Day 6: To the hills (and the MacLehose Trail)

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Today was the first proper walk in the New Territories. As usual, we walked down to Kowloon Hospital where we acquired two buses. The first group disappeared into the distance whilst our driver decided to throw his toys out of the pram (no idea why!) and took us the long way round to the Sai Kung Peninsula. We arrived some twenty minutes after the first group although we’d only left some 5 minutes after them!

Disgorging his passengers near Sai Kung, the little red-topped bus sped away into the distance leaving us in the very hot sun and clear sky to make our way into the Ma On Shan Country Park.

The morning was spent going up!

Continuing to climb up into the hills, we walked along well prepared stone and concrete paths before eventually arriving at the MacLehose Trail. Named after a former governor, this trail is divided into 10 separate stages but stretches some 60 miles. We were actually going to be following stages 2 and 3.

Stopping for a drink of water, we became friendly with a group of elderly Chinese walkers who had been hiking in this area for the past 35 years. Gaining useful information from them, they advised, for the fittest, that it was worth climbing Pyramid Hill.

Continuing on our walk, 4 of us did decide to climb the hill whilst the remainder walked around the edge. It was a scramble to the summit along a not very well defined path and, once on the top, although the views were stunning, the wind was very strong and we did feel as though we'd be blown off. Descending, we rejoined the others and continued back up to the lunch stop, which was almost the same height at the summit of Pyramid Hill!

After lunch, the climbing continued. Finally, at the base of Ma On Shan the group finally stopped to split up! Whilst half the group stayed at the base, the rest of us decided to climb. I have to be honest, having experienced the winds on the previous summit, I was not inclined to go the whole way, but did climb as far as the first coll before admiring the views and returning to base camp.

From the top, one was able to appreciate just how many islands make up the SAR. Sadly, with the sun came the humidity and consequently it was difficult to see all the islands clearly.

The rest of the walking was downhill. A slow and painful exercise as gravity tends to help! However, we arrived at our evening meal stop suitably thirsty and ready to drain the local bars of their liquid. The evening meal was not as good as in previous evenings as the chosen restaurant was right by the ferry berth - consequently trading with passing trade rather than with regulars. A number of the group would suffer the following day from eating undercooked prawns and scallops!

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