the land of dim sum – the hike
we scheduled one day for a hike on Dragon’s Back (龍脊), and this is the highlight of the trip for me. the total distance covered for the entire hike, including the additional route to Pottinger Peak is close to 12 km.
the Dragon’s Back is one of the famous hiking trails in Hong Kong and relatively easy to hike. it is one of the trails in Shek O Country Park. there are 3 interconnecting trails inside the country park: stage 7 of Hong Kong Trail that leads from the Tai Tam Road catchment to To Tei Wan Village; stage 8 of Hong Kong Trail leading from Dragon’s Back to Big Wave Bay; and Pottinger Peak Country Trail that runs from Potting Gap to Cape Collinson Road.
we covered stage 8 of the Hong Kong Trail, starting from To Tei Wan bus stop on Shek O Road, and ended up in Big Wave Bay through Dragon’s Back. we took bus number 9 from the bus terminal station outside Shau Kei Wan MTR. To Tei Wan is 11 stops away from the bus terminal, and the bus will display the alighting stations.
some of the trekking paths we encountered along Dragon’s Back. the trekking pole we purchased from proved helpful, especially when navigating through the descent along the slopes.
the island on the left is Tai Tau Chau (大頭洲) and the one of the right is Ng Fan Chau (五分洲).
the day of our trek was rather foggy, and considering that we managed to get a good view from the top was already a bonus. we took approximately 2.5 hours to cover Dragon’s Back, rested by the beach and rewarded ourselves with bak kwa and coconut water.
the second part of the trail wasn’t part of the plan. expecting to end our journey in Siu San Wan, we went ahead with the 1000 over steps from the Big Wave Bay towards Pottinger Peak.
the view from the Pottinger Peak was covered in fog by the time we arrived, and we experienced fast and strong winds up there. had a quick snap and headed down quickly.
we had our first glimpse of civilization and felt a great sense of achievement and relieve in the final descent towards Cape Collinson Road.
the path towards Siu San Wan is along the leaping dragon walk, and we took the wrong path along Cape Collinson Road that lead us to Chai Wan instead.
we completed the entire hike in about 5 hours. both exhausted and hungry, we had our warm meals in the crowded Mongkok close to 9 pm.
even though the terrain is easy to navigate, do carry sufficient water and light snacks with you. the Dragon’s Back trail is the beginning of our exploration to the countless trails in Hong Kong.
our next target is er jie nemesis’s – the Lion Rock in Shatin. 🙂
