Hike in Hong Kong!

So, you are stuck in an office in Central and looking out the window. You are gazing at the many skyscrapers outside with admiration for the work of man but you really wish to see the work of nature instead. Well, all you need is a green getaway, and what if I told you that that’s barely 40 minutes away from the hustle and bustle of Central. That’s the beauty of Hong Kong. You are never too far away from a mountain, waterfalls or a beach!

Probably one of most under appreciated places in Hong Kong, Fo Tan has all the elements of a quick getaway. Bamboo forests, abandoned houses, ranges of mountains, birds chirping and a view of the city from 674m above sea level. And, as if this weren’t enough, there’s also a place that serves some mouthwatering curry!

We started at Fo Tan MTR station and took a beautiful trail up to Grassy Hill. The picturesque trail passes an abandoned house, an abandoned school and mini bamboo forests, before going up to Grassy Hill (app 674m).

Abandoned House

I checked the fridge. Nothing in there

Abandoned School

I never miss an opportunity to advertise this site

The beauty of the trail

Leave Central and in 40 minutes, you can listen to birds chirping instead of buses and cars vrooming

Finishing in curry style! Very cheap, good quality and DELICIOUS!

All pictures here.

GPX File

here.

Pictures here.

Fabulous hike!! HK showing off its natural beauty. Wonder how many people know that there is a pristine forest right next to Fo Tan KCR (now MTR of course) station. Steven Sparky lead this hike from Fo Tan to Grassy Hill (via a spectacular, pristine route) and then across Needle hill (reverse) to Smuggler’s Ridge. Golden Hill was next and finally the hike ended at Kwai Chung district in a Pakistan Muslim restaurant for a much needed Veg Biryani.

Route overall:

Route from Fo Tan to Grassy Hill:
Maclehose Stage 6 is BORING! This route we took today is nature at its best. Bamboo forests, ivy flowers, orange orchids, chameleons, snakes, cows, beautiful butterflies, cactus trees, palm trees, banana trees make up this trail. The only thing artificial is a plane flying overhead almost every 30 seconds!

Hong Kong has gone on a tree naming spree

Banana trees – so many of them here

Ivy flowers – they are creepers and a tree parasite. They cling onto trees, vie for sunshine and eventually kill the tree

Wildlife – Chameleon. Look how it’s so beautifully camouflaged

A pristine forest welcomes hikers near Fo Tan

This is the summit of Grassy hill

On the way to Needle hill. The weather was super today

Needle hill in all its glory – was an easy reverse climb thanks to our fitness

Needle hill in all its glory – view from the summit. Shing Mung, Wilson 6 are in the pic

As we were walking towards the summit of Grassy Hill (app 540m), we came across an abandoned school. It has a TV from early 1900s! The black board had “2003″ on it.

Abandoned school. You’ll see from a later pick that Ming is in love

Abandoned school. TV from 1930s!

Bamboo forest

Plane flying overhead every 30 secs

Monkey zone

One of these monkeys went about shaking a nearby dustbin vigorously. Unfortunately, there was no garbage that he and his troop could savor.

Smuggler’s ridge is in the pic. Name because this was a smuggling point back in the day. Tsuen Wan is nearby

Lion’s Rock peak and Beacon Hill are seen from Smuggler’s ridge

Golden Hill – GP batteries are got their name because of this hill (Gold Peak)

Finish point – Pakistan Muslim restaurant

Fabulous hike! Would recommend it to anyone who loves nature. We also saw a green snake but it slithered away before my camera could be activated!