It was late Friday and Iād just arrived in Hong Kong after a week of work & running in Singapore and was hanging out for a bike ride. After trying unsuccessfully to latch on an MTB tour (see http://www.crosscountryhk.com/Ā ā turned out they were booked for the weekend), I dug into the local MTB orgās website ā http://www.hkmba.org ā to see if I could at least check out one of the trails.
Hong Kong is pictured in the media as this bustling jam-packed metropolis but thereās plenty of green behind the cityscapes and many places you can ride:
-Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā One of the outlying Islands, Lama Island, renowned for its seafood restaurants (a dozen or so, lined up in a row as you get off the 30-minute ferry ride)
-Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Lantau Island, Ā home to the expats (Discovery Bay), where Disneyland put its HK Kingdom, and where they built the swish new Airport about 10 years ago, or
-Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā the largest part, the Kowloon-side of Hong Kong Harbour called the āNew Territoriesā, that borders on greater China and where most people live (and most of the trails can be found).
Hong Kong island however, has just one legal MTB track: āDragonās Backā, part of the the Hong Kong Trail, a mostly hiking track that meanders along the ridge of the main island.
After a frustrating Saturday in the hotel doing email and writing reports - while the sun blazed away outside! - I eagerly headed off at 8am Sunday to nearby Wan Chai MTR station.
Now hereās a public transport system we should build in Sydney*: fast / frequent / reliable / efficient / cheap / cleanā¦ need any more superlatives? Sydney would be so much more liveable with infrastructure of this calibre. People might actually get off the roads, as they do in HKā¦ (mind you I donāt know that they allow bikes on the MTR, so that could be a problemā¦.)
I went all the way to Chai Wan in the North of the island. About 15 minutes for about $A70cā¦ Sydney Rail take note!
Earlier Iād used the hotels Wi-Fi & my iPhone to take Google Map shots of the start of the track showing the English name: Dragons Back. The guys on the Hotel front desk then happily translated the English address, but looked at me twice because it happens to be the same road as the islandās prisonā¦ but is also the entrance to a National Recreation park.
SHEK O ROAD
The concierge was doing OK translating until he got to one of the names ā sounded like he knew how to say it but it took 2 of his mates to work out how to write what is an ancient and rarely-used Chinese character (unless they were trying to write āCrazy Caucasian dude ā wants to go to jailā)ā¦
Anyway, they must have been spot on because the taxi driver outside Chai Wan station took one look at the card and shot off, hightailing it up to #110 Shek O Road in about 10 minutes (for $HK30, about $A4ā¦. . In Sydney youād be lucky to do the same journey for less than $A20.)
And there I was; at one of the entrances to Shek O Country Park. As the photo shows thereās steps, which should have alerted me to later challenges, but I eagerly marched up in the 28 degree/65% humidity.
It was still fairly early but there were 3 groups of hikers out alreadyā¦ compare that to your typical Sydney trail where itās unusual to see another bod all dayā¦ such is life in a populous one-city-country (ā¦well, it used to be before the Brits handed it back) rammed with nearly 6 million.
The trailhead was well-signposted and displayed that it was legal for MTBās but also indicated you need some sort of bike permit which I hadnāt seen referred to in the MTB website. I wondered if it was for this one or for biking on any HK trailā¦ must find out. In my case, I was hiking so no worries.
The trail starts with a bit of a climb and then quickly flattens out. Youāre 300M above sea level but the track is bush-enclosed ā reminded me of several Blue Mountains walking tracks - and you only get glimpses of the view from time to time. The wide single-track seems pretty easy until you get to the first creek crossing then itās the first sign of how technical it can be on the flat. Not too bad.
There are 3 sections like this and between these the base is clay and leafy: easy as. I passed one other group on my way to the first intersection where the trail opened out and the sun shone on a steep series of concrete steps. Oh yes, they like their concrete in Hong Kong. The highways are made of it but the place is so hilly and they cut into the hillsides everywhere for housing and roads, so they need that spray-on concrete + these shabbily made concrete steps all over. I run along Bowen Road above the āCentralā business district and thatās concreted both up and down the cliffs keeping everything stable. They might be on the Pacific Ring of Fire but they can still build these 60-story monster towers up hillsides without blinking. And all using bamboo scaffolding that withstands monsoonal winds: try getting THAT past your NSW Building Safety officerā¦
The steps are not rideable uphill and
the path alongside was marked for bikes. Anyway, hiking them was good for the thighs because much later I felt like Iād been riding.
DRAGONS BACK
At the top, your first glimpse of the spectacular nature of the track. You can see across the harbour towards China, and on a misty but stunning day it was breathtaking, aided by the steep hillsides.
This was like my recent discovery: the Kiama Coastal Walk, but about 3 times higher, and with islands dotting the water.
I came to my next T-junction and there was a guy standing there looking official. I had a Trailflix T on so I must have looked sporty (heck, I should wear them more often!) and looking at my SLR camera in hand he asked, āAre you the official photographer?ā
āNope. Just hikingā, I said, looking at the sports-racing paraphernalia around him: āIs there a race on?ā
āYep. It’s a kayak and running eventā.
Itād be a hell of a steep runā¦āWhat time are they coming through?ā
āOh about 20-30 minsā¦ā
I thanked him and headed right, towards the peninsula. Hereās where the track really opens up to a series of peak ridges: the Dragons Back of the name. Here you can see both sides of the hill: the Harbour and the open sea. This section is the last of the Hong Kong Trail and presumably the least hiked which may be why they allow bikes. T’was not to be quiet today, though.
The view of the sandy beaches and harbours was stunning. Donāt let the water fool you though, for all the cleaning up theyāve done, Hong Kong Harbour water us still pretty filthy. When I spent a lot more time here several years ago for work I threw caution to the wind one weekend and went for a swim with some workmates who were localsā¦ I felt none too good that night and the next day was like having the flu with no coughing, sniffing or sneezing; everything ached and I was nauseous, a condition that I never get. “The effect of toxins in the water”, my expat workmates told me 2 days later when I finally got back to work. My suggestion: stick to the hotel poolsā¦
True to his word I encountered the first two runners halfway along the ridge track, running up a narrow set of stairs. Yep. Fit buggers. About 200 in all Iād guess came past while I was hiking.
Of more interest was the track itself. This is a XC track on steep rolling hills (like mini DHās) with rocks & stairs ā great for hiking but not my cup of MTB teaā¦ Iād be hike-a-biking about 50% of the time if I rode it. I was fairly glad I hadnāt gone all-out to try and rent one for the day. Apart having to attempt to ride the roads in HK (probably a near-death-experience given the dominance of the taxi drivers over pedestrians) this track would have been a frustration.
But as a walk? superb and equal to any in Sydney.
Turning around at the top point I got to go the same way as the slower runners and indeed passed a couple when I packed away my camera and played a āpretend-Iām-in-this raceā game. I must have been convincing too as a group of Japanese tourists with cameras clicking made way for me and I kept ahead of a couple of runners for at least 500M, enjoying the exercise but sweating a flood, ending up soaking my shorts & tee.. (cooled right down in the air-conditioned MTR on the return)
As a bike trail: recommended for experts only. As a sightsee: worthwhile checking it out if you like great hikes with views. There was taxi standing near the stairs when I exited the track so perfect timingā¦. I just had to say āMTR māgoiā (Cantonese for thanks) and he took off.Ā
Right now Iām looking forward to my return, whenever that may be, because Iāll definitely book ahead to explore more of the MTB side of HK life.
The 2 cities are similar size: Hong Kong has 6 million people inside 1000 km2 versus Sydney with 4 million people & 1800km2