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The Middle East Of Hong Kong

**March 9, 2022** When you think about Hong Kong, what comes first in your mind? Skyscrapers, huge supermalls, temples, buddhas, pavilions, beaches, etc. But have you ever wondered if there's a deserted place in Hong Kong? Stay tuned and lemme give you a tour to another side of Hong Kong. Check out the first part here. **Escaping From Covid And Bustling HK City (Our Journey To Lung Kwu Tan)** https://read.cash/@Jane/escaping-from-covid-and-bustling-hk-city-our-journey-to-lung-kwu-tan-f63fd3fb After we rested for a while and took photos, we continued our journey as the time was running so fast along with the sun settling down, even if we wanted it to run so slow. Our real arduous climb started after we passed through the enormous rock formations I mentioned in my previous article.

We were confused about the trail as there weren't exact directions in our reference. We passed through tall grasses until we reached the spot where we didn't know where to head next, left or right? Gladly, ribbons tied on tree branches and twigs helped us decide where to go next. These were probably made so hikers won't be lost and could find their way to the peak and back to the village.

We followed the narrow trail and footpaths, and cautiously stepped on each side of small like-canals, pushing the tall grasses off our way, but the tiny pebbles made our climb quite difficult as our shoes weren't that tough to support and prevent our heavy body from falling. On the continuation of our hike, we stopped as we came across pinus massoniana trees. It seemed like nature offered us more pleasure as we hiked farther. More and more beauty of nature was revealed as we went along and we would stop to take some souvenir shots.

The scenery was becoming more spectacular and the sun started to create an illuminated path on the water. Everywhere was covered with green and different birds were calling and creating sounds somewhere in the middle of the forest.

The incredible view made me want to stay longer, unfortunately, I couldn't as the sun was slowly going down and we hadn't reached the peak yet. As we continued our journey, we felt like we were halfway to the peak as we reached the rocky part of the mountain. And it seemed like the clouds paved way for us and gave us a brighter view. It became brighter compared to being gloomy when we started our hike.

It seemed near, yet still far from our expectations. The trail became more steep and more pebbles and sands on the ground which made our hike more arduous. We climbed and climbed, and from green spaces to rocky, sandy, and brown parts of the mountain which seemed to be like a deserted place as mountains were undressed last Autumn.  (*Model sa 'ko kanan dos 😅*)

As far as we don't want to rush our hike, the time was running fast and it was a couple of hours hike to reach the peak. We moved forward and we finally reached the deserted spot of the mountain, the main tourists' attraction. We were awed by the beauty from atop, and we were like... "*Wow. Where are we? The Middle East? Desert place of Saudi Arabia or Dubai?"*

Our happiness can not be contained as all pain and struggles from climbing up were all paid off. How we wished we could stay longer, or do camping there if possible. There were only a few climbers which gave us more room to get better shots as there were no photobombers. That's the advantage of visiting tourist destinations while the majority are confining themselves inside their homes due to fear of the Covid.

My friend and I were so excited to take photos on this deserted part of the mountain, and we felt like we were on the other side of the world and not in Hong Kong.  We waited for the couple who were having photoshoots to leave the area so we could solely own the place for a while. We cautiously passed through a narrow footpath to the edge of the mountain to take closer shots of the partly naked mountains below our spot.

Who doesn't like to take the risk anyway? It was a one-time experience, and if I don't want to go back to the same place again, I'll just make the shots worth taking. My stay here in HK is uncertain, so I would rather make the journey worth it, of course, cautiously. I felt like I was on top of the world and the quite chilly breeze washed off the muscle pain we got from hiking and negative thoughts wandering in my mind were replaced with all lovely scenery. I couldn't stop praising the beauty of nature hidden in the middle of the forest on top of high mountains, and far away from the bustling cities of Hong Kong.

It wasn't the end of our journey yet, as we didn't reach the peak yet. We reached the platform with a pole and we thought it was already the summit, but no it wasn't. I saw two huge rocks facing each other and opted to go down and posed in between them. We saw more climbers doing photoshoots on the upper side so we climbed for a few more minutes.

We continued our hike until we reached the peak of the mountain. A group of Indonesians and a Chinese couple were among our co-climbers who were on the summit. We were stunned by the beauty on the peak and the bridge going to China and Shenzhen metropolis can be seen from there. Unfortunately, it was too far and foggy so we could not take a good photo of it.

It was almost five in the afternoon when we reached the peak and we stayed there for a while, took photos, and enjoyed the view. The reward after the arduous climb was truly spectacular and I felt like I wanted to experience more climb next weekend and witness more amazing magnificent nature atop the mountain. The sun was slowly settling below the horizon beautifully, creating an illuminating path on the water which gave me a little sadness as we have to leave the top very soon and go down the base before the darkness takes over.

At six in the evening, the sun was still bright and we opted to go back to the base. As we went down, the sun seemed to go below the horizon faster than us and our path was getting darker. It was my first time to be caught by night on the mountain and was a little bit scary as there might be venomous creatures on our way. We heaved a sigh of relief as we reached the enormous rock with the staircase going back to the base. It was already dark and the view of the village at night from above was even more spectacular. We used the flashlights of our phones to light our way. As we went down the staircase, scratches were heard from the side so I told my friend to walk faster as I was a little bit scared of the sounds, then she just prayed under her breath. We reached the village at seven and we jumped out of our skin when a couple of dogs barked at us as we stepped out of the dark part of the street. It seemed like the dog owners are freeing their dogs at night as we didn't see any stray dogs at the day.

We were a little bit lost in the direction going back to the bus station because of the dogs. My heart continuously pumped hard as we passed by the dogs. We finally managed to get back to the bus stop and waited for twenty minutes for the bus to go. After twenty-six bus stops, we finally reached the MTR station and traveled to our respective places. It was past nine in the evening when I reached our city and stores were already closed and my tummy was already starving. Fortunately, the Circle-K store was still open and I managed to grab a sandwich and ate it while walking alone on a quiet dark street back home.

I hit the sack safe and sound with full of beautiful memories newly added to my chest of memories. I didn't bother the aching legs as the experiences and memories were worth taking. Thanks for reading. See you on our next hiking adventure!

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