" up on Wyndham street.  Why not I thought?  After all, what better way to experience a country's cuisine than to have a local introduce it to you.

The food was nice, it was hearty and filling.

I was getting a strange feeling though.  Looking around, everything felt "familiar".  I had the distinct feeing that I had been here before....

It turns out of course that I had been here before.  This was the same restaurant that I went to when I was visiting Hong Kong all those years ago (albeit in a slightly different location).  It's strange how powerful a memory can be, how feint hints of the familiar can stir up memories that you thought you had lost long ago.

This evening ended on a much more civilised note.  There would be no fake wrestling with drunken Scotsmen in LKF.  Instead, we ended up at a jazz bar listening to music and drinking glasses of wine.  Very refined in comparison.