Hong Kong Trip 2013 - Day 02 (Part I)

Day 02

Hike from Central to Peak (Central Green Trial + Barker Road)
Hong Kong Trail Walk (Peak Section)
Earth Hour shoot from The Peak

Total Distance: 7km + 3km

Camera Gears Used:
Canon 600D
Sigma 8mm F4 Fisheye
Canon EF-S 10-22mm F3.5-4.5
Canon EF-S 17-55mm F2.8 IS
Special Gear: 9mm Crystal Ball for Earth Hour Shoot

Day 02 marks the beginning of our trekking adventure in Hong Kong. We choose The Peak as our first trail as it is located within the city area so we can have a nice warm up.

After a simple breakfast around Admirity MTR we walked our way to the starting point, The Peak Tram Station.

Instead of riding up via the Peak Tram, we will follow the Central Green Trial (中區自然徑) to the Victoria Peak.

Big queue of visitors waiting to ride The Peak Tram.

The WWF Hong Kong office is the starting point of the Central Green Trial.
 

As the Central Green Trial walks up to The Peak, we will be expecting lots of steps and slopes like these...

After a short while we reached the first tram station - Kennedy Road Station (堅尼地道站), 58m above sea level.

On the way to the second station you will see the 4th generation Peak Tram (Green Color). There two units remained. One was parked at the old maintenance shed. While the other car is at The Peak area. We will see the other car when we reach the top.

More Staircase welcome us.

Before reaching the 2nd station, at MacDonnell Road (麥當奴道), on the road crossing bridge, you will have a chance to have a better view of the old Peak Tram saw earlier. A nice spot to photograph both the current and old Peak Tram together. 

ALERT: The crossing bridges are quite narrow. So do watch out of the traffic when photographing

Some rails for maintenance use.  

Reaching MacDonnell Road Station soon...

After 37m climb from the 1st station, we reached MacDonnell Road Station (麥當奴道站), 95m above sea level

After MacDonnell Road Station, crossing Magazine Gap Road (馬己仙峽道), you can have a nice view at one of the steepest section of the Peak Tram.

More slopes before we reach the next station

After another 85m climb is May Road Station (梅道站) , this is the steepest area (27 degrees slope) along the entire track. In fact, May Road Station's "platform" is actually a staircase.

Before we continue on the Central Green Trial to the 4th station, there is an interesting building ~ GLADDOON (No.3 May Road) This building was built shaped to the road curve and it consists of 14 garages.

More slopes as we approach the 4th station

We were glad the trails are not make of these staircases. A salute to all the workers who have to climb these stairs to ensure the slopes are safe.

Continue on the trial along with the beautiful scenery

On the way of the trial, there are few chances you will have a nice view of the Hong Kong's Central District.

Mia cheering us up ^_^...

On the Central Green Trial, you can also find lots of wildlife around...

 

 The Central Green Trial ends at Barker Road (白加道), from here we will follow Barker Road to the 4th station.

Big houses with a million dollar view of Hong Kong. The view must be astonishing at night.

Finally after a long walk Barker Road Station and The Peak station are in view

Barker Road Station (白加道站), after another 183m climb. Barker Road Station is the only station with a full building structure. While the other 3 stations are just a simple shelter.

 

The station also offer one of the best view of Hong Kong Island as it have less tourist around.

After leaving Barker Road Station, it will take about 10mins walk before reaching our destination - The Peak Tower

Outside The Peak Tower you can see the second Peak Tram which was preserved. It is currently the Visitor Center for Hong Kong's Tourism Board. You can walk inside and have a feel how the old Peak Tram feels like.

The Central Green Trial + Barker Road Walk is an easy trial and hardly you can get lost. The path is also popular among locals for their morning exercise. A leisure walk and taking a few snap shoots around should take around 2-3hrs (with resting) to reach The Peak. We took almost 4 hours as we spent around 10~15mins in each station shooting around, especially longer at Barker Road Station as there was a wedding shoot. A highly recommended trial if you would like to see a greener side of Hong Kong in the city.

Additional Note:

• DO NOT WALK on the Peak Tracks! It is an offense and you are risking your own safety
  
  
• There is no stores along the entire trial, so is recommended to bring along a bottle of water. Recommended a 500ml ~ 1L depends on your stamina. Shops and resturants are available at The Peak to hydrate yourself again.
  
  
• The road crossings above The Peak tracks offers amazing views. But watch out for traffic as some of the bridges are extremely narrow and may not have any pedestrian path available.