Tai Long Wan

We decided to go surfing over the weekend at a place in The New Territories on the mainland of Hong Kong. The three of us set out Saturday morning hoping to avoid the predicted rainstorm (up to 1 cm) that kept being pushed back and luckily didn't hit until today and it was very minor. It was a pretty nice day (in the lower 70s) as we caught the slow ferry to Central (damn you holiday schedule) . We ate a late breakfast at Subway and made our way to the MTR station and caught a train north off Hong Kong Island and into the mainland, then transfered to an eastbound train heading toward Sai Kung. We hopped on a mini-bus that brought to another bus stop where we were able to board a double decker that brought us the rest of the way to Wong Shek Ferry Pier (Seen in the background here, these pictures are from when we were leaving because I didn't take any on the way there...)

We asked around to see how we could get out to the Chek Keng Ferry Pier where we would then have to hike another 45 minutes to Ham Tin and finally Tai Long Wan (pronounced Die Long Wan, all T's are pronounced as D's in Cantonese). As we were looking at a map on the pier a lady who ran the shuttle boad came up to us and through the usual hand signal/pointing/broken Cantonese we were able to get her to bring us to where we wanted to go for $40 HKD each. So we were off.





We learned from the other few people before we got off the boat that we paid twice as much for the ride as they did. This happens so much, I like to call it Gweilo tax. I hope they feel real good about getting an extra $3 US out of some "rich" Westerners. The vast majority of people are really great and helpful, but the almighty dollar always wins out. And it's frustrating not knowing enough Cantonese to understand in these situations.

We arrived at the pier and started our hike in. All of the hiking paths in Hong Kong are actually paved with cement, brick, or stone. This is has its pros and cons, on one hand it's really good at stopping erosion and keeping people on the paths (nothing like a 3 foot fall into the jungle to make you stay on the cement).


We hiked along the sidewalk up and over the hill and down into Ham Tin and then Tai Long Won right after. There is a surf shop/gear shop/restaurant open on the weekends there.

We arrived at the beach and I was in awe of these massive waves and the beauty of this place. If it wasn't for the dozen other people and ton of garbage it could be one of those tropical island beaches everyone dreams about.











We got in around 3pm and went on a wood run then we went and had some food at the restaurant.















Then we returned to our site and set up our tents as we readied ourselves for surfing the next day. I used my knuckle striker and quartz and sparked a fire. It was so re-energizing being out there camping, I made a new rock sling and taught Meghan and Danny how to tie a monkey's fist knot. As I watched the sunset, for the first time in Hong Kong I really felt connected to everything, it's the same feeling that occurs when I take two steps into the Adirondacks. I really need to make a point of going hiking and camping more often without kids. It's hard to put the type of camping I like to do in the same category as T.I. camping, but that's another rant altogether.

















It will probably be hard for someone reading this to believe that I had one of the best nights sleep in Hong Kong out there, haha...

I was up and ready to go at around 7 so I got the fire going and boiled some water for some good ol' cowboy coffee, black as a moonless Adirondack night, with a handful of dirt and leaves just to make it authentic :|

We made our way back to the surf shop/restaurant and had a round of bacon, egg, and cheese, then rented 3 surfboards and we were back to the beach.

I don't really have a whole lot to say about the actual surfing. Except, surf paddling is one of the most exhausting things you can do. You lay with your stomach on the board and battle 4-5 foot crashing waves in order to get out past where they break so you can hope to catch one and ride it in. We had a few things going against us: 1) Beginners (me) have much better luck on long boards (unavailable), not the short boards we were on. 2) My surf paddling skills are not the most refined at the moment. 3) For some reason I can't keep gallons of sea water from entering my nose/ears/mouth/sinuses even though I try to blow out a bit as I dive under a crashing wave.

Anyway, long story short, I caught one wave and didn't even try to stand on the board, then couldn't get a wave after the second struggle back out into the sea. So, exhausted I stumbled back to the beach and met Meghan and Danny, also resting from the pummeling.



So we rested, read, then made some Ramen and then went out swimming a little later.

We packed up around 2:30, we felt some rain drops and my watch's barometer said the pressure was dropping fast so we decided to leave before the rain might come.





We thought it would be a two hour walk out, but only ended up being about 1:15 and we were pretty lucky that we cut out like 3 steps in the transportation by catching a Sunday only bus that took us right to an MTR station even closer to home than the one we arrived on. It still took us about 4 hours total to get back, it would have been less if we didn't miss the bus in Tung Chung by 5 minutes.

Overall it was a great weekend and a great trip, I can't wait to go back there some day.

This was a really long post, I usually like to keep mine short and sweet because I'm not sure how much people like to read these long ones. Anyway, thanks for reading if you made it this far.


Ahh, I can't finish this post without adding some of the usual randomness:
--T.I. gives us a tiny little tracphone and for me it's hard to hear and talk at the same time because the speaker is at my ear and the mic is like 4 inches from my mouth on the side of my cheek, so I'll listen and then speak walkie-talkie style into the phone, but that trips some reflex in my brain from my days on the radio at ALE and I start ending all my statements with "over" "I'm clear" and beginning with "that's a good copy." Back in the U.S. I would sometimes do that with voicemails.
--I'm either having an epiphany in my banjo playing or an existential breakdown; it's really not worth explaining, Austin if you read this please answer my IMs, lol...
--I'm going to use chopsticks alot when I leave Hong Kong, they're a pretty great tool.
--I really need to find an insulated coffee cup, I borrowed the one I have now and it's duct-taped all around the rim so it's sticky.
--Baseball season starts today, signifying that the long horrible winter is truely and definitely over, now I actually have a reason to mindlessly surf the internet.
--It was 66 degrees this evening and I had to put a fleece coat on because I was cold, what am I becoming?!?!
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