Hong Kong 2010, Part 3 of 3
We woke up early on our last day in Hong Kong. Our flight was scheduled to leave in the afternoon; we made plans to visit a small beach on the back side of Lantau Island called Silver Mine Bay. The 40 min taxi ride took us over the mountains. During the steepest parts, the driver had to putt along in first gear just to keep from rolling backwards. We passed by a set of ski lifts. These ski lifts take you up to a mountain peak, site of the Po Lin Monastery and home of the world’s tallest outdoor seated bronze Buddha.
When we arrived in Silver Mine Bay, we headed straight for the sandy beach front. We were very disappointed to see just how junky the place was. Trash and litter was everywhere. The workers had already set about to pick it all up, presumable before the tourist awoke. Besides the eyesore created by the litter, it was a beautiful place. The sandy beach was at the head of a small harbor. It was surrounded on three sides by substantial mountain peaks. Off in the distance, you could see other smaller islands. Parked to the side of the harbor was a set of small fishing boats flanking a larger sail boat. McKenzie was getting hungry and she reminded us every 15 steps. We headed out to find a place to eat. We walked to the local hotel and found out we just missed the end of the breakfast service. We headed back to the ferry termin
al area, and had decided we had seen enough. We were going to catch a cab ride out of there and hit one of the restaurants near the airport. As we approached the taxi area, we saw a most beautiful site, the golden arches of McDonald’s. The Waters’ troop is very adventurous in all aspects of our life with the exception of what we eat, so the vision of an American restaurant chain was a wonderful site.
For the most part, it was everything you would expect. Any American would instantly recognize most of the menu items. They offer different kinds of tea plus several more fruit and fruit drinks options than you have ever seen in the US but we easily ordered a few biscuits and some pancakes. The breakfast was just what we needed as it allowed us to focus back on adventuring instead of leaving early for the airport.
A visitor’s sign showed us a path that led to the actual abandoned silver mine and a set of water falls, both within a 45 min walk of the taxi stand. I did the math in my head and decided if we hurry, we could make it to the top, and still make our plane back to the Chinese main land.
We left Micky D’s with a full stomach and a better attitude about how the day would turn out. We followed the signs up the trail. The “trail” turned out to be a walk through the village streets, across yards, through people’s gardens and sidewalks literally inches outside people’s living room windows. Everyone was very friendly always smiling and nodding their heads. A few people tried to communicate, but mostly they wanted to stare at the two beautiful fair skinned girls that were my companions, while the girls wanted to befriend every lazy dog we passed. One dog turned out to be very protective of his chicken leg, even though he had no intention of eating it. This had no effect on Aletha. As she tried to pet it anyway, I made my way around him in a huge wide semi-circle.
The path we were taking was designated as The Honk Kong Olympic trail. It was set up during the Bejing Olympics, but other than that is has no other significance. I mean, the trail is a 5 hour plane flight away from the center of the Olympic city!
As we passed a few gardens, we made note of some beautiful flowers, some interesting vegetables and a real banana tree. McKenzie wanted to pick one, but I wouldn’t let her. They were green and someone else’s harvest and I did not want to get between a farmer and his cash crop.
The path eventually led us to the edge of the jungle and past an old, well engineered out house. The clever people had figured a way to pipe water from the local stream into the top of the water closet without using any kind of pump; gravity alone was responsible for getting the water into the tank, and then responsible for pushing anything that a person left behind down the hill, presumable into the ocean below. From the looks of the house, it had not been used in a long time.
As we headed on, the jungle started looking more and more like, well a jungle. Trees were covered in vines as thick as your arm. Some trees had limbs that grew straight down back into the soil to make a new root. I was waiting for the screams of Jane as she ran from a grinning Tarzan with the thought of love on his mind. Instead, we started to hear the sound of a trickling water fall.
The first section was barely more than a small brook rolling over boulders, worn smooth after centuries of being exposed to the current. The sound was like medicine. Months of listening to traffic and car horns were slowly being replaced with sounds made by the Lord himself. My mind wandered to the last time we were in the mountains of North Carolina.
We were growing anxious to see the real water fall, so we pushed on. We made our way to the viewing area and the falls were gorgeous. They fell about 40 feet across a flat black rock face. The water then crawled its way through a section of scattered boulders looking for any place it could squeeze through so its trip to the ocean would not be delayed. We searched around at the base of the falls. Small pools of water were everywhere. McKenzie and I found a few that contained minnows, but the real find was one that held a crawdad. This daddy was different than any I had seen. Its body was normal, but its claws were extremely long and thin.
To my eyes, they seemed too fragile to be any good. We poked and prodded around trying to catch it, but this fellow had gotten real good at hiding in the small amount of water he was housed in. We never did get our hands on it, and we finally left to explore else where. McKenzie left to make mud pies, while Aletha went to talk to the only other person we had seen this far up the trail; a pleasant British women who had been in Honk Kong most of her adult life. The real pull was that she had two mongrel pet dogs with her. I wasn’t sure who enjoyed playing in the water and dirt more, McKenzie or the pups. Both had gotten pretty filthy in just a matter of moments.
We spent quite a while at the falls. In fact, we spent too long. The watch told us we would not be able to push on to the silver mine. With the long walk down and the fact that cabs were few and far between in this remote spot, we decided we had to high tail it out of there to catch our plane. From that point on, our time in Hong Kong was over. We had a great set of days there. Our best memories had nothing to do with all the famous Hong Kong landmarks (except for Disney). We got the most from getting off the beaten path and spending time in some small, unknown corners of the island. I can’t say enough good things about our visit. We would go back in a minute if the chance presented itself.
When we arrived in Silver Mine Bay, we headed straight for the sandy beach front. We were very disappointed to see just how junky the place was. Trash and litter was everywhere. The workers had already set about to pick it all up, presumable before the tourist awoke. Besides the eyesore created by the litter, it was a beautiful place. The sandy beach was at the head of a small harbor. It was surrounded on three sides by substantial mountain peaks. Off in the distance, you could see other smaller islands. Parked to the side of the harbor was a set of small fishing boats flanking a larger sail boat. McKenzie was getting hungry and she reminded us every 15 steps. We headed out to find a place to eat. We walked to the local hotel and found out we just missed the end of the breakfast service. We headed back to the ferry termin
al area, and had decided we had seen enough. We were going to catch a cab ride out of there and hit one of the restaurants near the airport. As we approached the taxi area, we saw a most beautiful site, the golden arches of McDonald’s. The Waters’ troop is very adventurous in all aspects of our life with the exception of what we eat, so the vision of an American restaurant chain was a wonderful site.For the most part, it was everything you would expect. Any American would instantly recognize most of the menu items. They offer different kinds of tea plus several more fruit and fruit drinks options than you have ever seen in the US but we easily ordered a few biscuits and some pancakes. The breakfast was just what we needed as it allowed us to focus back on adventuring instead of leaving early for the airport.
A visitor’s sign showed us a path that led to the actual abandoned silver mine and a set of water falls, both within a 45 min walk of the taxi stand. I did the math in my head and decided if we hurry, we could make it to the top, and still make our plane back to the Chinese main land.
We left Micky D’s with a full stomach and a better attitude about how the day would turn out. We followed the signs up the trail. The “trail” turned out to be a walk through the village streets, across yards, through people’s gardens and sidewalks literally inches outside people’s living room windows. Everyone was very friendly always smiling and nodding their heads. A few people tried to communicate, but mostly they wanted to stare at the two beautiful fair skinned girls that were my companions, while the girls wanted to befriend every lazy dog we passed. One dog turned out to be very protective of his chicken leg, even though he had no intention of eating it. This had no effect on Aletha. As she tried to pet it anyway, I made my way around him in a huge wide semi-circle.
The path we were taking was designated as The Honk Kong Olympic trail. It was set up during the Bejing Olympics, but other than that is has no other significance. I mean, the trail is a 5 hour plane flight away from the center of the Olympic city!
As we passed a few gardens, we made note of some beautiful flowers, some interesting vegetables and a real banana tree. McKenzie wanted to pick one, but I wouldn’t let her. They were green and someone else’s harvest and I did not want to get between a farmer and his cash crop.
The path eventually led us to the edge of the jungle and past an old, well engineered out house. The clever people had figured a way to pipe water from the local stream into the top of the water closet without using any kind of pump; gravity alone was responsible for getting the water into the tank, and then responsible for pushing anything that a person left behind down the hill, presumable into the ocean below. From the looks of the house, it had not been used in a long time.
As we headed on, the jungle started looking more and more like, well a jungle. Trees were covered in vines as thick as your arm. Some trees had limbs that grew straight down back into the soil to make a new root. I was waiting for the screams of Jane as she ran from a grinning Tarzan with the thought of love on his mind. Instead, we started to hear the sound of a trickling water fall.
The first section was barely more than a small brook rolling over boulders, worn smooth after centuries of being exposed to the current. The sound was like medicine. Months of listening to traffic and car horns were slowly being replaced with sounds made by the Lord himself. My mind wandered to the last time we were in the mountains of North Carolina.
We were growing anxious to see the real water fall, so we pushed on. We made our way to the viewing area and the falls were gorgeous. They fell about 40 feet across a flat black rock face. The water then crawled its way through a section of scattered boulders looking for any place it could squeeze through so its trip to the ocean would not be delayed. We searched around at the base of the falls. Small pools of water were everywhere. McKenzie and I found a few that contained minnows, but the real find was one that held a crawdad. This daddy was different than any I had seen. Its body was normal, but its claws were extremely long and thin.
To my eyes, they seemed too fragile to be any good. We poked and prodded around trying to catch it, but this fellow had gotten real good at hiding in the small amount of water he was housed in. We never did get our hands on it, and we finally left to explore else where. McKenzie left to make mud pies, while Aletha went to talk to the only other person we had seen this far up the trail; a pleasant British women who had been in Honk Kong most of her adult life. The real pull was that she had two mongrel pet dogs with her. I wasn’t sure who enjoyed playing in the water and dirt more, McKenzie or the pups. Both had gotten pretty filthy in just a matter of moments.We spent quite a while at the falls. In fact, we spent too long. The watch told us we would not be able to push on to the silver mine. With the long walk down and the fact that cabs were few and far between in this remote spot, we decided we had to high tail it out of there to catch our plane. From that point on, our time in Hong Kong was over. We had a great set of days there. Our best memories had nothing to do with all the famous Hong Kong landmarks (except for Disney). We got the most from getting off the beaten path and spending time in some small, unknown corners of the island. I can’t say enough good things about our visit. We would go back in a minute if the chance presented itself.
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