Travel Fun with Wes and Annette: Lamma Island Hike

Fall is finally upon us in Hong Kong, after Summer heat and humidity lasted into early November. When a 'cold' front brought the temperature down to around 65 last week the locals all bundled up in coats and scarves. Annette and I decided it was perfect weather for a hike on Lamma island. Unlike the locals, we felt that wearing sunscreen was more appropriate than a winter coat.

We set out a little after noon and walked down to the central ferry pier. HK$20 (~US$2.60) got us a ticket on the ferry to the island's main village, Yung Shue Wan, which features a small harbor and a surprisingly large number of 'earthy' shops offering handicrafts, artwork, and organic/vegetarian fare. As we discovered, Lamma is home to many expats seeking a slow-paced alternative to the city.

The next thing we discovered is that we had arrived on Lamma on "Lamma Fun Day." A poster promised live music, games, food, and more. "What luck!" we thought. It turns out that our excitement was a bit unwarranted. We followed the narrow pathway through the village to a beach on the other side where the expatriate residents had set up face-painting and carnival games on the beach. Back on the concrete path there were 'booths' set up where you could buy arts and crafts and other items. (The 'other' items being decades old self-help books, second hand knick knacks, and HK$20 shots of cheap liquor. We passed.)

Soon we felt we had experienced all the "Lamma Fun Day" had to offer so we headed down the trail. A quick note about Hong Kong Trails.. unbeknownst to most outsiders, Hong Kong has a great amount of green space. This may be one of the most populated places on the planet, but most people are crammed into a small area, leaving a great deal of park land and over a hundred miles of nature trails. The trails themselves are, for the most part, concrete paths about 3' wide. Despite the finished walkway, many of the trails are quite challenging since they scale even the highest peaks.

Anyhow, our trail took on a bit of elevation as we traversed the island on our way to Sok Kwu Wan, a village on the opposite side. We hiked up to a vantage point where we could get a good look at the coastline and passing boats. After a water break we continued on our way.

The trail into Sok Kwo Wan offered scenic views of the village and the harbor which contains floating homes and fish farming cages. We walked down to the beach to enjoy the view from there. We were disappointed to see how much broken glass and garbage was strewn about that beach - it looked like the last beach cleanup was a few decades ago.

Sok Kwo Wan itself is popular for its harborside seafood restaurants. Most of the restaurants have tanks in front of the kitchen so you can choose exactly which fish or crab you'd like to have for dinner. It was still a little early so we decided to pass on the seafood and catch the ferry back to Hong Kong.

Well, that sums up our trip to Lamma. There are dozens more islands to explore, so we will be taking advantage of the cool weather to see some of them before the heat returns.