Sweeping vistas

I had seen Lam Tsuen from a distance whilst on the MTR one day.  It looked strange.  A desolate and barren set of peaks with deep and bright trails etched into the ridges.  It didn't seem to be a natural part of the lush greenery of Hong Kong.  Rather, it seemed to have been picked up from some northern European country and dropped into Hong Kong.

I convinced the guys that this was the next hike we needed to do.

A short uber drive left us in the middle of nowhere, in the "suburbs" of Hong Kong, far away from the skyscrapers and the crowds.  We were standing next to a car yard looking for the start of the trail which turned out to be a barely signposted set of steps up into some bushes.  After a very short walk of about five minutes, we were clear of this cover and we found ourselves walking through a large country park which seemed almost completely devoid of any trees or shrubs.

It was beautiful scene which we were confronted with on this hike.  It wasn't like anything which we had encountered before in Hong Kong.  We had grown accustomed to lush greenery, so to be walking through this barren and stark landscape felt akin to being in a foreign country far from home.

It was still relatively cool weather, but the lack of any cover still meant that we felt the sun far more than we otherwise would have.  It was a draining hike.  The dust started to swirl as the winds blew, but it all just seemed to add to the wonder of this place.  

The path of the hike rose up and down along the ridge.  It's undulations took us up to high points, then dropped us slightly again, giving us a wide variety of different challenges.  It also gave us an ever changing view that seemed to become more spectacular as we went along.

It was a great hike.  Definitely one of the best I have ever done in Hong Kong.  We had timed it well too.  The weather wasn't too warm yet so as not to overpower us.  I couldn't imagine trying to do this hike during the middle of summer under the intense sun.

Once we reached the top, it was time to go down.  Eamon and the others were peak hunting and so wanted us to go down a different route to the one we had come up.  A far steeper route was taken straight down and towards the next peak.  It was one of the most bizarre experiences I had ever had.  It was far too steep to merely walk down, but there was little to not plant matter to hold onto on any of the sides.  Instead, I found myself half falling, half sliding down the dusty slope.  It was an inelegant way to finish off a hike.

This hike was one of the furthest North I had ever been in Hong Kong.  It was also the closest I had felt to being back in the deserts in my entire time in Hong Kong.