In and around Hong Kong - Tai Mo Shan

40 percent of all Hong Kong is natural parks and greenery! This factoid leapt up to me from a newspaper on one smoggy day in Hong Kong while going to work. So quick plans were made, cameras charged and a party cloudy Saturday found us on on our way to immediately setting right this neglected part of HK.

Tai Mo Shan or "Big Hat Mountain" is Hong Kong's tallest peak at 957 metres approximately and is located in the New Territories. In other words, for most of us city bred folks who haven’t seen much beyond the glitzy malls of Central and the clubs at Wanchai, it is a wonderful getaway place for a weekend. Getting there is fairly easy but given our track record, we almost made a hash of it. But that is a different story.

Take a MTR train on the red line right up to the end of the line to Tsuen Wan station. Take exit A/B walk, up to the flyover on the other side and catch bus number 51 which will drop you about 20-25 mins later at Tai mo Shan country park bus station. The frequency of the bus isn’t very great at about 35-40 minutes. Or as some brochures will quaintly tell you, get down at the intersection of the country park and Route Twixt -- C'mon Alice, the party is beginning, said the mad Hatter..!

On a clear day, the walk is beautiful and you can see Hong Kong and some of its adjoining islands around for miles. Barbecue pits, benches and even a practice hiking trail ensures plenty of group activities. Throw in some enthusiastic cyclers wearing fluorescent jackets and some sports cars and bikes darting up and down and the scene is complete.

Walking up to the peak or in this case takes about 45 mins to an hour. In our case it was slightly more than that thanks to the numerous pit stops and photography sessions. Careful though! A shop selling chilled Tsingtao beer and steamed dumplings near the entrance at the edge of an inviting park may almost mean the end of the trek for some people!! It almost did for us.

After you get over the initial temptations and a good walk up via some winding roads which cuts through the famous Maclehose trail in places, you come across a car park and a picnic spot, which is pretty much it, as far as tourists are concerned.

The road still meanders up and the peak is a short distance ahead but it is barricaded due to the presence of a military installation, though we did spot a few intrepid hikers making their way around it. According to travel guides, it is the only place in Hong Kong where you can see frost in winter. Very believable given the continuous rolling banks of mist over the mountains.

There are no places to stay around the place apart from a Youth Hostel which is a short 10 walk just below the car park. http://www.yha.org.hk/hostels.asp?lan=en. Of all the youth hostels that we have stayed in, this was definitely not the best one. Apart from the gorgeous location, situated right next to a waterfall and bang in the middle of a forest, there is very little going for it. The dormitories weren’t very clean, the office fairly reeked of stale food and the water quality in the kitchen, we were told by a couple of trekkers, wasn’t very good. Recommend giving it a wide berth if you planning to stay overnight.

The walk down, as expected, takes less than half the time it takes to go up. The scenery is gorgeous, the views divine and the overall experience marvellous. If the walk down has whetted your appetite, round it off by visiting a great Chinese restaurant right next to the MTR station for some delicious barbecued pork and rice, before taking the train back home. Of course, being Hong Kong, a big mall above the station should keep the shoppers satiated. Now to the next 39 percent!