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Published: September 27th 2014
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Seven years in Hong Kong, and you think you’ve done most things there are to do. Thankfully I still manage to surprise myself and discover more.
Monday, that tricky day of the week when there’s a lot to do and it’s back to work after the weekend. Monday night is often one of those go to the gym, healthy dinner, early night kind of days. This particular Monday I was offered the chance to do something quite different. I left my desk at 6pm, raced home to change, and by 7pm I was in a taxi to the start of “The Twins” hike. Five of us began hiking in the dusk, heading up over the first hill towards the beach town called Stanley. It was quite a surreal turnaround. “The twins” are a popular hiking route on the weekends, but with head torches and good company, what’s to stop us heading out on a weeknight! There are almost two thousand stairs to climb, in two separate ascents.
As the sun went down behind the hills, we eagerly donned head torch chic. I was actually quite excited about this having never used one before. It
just leaves you unable to look anyone in the face, not from shame but because you will blind them with your bulb! Completely invaluable however, for spotting spider webs – I’m now convinced spiders spin their webs in the latter hours of daylight as we were avoiding spider webs left right and centre. Sharp eyes spotted stick insects on branches, which I’d never seen before. I don’t think I knew Hong Kong even had stick insects. Other wildlife I was less keen on was unknown beetle-looking bugs, and the spiders with white glowing eyes. All part of the adventure!
It was a humid night, and as we approached the top of the second peak, it began to rain lightly, which was actually very welcome. Rain or sweat, it didn’t really matter. I felt very intrepid, as though I was in an Indonesian jungle (I’m imagining what that might feel like!) and yet two hours previously I was sat in front of a laptop in the artificial light of the office. The final descent took us down into Stanley, back into reality and a welcome watering hole. A half an hour taxi ride and we were back
in the city, yet we felt like we had been transported a lot further away from that having escaped the lights and traffic for an evening.
It just goes to show, you can always keep exploring and discovering. Something I had done many times, now gave me a completely different experience filled with wildlife and adventure, minus the views of the daytime hikes.
One of the words I often use to describe Hong Kong is “convenient” and this certainly cements this; the fact that I can be transported from office to hike, and back to my apartment on a Monday evening. I am now a secret fan of head torches and not afraid to admit it. I am looking forward to the next night hike.
JHG
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