Hiking on Lantau Island
Last Saturday I got to spend the day in one of the most beautiful parts of Hong Kong with some great company. Early on Saturday morning Sean (from Beijing), Arne (from Amsterdam) and I met at the ferry pier and took the boat to Lantau Island.
Lantau is a HUGE island… much bigger than Hong Kong Island, but it is not nearly as populated. Right now it is still largely natural with the occasional fishing village and Big Buddha statue speckled in. I have a feeling all that is going to change pretty quickly though. Hong Kong has now extended the MTR line to come Lantau Island, and the airport has recently been relocated to this island. As property prices continue to soar in Hong Kong I suspect more and more developments will spring up on Lantau Island.
Anyways the ferry took us to the eastern side of the Island to a village called Mui Wo. From here the three of us hiked along the coast line until about the middle of the island. We had the ambition to hike across the whole island, but after about five hours in the extremely hot weather we sonly made it about halfway.
My favourite part of the trip, aside from the great conversation, was when we stopped for lunch at a small Filipino owned convenience store on the main road of a small village. The village was located on a BEAUTIFUL and empty beach, and we sat on the patio outside the store and sipped mango juice and watched the owners cats, and chillaxed in the sun.
After the hike we took a bus to the far west side of the island called Tai O, this is where I took most of the pictures. This is a fishing village where most of the houses are built on stilts which go down into the water. You can take small boats from the town out into the ocean to see the very rare and endangered Pink Dolphins. We took a boat trip, but unfortunately the waves were too strong that day, so we were not able to see the dolphins. I guess that is just an excuse to go back again.
The last stop of our trip was the village of Tung Chong… this is where the MTR connects Lantau Island to the rest of Hong Kong, it is also where the airport is. I am very worried that the future Lantau Island will look very much like Tung Chong, home of Hong Kong’s largest outlet mall and countless chain restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, we had a fantastic meal at one of the nice seafood places inside the mall, and the atmosphere was nice, but I would truly hate for the island to lose its peaceful isolated charm to this type of development. Anyways, hopefully my pessimism will turn out to be for unfounded reasons.
If you would like to see some more pics check them out here:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102156983
Lantau is a HUGE island… much bigger than Hong Kong Island, but it is not nearly as populated. Right now it is still largely natural with the occasional fishing village and Big Buddha statue speckled in. I have a feeling all that is going to change pretty quickly though. Hong Kong has now extended the MTR line to come Lantau Island, and the airport has recently been relocated to this island. As property prices continue to soar in Hong Kong I suspect more and more developments will spring up on Lantau Island.
Anyways the ferry took us to the eastern side of the Island to a village called Mui Wo. From here the three of us hiked along the coast line until about the middle of the island. We had the ambition to hike across the whole island, but after about five hours in the extremely hot weather we sonly made it about halfway.
My favourite part of the trip, aside from the great conversation, was when we stopped for lunch at a small Filipino owned convenience store on the main road of a small village. The village was located on a BEAUTIFUL and empty beach, and we sat on the patio outside the store and sipped mango juice and watched the owners cats, and chillaxed in the sun.
After the hike we took a bus to the far west side of the island called Tai O, this is where I took most of the pictures. This is a fishing village where most of the houses are built on stilts which go down into the water. You can take small boats from the town out into the ocean to see the very rare and endangered Pink Dolphins. We took a boat trip, but unfortunately the waves were too strong that day, so we were not able to see the dolphins. I guess that is just an excuse to go back again.
The last stop of our trip was the village of Tung Chong… this is where the MTR connects Lantau Island to the rest of Hong Kong, it is also where the airport is. I am very worried that the future Lantau Island will look very much like Tung Chong, home of Hong Kong’s largest outlet mall and countless chain restaurants. Don’t get me wrong, we had a fantastic meal at one of the nice seafood places inside the mall, and the atmosphere was nice, but I would truly hate for the island to lose its peaceful isolated charm to this type of development. Anyways, hopefully my pessimism will turn out to be for unfounded reasons.
If you would like to see some more pics check them out here:
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2102156983
posted by Lizzy at 9:29 PM
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