From The Big Beach To The Sea Shore.

Walking from Tai Tan to Hoi Ha, Sai Kung.

Yesterday, I decided it was time I finally headed out to do some hiking in Sai Kung. I would have to admit that Sai Kung is probably the most beautiful part of Hong Kong, but it is about as far away from my home as it's possible to be while still staying within Hong Kong, and unlike most places here, it certainly doesn't have good public transport. The distance and the lack of transport have been putting me off, but I felt I should have a go anyway.

I had decided on walking the Tai Tan Country Trail, which goes from Tai Tan Village to Hoi Ha Village in Sai Kung West Country Park. Tai Tan means Big Beach and Hoi Ha means Seashore.

As I had feared, getting to Tai Tan was fairly epic. I caught the bus from outside my home to Sunny Bay, took the MTR to Lai King, switched lines, then travelled to Prince Edward and switched lines again, before alighting at Diamond Hill. I exited Diamond Hill through Exit C and headed to the public transport interchange where I caught the 92 bus to Sai Kung bus station. So far the transport had gone like clockwork, but this still took two hours. The problems began from this point. I needed to take the number 94 bus. This goes all the way to Wong Shek Pier, though I only wanted to take it as far as Tai Tan. However, this bus is very infrequent. It only runs once every forty minutes and I had missed the previous one by five minutes. I tried to make the best of it by taking a look at the Sai Kung Waterfront, but I had just started wandering around its piers when I saw a 94 bus pull in. Thinking I must have misread the timetable, I ran at top speed, all the way back to the bus station. It turned out that the bus was just letting people off, but was not boarding. Even in the few minutes I had been away the queue had begun to grow, so I decided just to wait in line. After what felt like an age, another bus finally arrived, let people on and departed almost full, even on a week day.

Scenery on the way to Sai Kung.

The 94 timetable worth knowing in advance.

Sai Kung Pier.

Sai Kung Pier.

Sai Kung from the pier.

The journey on the 94 bus goes along the coast and the scenery is beautiful. We passed through villages, past little beaches and picnic sites. Then, when we reached Tam Pak Chung, everything changed. There were policemen everywhere, lots of police vans and even a police helicopter. I thought something terrible must have happened, but as the Filipina woman opposite me pointed out, there hadn't been some kind of catastrophe, there was simply a race taking place. The Oxfam Trail Walkers were running to raise money for charity and the police had temporarily closed the road to traffic. We sat there for what felt like an eternity. I was tempted just to get off and do a different walk. I think some people did. Eventually we started moving again, but only for a few minutes, then we were again stopped by the police further down the road at another crossing point of the race.

Scenery from the window on the 94 bus journey.

Finally, we got past the second road closure and for a moment I was jubilant. This did not last long, as we soon got stuck behind a cyclist. He was cycling uphill, so he was not going very fast. The road was narrow and with blind bends, so our bus driver couldn't overtake, thus we had to chug along at snail's pace behind him. I was getting fed up. Finally, we managed to get past the cyclist, then much to the amusement of a small child on the bus, a cow decided to wander out onto the road and we had to stop and wait for it to decide to get out of the way. I was going right off the countryside by this stage.

Finally, three and a half hours after I had set out, I got off the bus at Tai Tan and found the start of my trail. A trail that, by the way, only took me two hours fifteen minutes to walk i.e. a great deal shorter than my travelling time, just to get there.

To get to the start of the trail from the bus stop, I walked slightly further down the road in the direction the bus was going and wandered down the road on my left. This road took me to a small bridge across a river, then to some village houses. There's a well-known surf board that points the way. I walked through the village houses towards the sea then headed left. I was now on the Tai Tan Country Trail.

Crossing the river.

House on the river.

Directional Surf board.

Tai Tan.

I had read descriptions of this trail. The first part, that I was on, was supposed to be easy and it was, in the sense that it was flat, but, to my surprise, it was also very rocky. It would be very easy to turn your ankle walking on this. There were beautiful views here over mangroves, out over the water towards Wong Shek Pier, towards Sharp Peak and back towards Tai Tan. I was enjoying the views and although it was sunny, the walk was mainly in the shade which was great.

Scenery as I left Tai Tan.

Mangroves near Tai Tan.

Path through the mangroves.

The first 2.8 kilometres of this 6.8 kilometre trail are along this mainly flat coastal path and the open views over Sai Kung's Long Harbour continue the whole way. They were so beautiful they kept distracting me and each time I got distracted I nearly tripped on the rocky path.

The sea through the trees.

Rather a rocky path.

Mountains in the distance.

Scenery on the walk.

After a couple of kilometres, I came to a beautiful fine, powdery, white sand beach. I had scarcely seen anyone on my walk, but there was a large group of people here, all out on a walk and very, very noisy. I could hear them screaming long after I left the beach. I think they were going into the water which may have been a little cold, but did not really merit the volume of screaming they produced. What a bunch of wusses! Happily, I soon left this rowdy group far behind.

Perfect, pristine first beach.

Silvery sands on the first beach.

Selfie on the first beach.

Tree at the end of the first beach.

Looking back across the first beach.

I had started the second stage of the hike. This was meant to be the hardest part, as it involved going uphill. I did not find it too bad. I have seen this walk listed as a hike suitable for summer and personally I could not have done this part in the heat, but in the cool it was fine.

Rather a rocky path in parts.

Quite a few stairs.

Nearly at the top.

Distance post.

When I reached the top of the small hill I was climbing, there was a lovely open area with stunning sea views. It was a glorious sunny day, the sky was blue and the water was a colour you could only hope to find in paradise. The hard middle section did involve a few ups and downs, but it really was not too bad.

The Tai Tan Country Trail on a sunny day, Sai Kung.

Turquoise seas.

Selfie.

Selfie.

Anyway, eventually I arrived at the end of the hard bit which was the second beach on the trail. This looked beautiful from a distance. It was not actually on my walk, but was about a one minute detour off, so I went to have a look. The water was lovely, the sand was powdery and white. There was sadly quite a bit of rubbish swept up here and there. The beach had been claimed by some wild cattle who were resting in its shade. These proved to be very docile and thankfully ignored me completely.

Looking down on the second beach.

Second beautiful beach.

The second beach.

Cows on the beach.

Cows on the beach.

After this point I was on a direct trail to Hoi Ha Village. I had to first go up some stairs, but not too many and not too difficult. Again there were gorgeous views and the sea looked amazing.

Blue skies, turquoise seas.

Beautiful turquoise water.

I came to a part where I could have diverted off my trail to see the Wan Tsai extension, but I didn't, I chose to head straight to Hoi Ha. There is a camp site on the Wan Tsai extension.

Rock pile.

Sai Kung Country Park Wan Tsai Extension.

After a short distance I arrived at a building on stilts. This was the Hoi Ha Marine Centre. It was closed, so I could not visit. Shortly after this point my trail suddenly changed from a dirt path covered with tree roots to a concrete path which was much easier to walk on.

Hoi Ha Marine Centre.

I saw a route off and headed down to a little pier. There was information here about the different kinds of coral that can be found in the waters off Hoi Ha. There were also nice views towards Hoi Ha Village.

Hoi Ha Pier.

Hoi Ha Pier.

Pictures of coral.

Rocky coastline from Hoi Ha Pier.

A view of Hoi Ha from the pier.

I climbed back up from the pier and rejoined the trail. I soon came to a heritage site - Hoi Ha's ancient lime kilns. There were originally four lime kilns, but only two have been restored and are largely intact. These lime kilns were built by local Hoi Ha villagers in the early twentieth century. They are made of rubble and lined with bricks. Villagers would collect coral and shells from the sea and burn them to make lime. This lime could then be sold for use in agriculture and construction. For a while lime production was a prosperous industry in various parts of Sai Kung, but it went into decline after the Second World War when lime was gradually replaced by cement.

Lime kiln.

Lime kiln.

Lime kiln.

Lime kiln.

Lime kiln.

After having a good look here, I headed on to the village. I came to Hoi Ha Beach which was absolutely laden down with kayaks. Hoi Ha is well known as a centre for water sports.

Looking down on Hoi Ha Beach.

Beautiful Hoi Ha Beach.

Selfie on Hoi Ha Beach.

Kayaks on the beach.

Kayaks on the beach.

Kayaks on the beach.

Kayaks on the beach.

Kayaks on the beach.

Then, I walked through Hoi Ha Village. It had a couple of cafes, restaurants and a little shrine. I kept going till I got to the minibus stop. The number 7 minibus goes to Sai Kung from here. It runs every thirty minutes and, in keeping with my luck, one had left five minutes previously. The villagers, as is common in rural areas, had filled the bus stop with unwanted chairs. I was first in line and got a swiveling office chair number, which was pleasingly comfortable. In a short time, I was joined by a young couple who had, judging from the size of their rucksacks, clearly been camping. The boy put on some music. In some circumstances I may have found this annoying, but the volume was low and the music was good, so it helped to pass the time and although we did not speak to each other I felt a sense of companionship. After this couple came a friendly old man I had passed on the walk. Then about five minutes before the bus was due, a large group of noisy, middle-aged, female hikers arrived. The boy put off his music as noone could hear it above their piercing cries. The minibus appeared and stopped in the middle of the stop. The loud ladies attempted to storm it and get on first. After the transport experiences I had had so far that day, there was no way I was waiting another half an hour for the minibus, so I launched a counter rush on the queue jumpers, fuelled by so much venom, that they backed off and I achieved my rightful position as first on board, but the gentle music loving camping couple and the friendly old man were overpowered and had to get on behind the loud obnoxious self-centered ladies. There was no need for any such behaviour as we all got on. Honestly I think someone should have nutted the loud woman who led the assault on the bus.

Hoi Ha Shrine.

Walking through Hoi Ha.

Number 7 minibus stop, Hoi Ha.

Number 7 minibus.

As is normal on a Hong Kong minibus the ride back to Sai Kung was a fast I take no prisoners experience. Long gone was the I will not overtake on a blind bend mentality shown by my earlier bus driver. We overtook everything, everywhere, without a care in the world. It was terrifying, but fast.

When we got back to Sai Kung, I had noticed a 92 bus loading and rushed to get it, but I was too slow and it had gone. I could have boarded a 299 bus to Sha Tin, but having lived in Sha Tin, I remembered how slow a bus to there could be, so I returned to the minibuses and boarded a 1A to Rhythm Gardens which travelled via Choi Hung MTR. There was a long queue for this, but there were many minibuses, so despite the queues I was soon onboard.

I phoned Peter, who had nagged me about the stupidity of going to Sai Kung, as it was so far, and told him I was on my way home. The minibus behaved like all minibuses and went at top speed. That was until we reached a point where all the traffic on our side of the road suddenly stopped dead. We sat there and sat there. Nothing was moving. After what felt like forever, we finally started moving again. A murmur of relief echoed around the minibus. Three minutes later, we were stuck again. The minibus driver began a tirade. I couldn't understand a word, but I reckon he was bemoaning the fact he ever became a mini bus driver and screaming about the fact that Sai Kung only has two roads in and out. Eventually we started again, only to get stuck again. I whats apped Peter a begrudged 'Ok, you were right'. I was tired, hungry, I needed a pee. I was debating in my head whether the beauties of the walk justified this nightmare I was currently caught up in. After an incredibly long time, we were moving again. Suddenly we passed a smashed up car and taxi, so it had been a traffic accident that had caused all the trouble. Once we were past it, we could move again. When we finally reached Choi Hung, I don't think I have ever been so pleased to see an MTR in my life before. Of course, I don't want the MTR to go to Sai Kung and bring housing and offices and schools and hospitals and everything else, but when I finally reached home just before 6pm I did have to wonder if my ten hour day out for a two hour fifteen minute walk had actually been worth it. One good thing was I certainly slept well that night. Have I given up on Sai Kung? Against my better judgement, I don't think so.