THE WEEKLY #183: THE LAST STAND IN HONG KONG

2019 is well behind us now but the year only felt over for me once I finished up with my month in Hong Kong in the first week of 2020. It was the final travel block of the year and a great way to wrap up 2019.

The final week in Hong Kong was a bit of a cram. With just 3 days of good weather, I doubled down on the hikes in case the final few days were gloomy. This meant a few big days but it added a bit of adventure to the final week with some solid work put into the legs. Even with double days, the workload on the legs was still never at the level of Switzerland. Lots of the hikes in Hong Kong have 500m+ of incline but very few had a ‘vertical kilometer’ or 1000m+ of incline. That made it possible to grab two in a day.

By the end of the month, I was quite comfortable with the subway system, a few local food spots and the general day-to-day factors of Hong Kong. Throughout the entire month, I stayed mostly in just two apartments for two weeks each. I really enjoyed this strategy and style of travel. Two weeks feels like a long time for me and I was able to settle into each apartment and my productivity was high because of that. The little stress factors of moving around a lot and backpacking travel were far less with a short-term base for the Hong Kong adventures. It learned that I really appreciate the speed of travel and will try and stay for a minimum of 10-days in one accommodation. Previously, I was staying for a while in a location but still switching rooms or hotels. The fixed room or hotel makes life much simpler. I’m all about simplicity. 

Another interesting point this week was that I did the ‘hardest’ hike in Hong Kong. This is, of course, a claim made by locals and other bloggers and not an official title. It’s a bit less popular and called the West Dog’s Teeth Ridge hike. It was reminiscent of the trails on Oahu. We wound our way up and then covered the sharp ridge with some basic bouldering until we reached the highest point on Lantau Island, which is known as Lantau Peak. I filmed a little promo video for the Dji Osmo Action camera while we were on this hike. It was 850-meters of incline, involved a bit of scrambling but if that is as hard as it gets in Hong Kong it’s a little bit tame overall I guess. I had a great time hiking but definitely loved the vibe in Switzerland of the dangerous mountains and experienced mountaineers on expeditions. Hong Kong is very basic for hiking in my opinion but offers that unique view from the jungle into the city. I loved it and would recommend it to anyone looking for some great day-hiking. 

I’ve flown back to Australia now and will spend a couple of weeks catching up with friends and family in Adelaide. The Hong Kong hustle is over. It was a great month I’ll never ever forget.

Here’s a few of my favorite moments from this week.