Duly Lamma

The city operates at sprinter speed with the endurance of a marathon runner, and, at times, a full day in Hong Kong - like in most mega cities - can take a lot out of you. New Yorkers can escape to Central Park; Parisians have the Champs de Mars to escape to. In Hong Kong, when the locals need to escape the city, freedom is only a short ferry ride away.

On Saturday, Nicole and I hopped on the boat with our friend Lyndsay to check out Lamma Island for a day of hiking and feasting. Failing to check the weather report, the skies opened up during our 30 minute ride, with some spectacular lightening and some stormy seas...just ask the Chinese children tossing their cookies the whole ride over there!

After surviving the ferry, we disembarked to find an adorable village - though sopping wet with rain. Running for cover, we took shelter at a bar (where else) to ride out the storm. There, we met a very friendly British ex-pat who has been living on Lamma island for the past five or so years. She told us all about living on the island, and suggested some destinations to check out along the two-hour hike from the ferry port city, YKW to the island's other village, SKW. She also assured us that storms like this were common during the rainy season, and, though ferocious, were usually brief. She recommended a great spot not too far away to grab lunch while we waited out the storm.

The clouds cleared up just as we settled our bill, and we were set to head out on the island trail. The trail starts on the east side of the island, meandering through tiny villages and skirting two beaches before turning uphill and cutting across to the West side of the island. Along the way we got some great views of the coast as well as the massive power plant that supplies energy to Hong Kong island. This provided some insight into the unusual juxtaposition that continued throughout the hike: beautiful vistas marred by massive industrial development. It was almost as if the Chinese land developers take pride in overcoming the obstacles posed by a pristine view in order to conquer the land. In the alternative, they wanted to provide a few laughs for the tourists passing through, because we definitely got a few giggles out of Power Plant Beach, which is apparently a local hot spot.



We had read that Hong Kong was a great place for hiking, and decided to start with Lamma because it was rated "Easy" by our guidebook. Fortunately, the prediction held true, and there were only a couple hilly sections on the walk. In fact, Lamma is a popular destination for runners, and we were passed throughout the hike by Hong Kongers (mostly ex-pats) who sprint the 6km trail for fun. Lyndsay said this would be fun to do. In light of the 30+ degree heat, I began to question Lynsday's sanity, but told her that I'd be happy to pick her up from the end of her run. Along the way we enjoyed the jungle, stopped to take pictures at a community herb garden, and enjoyed the local wildlife (viz. butterflies and stray dogs).

When we eventually arrived at SKW, right on pace two hours later, we walked into a village geared exclusively to tourists and Hong Konger looking for authentic seafood dinners. The entire shore was lined with seafood restaurants displaying their wares. Though the smells were sometimes unsettling, the fact that I had never seen some of the creatures despite years of dedication to the Discovery Channel, there was no question that we were going to devour as many of these beasts as possible.


(A view of SKW from the opposite bank of the bay. The floating barges in the bay are houses.)


We settled on Rainbow restaurant, which turned out to be an amazing decision. The place was wildly popular, and we were fortunate to get a harbour-side table to enjoy the sunset. What's more, they had a private boat to charter dinner guests back to Hong Kong, gratis. Talk about service! One of the best parts of eating seafood at a spot like this (depending on your intestinal fortitude) is the opportunity to select which individual critter you will devour. Without a doubt, this was the best and freshest seafood I have ever eaten. The fish was light, the crab, though small, was very sweet, and the prawns were massive. Even the mushrooms were amazing - these guys were on fire!



Speaking of on fire, while we were settling the tab, we witnessed quite the show. We heard sirens in the harbour and Lyndsay noticed a coast guard boat steaming into port at full steam. The restaurant-goers let out a collective gasp and stared out towards the pier where a luxury yacht of some 50-or-so feet had burst into flames!! The fire crew arrived on the scene quickly, but this vessel was done for, and the flames tore through the hull much like I had annihilated the fish only moments before. With the storm on the way to the island, and the boat fire as we prepared to leave, we hoped for the best when we boarded the boat home. There was nothing to fear, as the sea breeze and amazing nighttime views of Hong Kong were very relaxing digestifs.


(The boat goes up in flames)

Upon reaching ground, we heard the familiar sounds of pop music floating up through the ether. Looking down the pier we saw some kind of concert, so we obviously went over to investigate, and ultimately crash the show. Turns out we had found a Canto-pop concert featuring many of Hong Kong's favourite bubblegum acts, from the Super Boyz to Jason. The fans were going crazy, so we joined in the mayhem. Just like in Canada, Cantonese teens are happy to listen to contrived love ballads and generic, soulless pop music for hours on end. Just like in Canada, Cantonese teens were falling over each other to get close to their idols and scramble for TV face time. Our favourite teen was a young lad of maybe 14 years who was absolutely obsessed with Jason. As soon as Jason took the stage, this young man couldn't contain his excitement, and broke free from the seated crowd rush the stage and profess his admiration for the star. Jumping up and down with arms flailing like a little bitch this guy screamed at the top of his lungs for the duration of the performance. We were extremely amused to witness the culmination of this kid's existence. Teens...who needs them!


(There's your boy)

The Canto-pop was a hilarious end to an amazing day. With Lamma island under our belts we're ready to move on to some more challenging hikes in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!


(The hikers enjoying the vista of Power Plant Beach)



(Our waterfront seats for dinner)


(SKW is still a very active fishing village)