This was a very fun but also hard hike – together as a group we decided to tackle the three highest peaks on Lantau all in one go. We started at 8.30am in the morning in Tung Chung and immediately we were climbing up the steps to access the Lantau North Country Park, to reach Lin Fa Shan.
The Lotus Peak is the first out of three hills, with 766m it is the smallest. But it still is the sixth highest hill in the whole of Hong Kong!
It is less busy than the other hikes, partly because it’s not that easy to climb. The path is overgrown and you have to know where to take the turn, we’ve almost missed it. From top of Lin Fa Shan you’ve got great views over Discovery Bay and Mui Wo, and on a clear day even Hong Kong Island and Kowloon.
Here Roger and I are showing off our neon coloured hiking T-Shirts – which are actually really helpful, we kept spotting our group members easily through the overgrown path!
After a short break and a few pictures later, we continued on the Lantau Trail stage 2 to reach the second peak, the Sunset Peak (869m).
On the way over there we passed a few shelters huts, where some people were camping next to it – this area is always quite popular because of the wide views over Lantau and the South Chinese Sea.
We took the turn to reach the Sunset Peak (you could easily just walk past it if you don’t want to go the final metres – given you always have to turn back and retrace your last steps to continue the hike), where we stopped for another break and a group picture.
After the descent from Sunset Peak …
… with amazing views…
… we had a lunch break at Pak Kung Au before some people exited and only a few continued up to Lantau Peak (934m) the highest hill on Lantau.
This is always a hard climb, it is almost 2.5 km steep uphill on an exposed slope with big steps – it is very tiring, especially if you start to climb after a big lunch! We were all moving slowly uphill, step after step.
Finally, we’ve made it – and what a feeling it was to reach Lantau Peak and see the island below us.
The Buddha was already waiting for us!
The last 2.5km downhill were easy, we were all walking quickly to reach the end of the trail…
… and finally, after more than 15km, 5.5 hours and climbing over 1,500 metres we reached the buddha. We jumped to celebrate our great hike!
bluebalu 