Hiking Dragon's Back

Wikipedia:  The Dragon's Back (Traditional Chinese: 龍脊) is a ridge in southeastern Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, between Wan Cham Shan  and Shek O Peak. It lies within the Shek O Country Park. In 2004 the Dragon's Back Trail was selected by TIMEasia as the best urban hiking trail.

360° Panorama at the peak of the Dragon's Back trail :)

Went to check this out last week and it was absolutely breathtaking!  It was super fun with super great company, all in all a wonderful time and more good memories to add to the list =)  Prepare for a photo intensive post!

The route that we were to take; us on the MTR to Shau Kei Wan station on the Island line

Taking a minibus to Cape Collision road/Shek O road, another option is to take the #9 bus.  Oh, we saw 2 cut up pigs (and its innards on the ground) while waiting for the bus to go.... lol.  Fun times...

Start of the hike =)

Most of the hike was paved or at least had a distinct path.  Pretty easy as long as you watch where you walk.

Our first amazing view!  Yes we took ALOT of pics :P

More pics along the way...

Taking some boy-band style pics... haha

...and some jumping pics of course!

Got to the peak of this hike after about 1-2 hours!  Lovely view along the way.. we were now actually on the back of the dragon.  We actually get to walk along the 'humps' of the dragon's back.  So cool!!

Went exploring a little off the road and found this nice spot to take a break :)  Actually we took many breaks to enjoy the view :)  On the way back down to the main road I sprained my ankle and could barely walk.  Still healing one week later :(

After getting back down to Shek O road, we caught the minibus to Shek O village.  #9 also goes there.  We had lunch at this extremely local noodle place, it was quite the experience.  I found a bug in my soup... I was surprised how immune I was to these things after being here for so long. haha.

Explored the village a bit and checked out the beach.  Would be nice to come on a nice warm day :)

I really really recommend this hike!  It took about 3-4 hours total but mainly because we stopped sooo many times for pictures and just to enjoy the view.  It really didn't feel like we were in Hong Kong during the hike, even though this park was only 10 mins away from the city.

Directions:  Take the MTR to Shau Kei Wan station, exit to the bus terminus (exit A3) and take bus #9 to Cape Collision road (near a prison) or take a red minibus near the terminus.  About half way through the hike there's a path that leads you back to the main road (Shek O road I think) if you don't want to hike the whole trail.  At the end, take the #9 or minibus back to Shau Kei Wan station or continue on its route to Shek O village.

Hiking up the Peak

 

 View from Victoria Peak

There are tons of hiking trails in Hong Kong, since there are mountains pretty much everywhere.  The hike up "the" peak (Victoria Peak) is actually one of the easier ones, only about 45 min - 1.5 hrs depending on how fast you go/how many breaks you take.  Some of the more intense hiking trails can go over 4 or even 6 hours.  This mountain is the highest on the Hong Kong Island, but you can't actually access the highest point. Here's more info on Victoria Peak @ Wikipedia.

We started out on the north side of the HKU campus, exiting on the north side of Run Run Shaw.  Followed a few sets of stairs up to Robert Black College, turned right and passed some tennis courts and  then saw the beginning of the trail.  Quite confusing to find actually, but we just followed people :P

Within 5 minutes we were surrounded by green.  The air was much nicer and there was a nice breeze to help with the walk up.  I was already pretty tired out from all the stairs walking... haha.  Most of the hike up is on a paved sloped path though so it wasn't too too bad.  Just difficult when I was carrying my DSLR and tripod, haha!

There are also some beautiful views on the way up....

Took the following pic about half way up the trail.  Around that point the trail changed from a "morning trail" to a "fitness trail" LOL. We were sad.

The last 10 mins of the hike is just flat walking.  The peak actually has a bunch of shopping centers, restaurants and look out points.  We decided to walk the malls and have dinner so we can take a look at the view at night and catch the light show (which actually wasn't that impressive from the peak).

(Left: shopping area.  Right:  Restaurant with awesome view!)

We went up the Peak Tower (below) to get the best view of the peak.  I'm hoping it was the best view because we had to pay $25HKD to get up there :P  There's a railed viewing area right at the top of the "bowl".

BEAUTIFUL Hong Kong!!

 (View during the light show)