Where Fresh Water And Salt Water Meet.

High Island Reservoir, Hong Kong

Yesterday, I returned to Sai Kung to visit Pak Tam Chung. I was more fortunate with transport this time, as I arrived in Sai Kung at 10am and just managed to make the 94 bus that departs at that time. If I had missed it, I would have had to wait forty minutes for the next one. This time I knew the 94 timetable and its departure platform.

View from the number 94 bus.

View from the number 94 bus.

I took the bus to Sheung Yiu bus-stop. This is the starting point for Maclehose Trail Section One, but I was not doing that. I walked back in the direction the bus had come from and crossed the road. There, next to a little restaurant called Fat Kee Store, I saw a bridge across a river. This bridge is the starting point for the Pak Tam Chung Nature Trail.

Signposts.

Fat Kee Store.

The bridge.

Me on the bridge.

Looking back at the bridge.

Stream.

Stream.

Pak Tam Chung refers to a channel in which the fresh waters of a stream meet the salt waters of the sea. The Pak Tam Chung Nature Trail is a flat, paved, easy trail which is only about 1.3 kilometres long and ends at The Chapel of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. On route the trail passes information posts about some of the plants which grow here. It also passes mangrove swamps, a little shrine, lime kilns and an excellent museum. Just across the water from this walk, there is a campsite we used to use for our Primary Three Camp when I was teaching. I have stayed there a few times.

Shrine.

Shrine.

Po Leung Kuk Pak Tam Chung Holiday Camp.

Holiday Camp.

Some of the plants that I saw were pandanus, with its pineapple like fruit, which is used in Chinese medicine, bananas and coral trees. Apparently on the mudflats among the mangroves it's sometimes possible to see mudskippers and fiddler crabs. I didn't see these. It depends on the tide.

Coral tree.

Coral tree.

Pandanus.

Bananas.

Later I came to the lime kiln. This was built by the Wong Clan who also built the village I was about to visit. They used the kiln to burn coral and sea shells to create lime which could be used as a fertilizer, or in the construction industry as a sort of cement, or to make bricks and tiles.

Lime Kiln.

Lime Kiln.

A short walk further on, I reached Sheung Yiu Folk Museum. This was originally a village built by the Wong Clan at the end of the nineteenth century, when they moved to this area from Guangdong.

The Sheung Yiu Folk Museum.

Me in front of the museum.

I went into the museum, which like most Hong Kong museums is free to enter. There were some guides there and one of them, named Eddie Wong, decided to show me around. He pointed out that the village was designed to represent a dragon with the entry gate as its head. He showed me where the villagers kept pigs and chickens for food.

The entrance gateway.

Me with the gatehouse.

The Village.

Me with the museum.

Chickens.

Pigs.

Pigs.

He then showed me the house of the head of the Wong family. He pointed out that the doorway and ceilings here were slightly higher than in the other houses to show that the village head was its most important member. He pointed out that the house was built on a raised platform both for defence and drainage.

There was a baby chair in this room. Women would have many children and lots of work to do. In those days, babies had no nappies. They were dressed in clothes which were open at the bottom. While the mum was busy, the baby would be placed in a high chair it could not get out of. There was a hole in the bottom of the chair and a bucket would be placed under it. When the baby needed to pee or poo, its waste would fall down into the bucket. This would later be used on the fields as fertilizer. Hakkas do not believe in wasting things.

Furniture, baby high chair in the top right hand corner.

Kitchen. There's a water storage tub on the right. They washed behind the wall using a damp cloth to rub themselves clean. They did not want to waste water.

My guide also showed me a special storage jar called an angry ant jar. He pointed out that the lid of the jar could be inverted and that a rim around it could be filled with water. Ants would climb up the jar, but they could not pass over the water, so they could not get into the food. They would move in long lines round and round the jar getting more and more frustrated.

Cooking and storage jars. Number six is the angry ant one.

Stove. One of the girl children had to sit next to it and make sure the fire didn't go out and the food didn't burn.

Farm machinery.

This room is about Hakka children. You can pull down flaps to learn about their games.

The door to the home of the village head was strong and could be bolted closed from the inside. This was true of the other houses where clan members lived. However, there was a store room in the middle of the village where the village's valuables would be kept. Surprisingly, this did not have a strong door and was easy to enter. The guide explained that this was because at high tide sometimes pirates would come and attack the village. If the pirates were able to gain entry, the villagers would bolt themselves inside their homes and hide. It was hoped that by making their wealth easy to access the pirates would just take their money and go. If the pirates could not do this, they might break into the buildings where the people were hiding and either kill them or kidnap them. Good to know human life was valued more highly than money and possessions.

Bars on a window are bad luck, but they had to have them due to the pirates.

While the home of the village head had some privacy, the other houses, located past the storeroom, had an open long corridor linking them and everyone could see what everyone else was doing. This was to allow the eldest son to maintain order and discipline within the family group. If anyone behaved in ways he didn't find appropriate, he could punish them.

Long corridors, no doors, no privacy.

Long corridors, no doors, no privacy.

At the very end of the village there was a room for the family's water buffalo. These were separated from the animals kept for food, as they had a much higher status. They were considered pretty much as family members, because of all the hard farming work they did and were given a lot of respect. Even when they died, they were buried rather than eaten. Authentic Hakka food will not contain beef. My guide pointed out that the men in the clan probably spent more time with their buffalo than with their wives. He also added that the buffaloes never nagged them.

Buffalo.

Buffalo.

I don't normally like going round with a guide, but Eddie was very interesting and I learned a lot from him.

Outside the museum there was a small pier. Each village here would have its own pier as the only way the inhabitants could reach Sai Kung to buy and sell goods was by their own boat. Villagers would collect shellfish on the pebble beach next to the pier for food.

Old pier.

Old pier.

I continued on the trail to The Chapel of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. This was built in 1900 and is still used, but only on the last Sunday of every month between 1 and 5pm, so unfortunately I could not see inside.

Chapel of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows.

This is the official end of the Pak Tam Chung Nature Trail. From here you can go back the way you came, or climb up steps to the Sheung Yiu Family Trail. My intention had been to continue on to the Sheung Yiu Family Trail and I am sure I would have had a much easier day if I had done this. But I had also heard that there was another site in this area known as Pok Kwu Wan. I was very unclear about how to find this, as it is on an unmarked trail and is difficult to access. That should have told me to steer well clear of it, but as always I stupidly decided to try and find it.

Pok Kwu Wan used to be a fish farm. It is a body of water enclosed behind a semicircular wall. At one time it would have been possible to walk easily around this wall, but now it is more difficult, as it is broken in several places.

A view of Pok Kwa Wan.

To get to Pok Kwu Wan, do not go up the steps to the Sheung Yiu Family Trail, instead continue on the flat path. On the way there are lots of interesting old, abandoned buildings which are in various state of ruin. I had a quick look inside the more accessible ones. It's sad to see buildings like this, but I find them quite fascinating. It amazes me from reading other people's blogs how many people find them scary. I really don't.

Ruined building.

Crumbling ruins.

Ruined building.

I had a look inside this one.

Whole villages in ruins. Their owners either went overseas or moved to urban areas.

Inside the ruined building.

Inside the ruined building.

Inside the ruined building.

I came to a junction where I knew I should follow the path to the left. This goes to Hei Tsz Wan, an abandoned village. There were lots of mangroves here. I wandered off to see some and so did two young girls. I offered to take a photo for these two very pleasant and friendly girls and they offered to take mine.

Me in the mangroves.

Just past the village, a short way after a little bridge, I should have gone left to continue to Pok Kwu Wan. I missed this turning and continued straight, then followed a path to the coast. I walked along the rocky shoreline for a while before deciding I was going the wrong way, so I turned round and came back.

Waterfront.

Waterfront.

Village across the water.

Waterfront.

I had a look at another old pier, then climbed up some steps, hoping they would connect to the Sheung Yiu Family Trail. They didn't. They led to a graveyard. The views from here were sensational, but the path was a dead end and I came back down. I had decided to return to the correct steps for the Sheung Yiu Family Trail and complete that, but on my way back I encountered a group of people heading off to the left on a trail I had not seen before, just past the bridge, so I followed them and when I caught up with them asked them if they were going to Pok Kwu Wan, which they were.

Pier.

Pier.

View from the graveyard.

View from the graveyard.

View from the graveyard.

View from the graveyard.

A Christian grave.

View from the graveyard.

I followed along behind them. The path we were on was a good easy one to walk on at first, but then we took a smaller path off to the right. This path was quite uneven and overgrown, but still doable.

I knew it wasn't easy to get round the broken walls of Pok Kwu Wan and I only intended to take some photos without trying to get all the way round. Famous last words!!

A View across Pok Kwa Wan.

Pok Kwa Wan.

Pok Kwa Wan.

Crossing Pok Kwa Wan.

Pok Kwa Wan.

I started walking around the broken fish farm walls. The first obstacle was easy. There was a large hole in the wall, but someone had made a makeshift bridge with a rail to walk across. This looked slippy but wasn't, at least, not on a dry day. I easily got past this.

Obstacle one looks worse than it was.

The next obstacle was harder. A large chunk of the walkway was missing and there was only the wall behind it left. I would have turned back here, but I watched what the others did. The way to cross this is to straddle the top of the wall and shuffle across. One girl, braver than all the rest of us, announced: "But you can just walk on it." and calmly climbed on top and walked across. It is wide enough to walk on but it requires balance and it is a long way down if you fall. Plus it was a bit windy. I knew I could not stand up on that wall without losing my balance. Against my better judgement, I straddled the wall and shuffled across. The athletic girl who had just walked across helped me with my bag.

Obstacle two even worse than it looks.

Obstacle two straddle the wall and shuffle across.

Obstacle two straddle the wall and shuffle across.

The lady taking the photo is the athletic one who walked straight across the narrow upper wall.

The last obstacle was easy. The wall was broken but you could walk carefully on the remnants of it and there was a wall to hold onto. I had no difficulty with that.

The third obstacle wasn't too bad.

I thanked the people who had shown me the way for their help and we all helped each other take some photos. They headed off and I stayed taking more photos for a short time. This is where everything went wrong

Me at Pok Kwa Wan.

Me at Pok Kwa Wan.

I wasn't sure how to get back to the bigger path I had come on. I couldn't retrace my steps unless I was prepared to do the obstacle course again. I thought: "No worries, I'll find the right path." Well the path on this side was even more overgrown than the other side. It was hard to follow. There were a few old broken down buildings here, too. One had a rather inviting looking kettle in its window. I got to a point where there were two ways to go, both were pretty overgrown. One was going the right way to get back on the earlier path, but was so overgrown I thought it might be a dead end. I could hear the group I had crossed the fish farm wall with up ahead on the other trail, so although it didn't appear to be going the right way, I took that path. What an idiot I am!

Pok Kwu Wan viewed from above from the horrendous path

Ruin on overgrown path.

Tea anyone?

This path, if you can even call it that, was awful. It was so covered in jagged rocks and sticking up tree roots that I had to keep watching my feet, but that resulted in me walking into tree branches which covered the top of the path and were so low I kept banging my head, so I started to watch out for low tree branches, which resulted in me falling over on the path and battering my knees. I was having second thoughts about this path. I caught up with the people from the fish farm. I asked them if this was the right way for Pak Tam Chung. They said yes and they weren't lying as it does eventually link with a path that goes there, but it certainly is not a very good route to go. They were also having trouble walking on this path. They stopped for a break and I went ahead of them. I knew I was going the wrong way. I didn't want to walk all the way back and cross the fish farm wall. I no longer even knew where I was. I was starting to feel a bit panicky. I went faster to try to get to the end of the horrible trail. Big mistake I fell again, only this time I fell right off the edge of the trail. If I had been up a mountain, I'd probably have been seriously injured or even killed, but I wasn't high up. I landed on lots of bushes and trees and sort of stuck on them. I was able to sit up and pull my way back up on to the trail, but I had cut my arm and bruised myself in several places. This was not fun any more.

One of the few places with a view.

When I made it back to the path, I picked myself up and kept going, carefully this time. Eventually after what felt like forever my horrible overgrown pitiful excuse for a path crossed a real path. I was so relieved I could have wept, but I had no idea where I was.

At that point Peter decided to phone me. Now my husband does not like me doing these walks. He thinks I am an idiot with no sense of direction, who can't follow a map. He's not far wrong. I thought: "I won't tell him I'm lost. He'll only get angry and worry." But he could tell instantly from my voice that something was wrong, so I told him I had fallen and that I was lost. He was very calm. "I will send you an app so you can work out where you are. Maintain phone contact."

I agreed to download the app and phone back shortly. I reached a sign. Would you believe it? I was now on the Sheung Yiu Family Trail that I had intended to do. The sign said one hour back the way to where I would have started the trail, or fifteen minutes to a road at the end of the trail. I really didn't want to walk anymore. I hurt everywhere. I went for the road, thinking transport, home, coffee, beer, bed. To my surprise the road brought me out at The High Island Reservoir. I have been here before over twenty years ago and all I could remember about it, apart from the fact it was beautiful, was that it was in the middle of nowhere. Absolutely nowhere near transport.

High Island Reservoir.

High Island Reservoir.

I asked someone how long it would take to walk to the nearest bus stop and he told me around an hour. I also asked whether I should go on the Sheung Yiu Family Trail, or the road. I was told it was quicker by road. I had a quick look at the dam, after all I had ended up there, then I began walking along the road to the bus-stop.

I phoned Peter. I mentioned there were taxis in this area. He told me to get in one and go back to Sai Kung, but I had brought very little money with me and I couldn't afford to do this. I kept walking. In fact, it wasn't an hour to the bus-stop it was only about forty minutes and the smooth, almost traffic free road, with pavements on both sides, was a pleasure to walk on after that hideous path. I ended up back at the bus-stop I had got off at. I now knew how to access the High Island Reservoir easily and may return there at some point and look at it properly.

My arm was bleeding and, although I didn't know it, I had dirt all over one side of my face. I also seemed to have thorns and gravel down my bra and I suddenly realised I had twigs sticking out of my bag. I had fortunately previously removed about twenty dried leaves from my hair. This was all from when I fell off the path. I think the people at the bus stop felt sorry for me, they moved up to let me sit down.

I had quite a long wait for transport, but eventually a number 7 minibus from Hoi Ha passed by, so I got on that. I think I have learned from this experience. It is stupid to go off the beaten path in an area you don't know well. I really don't think I will be quite so gung ho in the future. Peter tells me I'm not allowed out on my own again, but I am sure he'll soon get sick of having me in, so that doesn't count. This walk was an experience and if I had shown more common sense, this could have been a lovely day out.