Ok so I guess the first thing you need to know about this is
I am on the tail end of a thirty day challenge.
I am trying to get in 30 minutes of cardio five times a week for thirty
days, and I am just about done, easier than I thought it would be actually. I found out last week that the British
Council would have Saturday and Sunday off as my building would be closed those
days. Those being my busiest days and my
regular weekend being Thursday Friday old God happenstance went and gave me the
old adventure allowance nudge. Four days
drinking beer and looking at the inside of my apartment? No.
Four days of crazy awesome solo hiking time? Yeah sure ok.
I had
just a few days to hastily throw this thing together, I borrowed a tent from
Ingrid at work, she told me the coolest hiking was section two of the MacLehose
trail in Kowloon. I got me a hiking
guide and made some plans then next thing you know I was off like a shot
Thursday morningish. I got up that
morning at 7 am, went and had breakfast at the veggie place, then went back to
bed till about 9:30. I was on the ferry
leaving Lamma at 10, and found another teacher I work with name a Paul to brag
to about the whole thing. I was all ‘Guess
where I’m going’ and he had to teach,
his weekend is Monday Tuesday.
The
only ferry from Lamma goes to Central in Hong Kong, from there I hiked to the
subway and rode it all the way to Northern Kowloon.
Here is what happened on the subway.
I had to take the red line across, or under the bay. Then, I got off and connected to the green
line to get to North Eastern Kowloon. I
had a massive hiking backpack with a tent tied to the bottom. I sat down and pulled out the hiking book to
see what to do next. A lady across from
me got up and sat next to me.
She smiled and asked me what I was doing. I love talking to people on my journeys so I
explained where I was going, that I was camping, and I showed her in the
map.
Then she goes “take me with you”
“uh, say what?”
“Please, please, I want to go with you.”
She had pleading in her eyes. I was completely speechless and a bit freaked
out. I pointed out that she was wearing sandals
with wooden elevated soles. She was
wearing a business outfit with a dress.
She smiled and said that it didn’t matter.
“I don’t care. I just
want to go with you. I want to go where
you go.”
I didn’t know what to do here, this had literally never
happened. At my stop I was trying to
tell her that I didn’t even know her.
“I am Ada, you will know me if I come with you.” I told her that I would be gone for three
days, she said she had nowhere to be.
She kept pleading with me. She
followed me off the train to the turnstyle.
I guess at first it seemed sort of cool, like maybe this was a new
adventure that came out of nowhere. Pretty
soon I decided no, this bitch is crazy.
I noticed that she was not blinking, ever. She kept pleading with me. I told her again no, she wanted to know why
and I said I didn’t know her.
“I am Ada, you will get to know me if I come with you.”
I told her that she didn’t even know me. She said yes she did, she said “You asked me
if I was ok and you were so nice to me.”
In our entire ten minute relationship this had not happened. Then I noticed that she was getting
upset. She demanded to know why I wouldn’t
let her come.
“Because I don’t know if you won’t wait till we are in the
woods and kill me.” She didn’t laugh, I
wasn’t all the way kidding.
She gave me her number and demanded that I call her. I told her I would, she then said something
else that I didn’t hear because I was running like hell in the other
direction. I suppose a younger and
dumber me would have agreed to her coming being that I had no spine and I would
have found myself stuck for three days in the woods with Ada. I sort of wonder now if she just rides the
subway looking for guys to go camping with.
Good luck Ada. You might do
better to just go get a tent, but then I get the impression that she was
already camping without the tent if you know what I mean.
So I
took the right bus to the right stop, then changed to another bus and went to
the right stop and got a taxi to take me to the start up point of section
two. Ingrid has done most of this thing
and swore to me that section two was the best, man she wasn’t kidding.
The
taxi took me through section one, which (also as Ingrid had told me) looked
boring. It was a long street that went
next to a very beautiful reservoir. It
would have been a great spot for roller blading or a bike ride, but not really
backpack hike camping. Finally we got to
the end of the road and found a lonely pavilion with a dirt path leading
upwards behind it. I paid the taxi which
promptly left me alone looking up at a mountain, just me, my backpack and a
cool breeze.
I
started with Iron Maiden, the sound track from flight 666 which is all live
stuff. I knew I had a long walk ahead
and I needed to gear myself up. I walked
up the hill and along a ravine and found myself looking down on a lush green
valley with the whitest sand beach you ever seen. Amazing blue water splashing up on the white
sand, no human anywhere. Imagine, it took
me less than an hour to get here from down town Hong Kong. Go ahead, you tell me of the largest cities
in the world which of them has more preserved perfect nature just closer than
Hong Kong. It is absolutely mind
blowing, my country would have ruined all of this with hotels and highways long
ago, but the Hong Kongers (and maybe the British too) said no, we can have the
busiest port in the world here, but lets leave this shit over here alone, it’s
so pretty.
It’s
been a few years since I thought about it, but I was once again forced to
change my list of the prettiest places I have ever been. Here it goes, in no particular order:
Caroline’s lake house in North Georgia
The campus of SIT in Vermont
Fez in Morocco
The great wall
Ijen volcano in Java
Toba in Sumatra
This place (section 2 of MacLehose trail)
Angkor Watt
Yang Shou in South China
The Moreland Starlight drive-in
And there is my list.
After the first beach the trail started going up really fast
and steep. I was having a lot of
trouble, each step seemed impossible. I
had a timer, and gave myself 8 minutes walking and 2 minutes rest and stuck
with that all the way up the mountain, I guess it took a little over an hour to
climb the whole thing. I figured out
half way up that the bag was way too heavy, not to mention I am way too heavy. It was taking major effort to left and put
on, sweat was pouring from my face in drops and my heart was exploding. But slowly and surely I made it to the top,
which was a pavilion and amazing views on all sides of mountains and blue blue
ocean. I hung out there for a while
taking it all in. And then just to show
the mountain what for I did fifteen push-ups, which is a new thing I think I
want to start doing when I get to tops of difficult mountains, just to show the
damn mountain who is boss. I am boss of
mountains. ME!
The
hike down took me to a peak where I could see three new perfect sand beaches
with waves lapping up separated by small mountains. I could see the entire expanse of coastline
that I would be walking for the next few days, it was a truly amazing view. An hour later I was at down the mountain at
the first beach. There was a very small
village there, and I had diner at a local café next to a surf shop run by
Aussies. I asked the Aussies if they if
they thought nobody would care if I slept on the beach, they told me it was
cool. They lent me very thin ground mats
to sleep on too, which was way cool. The
old man at the café had absolutely zero level English, which in an odd way I
have missed living in Hong Kong where so many people are perfectly fluent
speakers. I enjoy communication that is
a challenge, and was able to use a little Cantonese that I have picked up. Not much mind you, but enough to get what I
needed. A nice bowl of noodles and a
large beer later I was pitching my tent on the beach. And even though it had been years since I
slept in a tent I fell right asleep like a baby.
The
next day I thought would be easier, I gave all my food making gear to the old
man. The small pot I bought was way too
heavy, and the packs of ramen noodles with piled together was also a lot of
weight. I was now foodless and foolishly
off into the hills just me and my backpack.
I hiked
from early in the morning starting at about 7.
I had planned on meeting my friends Luke and his wife Namu at the next
beach over, they wanted to surf and I wa ted to learn. I got word that Namu wasn’t feeling well and
they were out, so instead of hanging around that beach I just hiked. I went up slow gradual hills that day, which
were much easier especially after shedding all the extra cooking stuff. The bag was now light and the walk was
wonderful. Butterflies darted across the path all day of all colors
imaginable, eagles flew through the valley and really pretty birds sang to me
the whole way. My guide book spoke of a
youth hostel, which I found and went to check out. I finally got there and it sat up a hill
over-looking a lush empty bay with mountains shooting straight up on all
sides. A guy was in the walk way and
demanded to know what I wanted. It turns
out that if you don’t prebook someplace he can’t let me stay, and I can’t just
walk in. So turned away and rejected I
had to figure out something else. He
also didn’t have any sort of kitchen, he was completely closed. My lunch wound up being rice cakes and
carrots, which was not what I was hoping for but perfect fuel to burn.
The
guide book said that sections 3 and 4 were rated as a 3 in difficulty, which is
the maximum. Section 2 is a 2 meaning in
between too easy and death march. I had
thought of using the hostel as a place to drop my bags and then go do the hard
parts without carrying the tent and the gear, but no dice. For a while I tried to get myself psyched
about what I knew perfectly well would be a hellishly long day for me. The
book managed to work into every paragraph words like ‘strenuous’, ‘steep’,
‘elevation’, ‘incline’, ‘rock stairs’ and ‘concrete stairs’. Sounds like at the top there is a hell of a
view and I would feel so cool having done it, but I also felt pretty cool doing
the easy or at least midway easy parts too.
At the end of section 2 instead of heading on I hopped a bus to town to
get some real grub. There I had the
brain flash that I could take a bus to most any part of the 100 km MacLehose
trail. Instead of killing myself or
instead of ending it all a day too soon I opted to take a bus to another bus to
another taxi and try out section 5, which started at a campsite. So that is what I did, the taxi dropped me
off in a very empty and very well maintained campsite at the start of section 5
which was also rated 2 in difficulty. It
was like a camp site suburb of perfectly flat patches of mowed grass next to
bathroom facilities, all numbered, all neat.
I wandered around and found the office, which was closed. Then I found the grounds keeper who seemed
surprised to see me. He told me that I
needed to phone ahead to schedule a reservation, just like the youth
hostel. It was now 5 in the evening, I
had been hiking all day with little food and no shower, and I was being turned
away. I tried not to show my frustration,
but I really hate suffering at the hands of a beurocrat. One thing my travels have shown me though, I
never really know the full story. Either
he is just saying no as he was trained, even though he has at least thirty
perfect spots or maybe he could lose his job or something, I don’t know. I do know that by turning me away he was
forcing me to go find some spot in the national forest to set up my own camp,
which seems to me to be throwing out the baby with the bath water on his
part. But move on I did.
The sun
was sinking. I got to the bottom of that
hill and found a sign that said read ‘Tate’s Pass’ which is where the book told
me I should go. I followed the sign and
it took me straight down a concrete road, down down down. Better than up, I figured. Soon I realized that hadn’t seen any trail
markings in a while and I didn’t feel like it was the right way. But I had been going straight down for 20
minutes and the way back up would have been an endless hell I had no energy to
even think about. I found a house and
started to the drive way to ask for help but three dogs crossed my path. The first one barked, the second one growled,
and the third one said ‘keep it moving, buddy.’
So I kept heading down. At the
bottom of the hill was a dirt lot surrounded by jungle. I was lost, hungry and the sun was sinking.
A mini
van pulled up, it was as out of place as an army tank would have been. I waved them down, they wanted to know where
I was going. I guess the guy who lived
in the house with the dogs called these guys to investigate. They told me that all the way on top of that
road up near the sign I was supposed to do a u turn that I had missed. I smiled my best dumb shit smile and asked if
I could get a ride up the mountain. They
said no, well the one guy who spoke English in the back seat said no. He said it was not their van, they were
working so they could not give me a ride.
So I nodded, again rejected, and sorrowfully started up that hill. Fifteen minutes later I was sitting on the
side of the road. I didn’t want to go
up, didn’t know where I would sleep and was getting hungry. I heard a car coming so I stood up to try to
thumb a hitch. It was the same van of
guys waving for me to get in! Hurray,
people are cool after all! They gave me
a ride up, the one who spoke English wanted to know why I travel alone, and I
had no answer.
So I
found the trail, it was amazing again but I was in too much of a hurry to enjoy
things. The very first flat place I saw
the nasty shirt came off, and I started with the tent. It was at the bottom of a hill, which is the
last place you want to camp if it rains.
It was literally touching the trail, but I was beaten. An old Englishman passed by, I greeted him
with a smile while throwing my tent together.
It was now long shadow twilight.
The Englishman had the sort of accent you would associate with people
who played cricket. He didn’t like my
campsite.
“Why don’t you go to the top, there will be a shelter there
and possibly other chaps camping as well.”
Apparently the hill at which I found myself at the bottom of
had nice spots on the top, so I thanked him as he left and I again started
packing up my stuff for what I promised myself would be the last climb of a
long day.
At the
top I found the ruins of a Japanese WWII fortress. Concrete platforms overgrown with ivy and
vines with stair going to over grown jungle.
I found the Englishman there, he had staked out a place and suggested I
do the same. I found a spot near the
trail where dirt had grown over the concrete giving me a nice padding.
After
setting up my tent I made a very controlled, very safe, very small camp fire
and roasted hotdogs that I had picked up earlier that day in town. I ate them in rolled up white bread with rice
I had picked up to go at a place in the same town. Then I tried to fall asleep but couldn’t. Hikers kept going past my tent and shining
their flashlights on me all night waking me up.
One group that was particularly loud shined a light on my tent and said
“anybody home?”
And as loud and angry as I could muster I went “YES, WHY?” and they left me be. It was a long night that made my back hurt
and everything smelled like campfire.
The
third day I set out early without eating.
I hiked down the hill and was on a street overlooking the back of
Kowloon and across the water to Hong Kong.
It was the first I had seen buildings in all this time, and the first
reminder that the whole time I was literally next to one of the biggest cities
in the world. It was early Saturday morning
and the whole way was littered with older Chinese couples doing their Saturday
morning exercise walk. They all smiled
and greeted me jou san, or good morning.
I ate a
bowl of noodles with egg at a café that had pictures of every famous Hong Kong
actor you can think of sitting with the owner of the place. This Kowloon overlook has been used in tons
of movies and the crew always eats at this noodle house.
The
rest of the day I walked next to the same Kowloon overlook. It was beautiful but after a while it felt
like a Hanna Barbera cartoon where Tom and Jerry run past the same back ground
on loop over and over. The hills were
all short and steep and regular, but none took more than 15 minutes. By the end of the day I was getting sick of
them. I was happy to be still hiking,
but this section was not as nice as the last two days.
My feet
really started hurting at the ankles and my calves just didn’t want to
anymore. Each step hurt, and after climbing
all day I started going down steps all day which was hurting worse. The middle of the trail was woodsy and
rolling and fun. There were lots of
Japanese caves and pillboxes. The views
of Kowloon were glorious, but I was getting sore and tired. Soon I got low on water, and by about noon I
was ready for a lunch that I knew wasn’t coming. I started getting slower and slower.
I was
in the last stretch and just felt over it.
I was walking and heard rustling in the trees above where monkeys were
dancing from limb to limb. I had been
seeing monkeys a lot that day. They were
the nasty near people kind, so I tried to keep my distance. Wild monkeys don’t want to be anywhere near
people, but here the tourists feed them so the monkeys will follow them around
like domesticated dogs. As I was passing
under the tree I felt a very warm, I will say hot liquid hitting my elbow. In the instant that I felt it I saw a puddle
forming under my arm. A jump and spin
around later and I saw the dirty little monkey bastard on the tree above me
pissing and grinning at me. I was too
tired to shake a fist, I just kept walking.
Finally
I got to the end and caught a cab back to Central where I got a boat home to
Lamma island. I got off the boat and sat
at a café still stinking of three days camping and monkey piss and ordered a
pizza to go and a beer. I noticed people
were giving me the look, you know the one, the you smell like monkey piss look. Well maybe you don’t, I sure as hell do.
The
pizza went faster than a pez would, the clothes were off, the shower was
amazing, then I slept for 16 hours.
And today I haven’t done much. The feet are starting to feel better though.
