Mui Wo can be accessed by bus (via the MTR to Tung Chung) or by ferry, and I chose the latter, catching the service from Central in the early afternoon. The boat wasn't too busy, which was a pleasant surprise, as I was anticipating a lot of people heading to the beach there. The trail I was looking for is Section 12 of the Lantau Trail, which I would actually be tackling in reverse. The start of the trail can be found by following the shore to the left as you exit the ferry; I wasn't too sure if I was going the right way at first, since I was more or less alone on an empty road, but the trail sign appeared soon, on my right, taking me uphill and inland a little. The trail was quiet, and I only saw about a dozen others on it, heading in both directions, as a lot of people would be at the races, or taking it easy in the heat - Hong Kong's summer humidity has well and truly arrived! - and I don't think this is the most populated hiking trail a lot of the time anyway. I was hiking on my own too, as I was in need of some quiet, decompression time to clear my head a little. I often hike in silence when alone too, but I plugged into my iPod this time, and it was really nice to focus on the music, rather than using it as background music while doing other tasks, and I was able to connect with songs and bands that I've long loved again.
The trail wasn't overly strenuous, but did take a little longer than I'd expected, taking nearly 2 and a half hours, rather than the just under two I'd been anticipating. The first part had some amazing views, as it followed the coastline of the island, offering views of the brilliantly blue sea and other nearby islands - I could even see as far as Kowloon in the distance. I stopped plenty of times here, climbing onto the large blocks along the pipeline in the ground (no idea what they're actually for) to take pictures over the top of the foliage. It was very sunny, and even along the coast there wasn't a lot of breeze, so I got sweaty pretty quickly! Not my favourite sensation, but at least I knew I'd feel this exercise! After the initial stairs, it was fairly level for a long time, with only slight ascents over the hills, so I wasn't getting too tired just yet. After a while, the coastline disappeared, as the trail turned further inland, and was covered by more trees - which was actually somewhat of a relief, as I was covered in suncream, but still a little worried about getting too much sun exposure. The mosquitoes were out though, and even with a couple of bug spray applications, I came away with a few bites on my legs - typically they look like a dot-to-dot puzzle by the end of summer here, so this is only the start!
It was definitely a hike for sunny weather, as the views were a million times better than they would have been under cloud cover. It's a good midlevel hike I'd say, with enough of an ascent to make me feel like I got a work-out (speaking as someone relatively unfit when it comes to cardio activities, hence the reason I hike rather than run or go to a gym), but not leave me aching and exhausted. The alone time, with just the countryside and my music was also just what I needed, as I finished the day feeling refreshed and relaxed - I absolutely do enjoying hiking with friends, chatting along the way, but I also value my alone time too. And taking the time to think, or even to not think and just listen to the music and soak in the views, was definitely a better way to spend alone time than at home on the Internet, as I'm prone to doing a lot! Definitely a holiday well spent - just a shame there's no more weekday holidays for the rest of the school year!
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