rkkwan

My parents were in Hong Kong last month, and after many days of rain, the smog was totally washed away. My mom took these <b>rare</b> pictures from The Peak on 6/16.

The furthest island I can identify is Guishan in the Wanshan Archipelago southwest of Hong Kong, part of China. About <b>22.5mi</b> SSW from the Peak.

In contrast, when I was there in November, I couldn't see Lamma or Hong Kong Island from Cheung Chau on a perfectly clear day. Visibility of under 6 miles. Or I couldn't see Lion Rock from the Peak, also about 6 miles.

rkkwan.zenfolio.com/p181686786/

Cicerone

It has actually been quite clear here most days since about late April as the summer winds shifted direction. When it isn't pouring rain which it has also been doing a lot, there are very, very clear days and nights, a vast improvement over the winter (if you don't mind the heat and humidty).

Cicerone

Great pictures by the way, the southside views are just tremendous. Those are the crystal clear views we have had, luckily, for quite a while now. I just find them the most beautiful, even more captivating to me than the city views for some reason. Watching the huge ships come through the Lamma Channel always fascinates me, I can see the channel from my house and could watch them forever. Never knew that island's name in the distance as it does not show up on any Hong Kong maps, thanks for the geography lesson...

rkkwan

Yeah, that large island behind Lamma is Wailingding. It's actually habited, and I think about 15 years ago, it was somewhat popular for Hong Kong men to go from Cheung Chau to there on some fishing vessels to get cheap massages or worse. Wailingding = Outside Lonely One. In contrast to the Nailingling (Inside Lonely One) west of Castle Peak. One of my aunts went there on a little tour some years ago.

Towards the Southwest side, behind Cheung Chau are Shek Kwu Chau and then then Tai A Chau and Siu A Chau of the Soko Islands (all belong to Hong Kong). Only the very far one - Guishan - is China. That island is also known as Laijiwei (&quot;End of the trash/litter).

These and other islands to the south and southwest of Hong Kong are visible on most approaches to HKG.

rkkwan

Yeah, my parents say the air was the cleanest they've seen in years. [They visit twice a year, staying about 4-8 weeks at a time.] But it was raining for the most days. That day was clear, so my mom grabbed her camera and went up to the Peak.

darna

I like the waterfalls. I didn't expect anything like that there. Does it dry up on some months like in the 1st week of November? Is it easy to walk to that spot from the peak?

rkkwan

That spot with the waterfalls is about 5 minutes west on Harlech Road west of the the Peak Tram station. 10 minutes at most.

It just depends on whether it has rained during the past few days.

rkkwan

Oh, BTW, before Cicerone replied here that I highly overestimated the walk to the waterfalls and that she can get there in 2 minutes 34 seconds, let me correct myself first.

I measured the distance on Google Earth. It's almost exactly 300 yards from the Harlech Road entrance. That's 0.17 miles. I think one can probably cover than in 3.5 to 4 minute.

darna

Thanks! So if we have walked over 5 minutes from the Harlech Road entrance and we still haven't seen the falls, then that means it hadn't rained hard enough or we just have to look harder on the way back to the entrance. Btw, we booked at Bishop Lei for 2 days. I'm thinking of walking up the peak early in the morning from the hotel, if I ever get up early enough. Is that the Barker Road and Chatham Path trail described by Cicerone in one of her earlier posts? Can you please describe it for me coming from Bishop Lei going up to the peak? Thanks as always.

rkkwan

Fastest way from Bishop Lei to the Peak is via Old Peak Road. Walk east on Robinson Road from the hotel about 300 yards past Raimondi College towards the Zoological and Botanical Gardens. Old Peak Road starts underneath an overpass, at the top of the gardens. The lower 1/3 has vehicular traffic between some luxurious highrises, then it's a walking path only.

rkkwan

BTW, Chatham Path is a separate path to the Peak. It's further to the east, so it'll add some distance if you're starting from the Bishop Lei.

Cicerone

I think the Peak is great on a clear morning, but can only say that walking UP to the Peak is very, very steep, so you really have to want to do this!! Bring water and a towel with you, as even in November you will be sweating and huffing and puffing.....you are climbing about 700 feet in less than about ¾ of a mile in distance. Esp on Old Peak Road which is steeper than even the Chatham Path route, which is also steep, but does wind around quite a bit more.

Other options to consider from the Bishop Lei other then walking up to the Peak:

1. Walk over to Magazine Gap Road, a few blocks east of the hotel, and take the #1 green and yellow mini-bus to the Peak. Will cost about US$1. Views are pretty good (not as good as the double decker buses but OK). You have to just flag these buses down, they don’t have regular stops (they will not stop anywhere that two yellow lines are painted into the side of the road, neither will taxis, those are no stopping zones). It can be a little confusing to find Magazine Gap Road in the maze of busy roads in this area, bring a street map. If I can, I may walk it in the next few weeks and will note directions, as well as some more explicit directions to find Old Peak Rd and Chatham Path.

2. Take a taxi to the Peak from the Bishop Lei, this should cost about HK$40-50 (US$5-7) from the Bishop Lei. Get a taxi going east, i.e. to the left as you walk out of the hotel (this will be on the same side of the street as the hotel).

3. Walk to the terminus station for the Peak Tram on Garden Road and take the Peak Tram up to the Peak. This station is 10 minutes or not more than 15 minutes walk from the hotel, all of it down hill. You can walk through the botanical gardens for part, and cross over the busiest road on a foot bridge and then walk downhill to the station.

4. Walk to Kennedy Road or MacDonnell Road stops for the Peak Tram and take the tram up to the Peak. (There are four intermediate stations on the tram line, Kennedy Road and MacDonnell Road are two of them.) Not sure you can do this without first having a ticket, and if the cars are full, the tram won’t stop for you. On a weekday morning, it is unlikely IMO that the cars will be full, so it should be a problem to get on board; and I believe, but am not totally sure, that you can buy a ticket once you are on board. The walk is not very far, 5-10 minutes at most, again it can be a little confusing to walk there, a street map is helpful. If you get to the MacDonnell Road station, and find you can’t get on the tram, you are ON the CHATHAM Path trail at that point, so just continue uphill, reversing my directions (basically from the crossover from May Road to Bowen Road, as you will come to Bowen Road as you walk up the stairs from the MacDonnell Road tram station).

Once on the Peak, you can then see the views, the waterfall and walk the Harlech Road/Lugard Road loop and then walk DOWN from the Peak if you wanted. Be sure to go up to the top of the Peak Tram Tower for the really best city views. FYI, you really cannot miss the waterfall. Standing facing the Peak Tram Tower with the brown Peak Galleria building and fountain at your back, turn left and walk toward the low brick building (Peak Lookout Restaurant). Four road intersects here: to the left is Peak Road, to the hard right is Lugard Road (small pedestrian road) to a more soft right and uphill is Mt. Austin Road and straight ahead forming the corner of the restaurant building is Harlech Road. Go straight down Harlech Road. The waterfall is down this road on your right. In November is won’t be quite the torrent it is now, but it is still worth a look. After the falls, keep walking as there are some excellent south side water views along Harlech Road. If you keep walking, this route loops around in a circular route around the neck of the hill above (which is the actual Peak, the tram just takes you to Victoria Gap actually) and will return you to the Peak Tram Tower via Lugard Road. This loop is about 1.5 miles and is a nice walk which takes about an hour, although it has become quite overgrown in recent years so some views are obscured.

Instead of doing the loop (or before completing the loop), if you continue walking for about 10 minutes past the falls, you will come to a large concrete band shell and playground. The road divides here, Harlech Road continues off to the left, and Lugard Road goes off to the right. If you take Harlech Road, you will get some more views and after about 400-500 yards will come out to an open barbeque area called High West which will offer magnificent views of the western part of the harbour, the Lamma Channel, Lantau, and the Tsi Ying bridge. There is also a WWII pillbox here. On a clear day, this is a lovely spot, and is very good for sunset too. You can return back up the Harlech Road trail to the intersection with Lugard Road and then continue the loop walk, or just go back up Harlech to the Peak Tram. (You can also continue from High West down to Pokfulum Reservoir and Aberdeen, I can post on this if you are interested).

FYI, there are excellent waterfalls in the New Territories at a place called Brides Pool and Mirror Pool, they are full most times of the year, for a picture go to http://hkwaterfall.net/hk_falls/hkwf_phD.htm. In November, this would be a very lovely walk, not hard at all.

rkkwan

One should be able to board the Peak Tram at an intermediate stop if there's room.

There's little point of doing at the Kennedy Road stop. It's just a few steps up from the terminus.

But if you walk through the Zoological and Botanical Gardens and then cross Garden Road on that footbridge (like Cicerone mentioned), you can walk up a few dozen feet to Macdonnell Road. Walk past the YWCA Garden View Hotel and you'll come to Tram Path after 250 yards. The tram stop is above Macdonnell Road. While it's not the steepest stop (that would be the May Road stop), you may find it pretty difficult to get on the tram though.

[Anyways, I used to live on Conduit Road during highschool. I got off a minibus at the junction of Robinson Road and Old Peak Road every morning, walked through the Zoological and Botanical Gardens, crossed Garden Road on that footbridge, walked along Macdonnell Road past the tram path to my highschool. Did it for years.

And my mom taught at the Raimondi College next to Bishop Lei for several years too.]

Another thing. From that junction of Harlech Road and Lugard Road, you can also walk down Hatton Road to the junction of Kotewall Road and Conduit Road. From there, you can take the #3 minibus back to the Botanical and Zoological Gardens to get back to your hotel, or continue to get down to Central. Or you can continue to walk downhill to visit the University of Hong Kong.

darna

Lots of options there thanks! I think I'll take the kids through the gardens on the way to the tram terminus then explore the paths at the peak either in the late afternoon or in the early morning depending on their energy level. Is Pacific Place near the tram terminus? If it is, we'll have a snack there first before going up the peak. If not, we'll just get a bite at The Peak. Also, I booked a Grand Harbour View room at the Bishop Lei which they say is 220 sq ft. Given that we can afford to book just one room, is the view worth cramming all 5 of my husband and I and our 3 little kids there (ages 5,8 &amp; 11)? The Twin Suite room w/360 sqm is overlooking the hills. I'm thinking since we will just be sleeping in the room and will be provided with the same bedding configuration anyway in spite of the difference in room size, we might as well go for the room with a view. I would appreciate getting your opinion on this as I think you've stayed at the hotel before.

darna

Btw, the pictures of the falls are lovely. They remind me of the days when I used to go trekking up the mountains here in the Phils. I don't think we'll be able to visit them though as we have our schedule filled up already. If the kids are sluggish in the early morning I'll try to squeeze in some time to try out the quickest hike up the peak. I've got 4 months to work on my stamina . . .

rkkwan

220 sq ft is a tiny space for 2 people, let alone 5. Even if they let you, you'll have an extremely uncomfortable time.

[The Kowloon Hotel, which is infamous for its microscopic rooms, are 194 sq ft. Your room is only 10% larger - making it &quot;miniscule&quot;.]

Just how are you going to fit 5 people in a room with two twin-sized bed and not much else?

Anyways, Pacific Place Mall is on the NE side of Hong Kong Park, while the Peak Tram station is on the SW side. It'll be quite a walk from the hotel to Pacific Place with small kids. You may want to take one of the frequent buses in front of your hotel - <b>#23</b> (4 stops) will take you down to Pacific Place quickly. 23A will also do, but it goes through Central first (8 stops).

darna

They said the room has 1 queen bed w a sitting room and they'll put an additional single bed free for one kid. Ok I guess I'll change to the Twin Suite w/340 sq feet. That one has 2 single beds w/ sitting room and they'll put an additional single bed free for one kid. We'll just go to the peak for the view. Thanks!

rkkwan

Yes, they can probably squeeze a twin bed into the room along side the queen, but there will be really nothing else. Can 5 of you sleep comfortably with just that much bed space?

With the larger room, at least there will be some floor space, and probably a sofa for the youngest.

darna

Ok thanks. I already got a confirmation for our change of rooms. One more question. I remember reading somewhere that the hotel has free shuttle bus to Central but when I asked the hotel they recommended taking a taxi. Can it be because the interval of the buses is long or are there no more free shuttle buses? Or perhaps I just remembered it wrong and there really is no such thing as free shuttle? And about the taxis, do they charge extra for lugguage and how much if they do?

rkkwan

I cannot find anything about a free shuttle from Bishop Lei.

Baggage, when placed inside the trunk of the taxi, is HK$5 per piece for the red taxis in the city and blue taxis on Lantau. $4 for the green taxis in New Territories.

No charge for stuff you put inside the passenger cabin.

Don't expect to put too much stuff in the trunk. Many cab drivers put a lot of junk in the trunk - like wash buckets, wiping clothes, motor oil, extra spare tire, etc...

Besides taxis, you can take bus #12 from Central, and #23A from Causeway Bay to hotel. Going down from hotel, #12 and #3B goes back down to Central. #23A goes through Central, Admiralty (Pacific Place), Wan Chai then Causeway Bay. #40 goes through Admiralty (Pacific Place), then out the the Wan Chai Pier and Convention Center. #23 goes down through Admiralty (Pacific Place), Wan Chai, Causeway Bay and then to North Point.

Of course, you can use the mid-levels escalators to/from Central too. It runs downhill in the morning, uphill rest of the day. There's also a path adjacent to the escalators so you can walk when it's going the opposite directions.

There are also the green minibuses #56 and #56A that goes down through Admiralty, Wan Chai to Causeway Bay and North Point.

But with 5 people, taxi is the easiest and won't cost you much more than taking the buses for short rides to/from Central.