Hey, guys so it's been a week or so since my last post and I have been in mainland China getting a lot of things sorted and spending some time with the other half after not seeing her for 3 months, so apologies for the absence but it had to be done.
This blog is about our trek to the top of the famous Lion rock peak in Hong Kong which has some pretty awesome views on a clear day, unfortunately, it wasn't the clearest of days but still a great hike and well worth writing about for anyone visiting Hong Kong.
We actually thought this was a much shorter hike than it was and we had walked to the park at the base the day before but after finding out it's a good few hours up and down we decided to come back the next day fully prepared for the hike.
The hike starts at the base with some fairly normal stairs but in the Hong Kong heat and being a little out of shape it wasn't long before I was lagging behind and stopping for the few water breaks, lucky for me the boys never leave a man behind.
The stairs soon turned into rocks randomly placed to take the place of the stairs and they just got steeper and steeper which my short legs were not happy about but it did make it way more interesting and much more of a challenge which in turn made for a better hike. Along the way, there were a few rest stops with big gaps in the trees giving good views out over the city which was nice as you could see your progression up the mountain when stopping for a quick water break.
As we got higher up we passed a few signs pointing us to lion rock peak as there were many different paths to choose from. The last sign said 0.5km to the peak which wasn't too far but from that point, there were no man-made paths and steps just more steep rocks and real hiking routes to the top. Although I was a tired sweaty mess at this point it was good fun climbing up through the rock closing in on the peak and there were even more great places to enjoy the views. I guess I'm making it sound like a really tough hike but it's very manageable for most people, I was just very much out of practice and had spent the last few months enjoying a good diet of beer and Japanese food.
Anyway we eventually made it up through the last of the rock faces and up onto the peak and it felt great, the cool breeze at the top was great as there wasn't any breeze in amongst the tree's on the way up and the view from both sides of the peak were well worth it. Like I said before it wasn't a very clear day and the camera didn't do it much justice but it was still quite the site and gives you a much different perspective of the city compared to being in the maze-like streets at the roots of this huge concrete jungle.
We spent a while just relaxing at the top and getting as many good pictures as we could before taking the walk back down and it is quite steep and slippery at some points so don't try to hike up there without good footwear and plenty of water. The walk down was obviously much quicker but walking down stairs can be a little harder on the knees and I have only just recovered from a big knee surgery, so this was a good challenge to see how well I had healed up, lucky for me it was all good and we made it back down to the bottom in no time.
Lion rock peak has had a few good stories to written about it over the years and even one saying that one night the part that resembles a lions head lit up and the eyes started glowing red which was apparently used as an old warning sign for natural disasters about to happen. This is because one day a long time ago it really did happen and a huge flood hit Hong Kong, coincidence I'm sure but the Chinese are very superstitious so expect to see it on the front page if it happens again.
I hope you enjoyed this short blog and if you are ever in Hong Kong I would recommend this hike for those of you that want a good workout and some great views.
Thank you for reading please hit me up with a resteem, follow and upvote and I will get a new travel story up soon. STEEM ON!!!!
