On our quest to hike all of the MacLehose trail (100 km total!), Jaye planned another hiking adventure. This time, we planned to do sections one and three. I was a little hesitant about the feasibility of this plan, especially when Jeff did some calculations and announced that altogether, we would be hiking 50,000 steps. My knees barely survived section two (read about that adventure here), and I was a little bit worried that I would struggle even more on section three (even though it was easier) after doing section one.
I did lots of small hikes to get ready, but my decision about whether or not to do section three was made for me when I got a cold several days before the hike. I was better by the time we left, but since I was still recovering, I didn’t think there was any way I could do section three as well. But it is possible (for healthy people), so if that’s something you want to try, go for it!
We stayed in HK at the Asia Travel House—it worked out especially well since we had more people. All four of us girls could stay in one room, so it was even cheaper than last time!
Since we had a long day of hiking, Jeff and Jaye’s plan had us leaving the hotel at 6 a.m. We grabbed some McDonald’s and headed to the metro. We took the metro to Diamond Hill station, then found a taxi line and took two taxis to the start of the Po Pin Chau trail. One taxi fair was around 260 HK dollars.
When we arrived, the sun had just come up over the distant ocean, and the lighting was beautiful. We took some photos and enjoyed the view. Our taxi driver also asked us to take a picture for him. He said that he had never been up here before. Since I had been to the area twice, I was a bit surprised. I guess that’s the difference between tourists and locals.
We were finally ready to start the hike up to the Po Pin Chau viewing platform. This wasn’t technically part of section one, but it was a nice little hike. It was near the end of section one and close to the beginning of where we had started for section two. We hadn’t had time to do it last time, and I was glad we were doing it this time, especially since I wasn’t planning on doing section three.
The hike was lovely. It was challenging enough, but not unbearable. Since we had come so early, there were very few other people, and the taxi ride up to the start had also been completely free of traffic (a far cry from last time when it took an extra 30-60 minutes because of the traffic.
We arrived at the viewing platform and enjoyed looking at the interesting rock formations. The sun was a bit higher now so the dimness of the early morning sun had changed into the brightness of the morning sun, but still not the power of the midday sun.
We took some pictures and enjoyed the view. The view was the same one as on the 500 HK bill (although I think it was an older bill because it didn’t match Jeff’s bill). We saw someone who had brought the proper bill.
They were speaking in Chinese, so I asked in Chinese, “Hey, do you mind if I borrow that for a minute?”
“Sure, no problem!” The girl handed me the bill. “Just…don’t drop it!”
I laughed and held on tightly. “Nope, I’ll be careful!”
I held the matching bill above the landmark and took a picture before returning the bill. When I showed the picture to my friends, they pointed out that I should have put the bill in front of the mountain to make them connect.
“Oops, yeah, that would have been better.” I looked back to where the girls were taking pictures with their bill. “Yeah, I don’t want to ask them for it again.”
Shirley pulled out her harmonica, and we started singing some worship songs. It was beautiful to sing together at the edge of the cliff and the beginning of the ocean. The sun bathed us in comfortable light as we worshipped the Creator of all the beauty around us.
We didn’t have too much time, however, so after a few songs, we headed back to the start of the trail. We got back at around 9:30 a.m. and found some portable restrooms. After a snack and a rest, we started off on section one. We decided to do it backwards, and we were alone in our plan.
There weren’t many people at the beginning, but pretty soon we ran into more and more people. Section one of the MacLehose trail is easy and beautiful, but the hike is not very nice. Most of the hike is along the road. Usually there are paths off to the side, but we kept jumping back and forth to different sides of the road.
Since it was much busier now that at 7:30 a.m. and the road was narrow, the traffic police had turned the road into a one-way road. So while cars were going up, they blocked all the cars coming down, and then they switched and let all the cars go down. So there were periods with lots of cars, but there were also long periods with no cars while they waited for the set of cars to wind their way through the road. These periods with no cars were the best. People leaked onto the roads, and we were able to walk and talk more comfortably.
We enjoyed the view of the inlets as the ocean created bays between the mountains. By now, even in January it was pretty warm, and we were mostly in T-shirts.
We didn’t rush, and the hike was smooth and enjoyable (even with the cars). It was close to 1 p.m. by the time we reached the end (or the start of section 1 since we had done it in reverse) at Pak Tam Chung.
We tried to find a nearby restaurant that we could taxi to, but there wasn’t much available. But as we started walking, we noticed a little restaurant off the side of the road with noodles! We popped in and ordered noodles with eggs, veggies, and they had an incredible pomelo and honey drink. Since I was still trying to get over my cold, this was just what my throat needed. Unfortunately, all the talking and hiking took a nasty toll on my voice, and by the time I got home that evening, my voice was completely gone.
After lunch, 4 of our group members continued on to section 3. Wendy, Shirley, and I stopped and headed back. On our way into the city, we stopped at a pier and enjoyed looking at the boats and the bay. Shirley got a donut and shared a bite with us. Wow. That was delicious!
Then we took a bus to the metro and the metro back to the border with Shenzhen and HK. After going through customs, we got a train back to Guangzhou. We waited until the last minute to buy the train tickets because we wanted to get on the earliest train possible, but we also didn’t want to miss it. By the time we bought tickets, it was too late for me to buy it because I needed to sign into a special app that I can’t use (I had an account once and lost the password, and I haven’t figured out a way to get the app to work again, haha). Thankfully, Shirley could help me buy the ticket, so we grabbed some snacks for the train (I got a tea egg—according to MacLehose trail tradition), and we settled in for our ride back home.
I was glad to be home before it got too late. I will have to do section 3 of the hike another time!
