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A Stroll Around Hong Kong Part VII, The Rural Areas

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A Stroll Around Hong Kong Part VII, The Rural Areas

Well well, time flies. It's almost time for me to return to the UK so this will probably be my last post before then.

If the urban surroundings of the "concrete forest" (as Hong Kong people refer to the high rise building surroundings) or tourist attractions don't tempt you, you could always visit the rural areas where the shops are a little less modern looking and you'll find some of the owners often putting out their edible goods to dry in the sun like on this chair.

Communication might be a problem though since a lot of the people can't even speak broken English which is perhaps one of the reasons why you don't see tourists around and neither are there bilingual menus.

In the rural areas of Tai Po.

Going further in, there's plenty of greenery and less skyscrapers. There's a place further in Tai Po where you can rent a bike to ride all the way back into the city which takes an hour or so.

Cycling lane.

You may even catch the odd dragonfly around too and see plenty of fruit such as bananas hanging from trees. Just don't pick them or you may have the villagers onto you. Even snapping pictures can raise their suspicions ^^;

Going further in.

If you don't mind risk being bitten by mosquitoes, at night (and even during the day) you can hear the loud sound of cicadas ringing through the air, crabs and frogs crossing the road (really!) and lizards scurrying up the walls. Something you'll see a lot from Anime shows. The wildlife's just great here.

Personally I've never been bitten by the mosquitoes here. I heard they only go for people with certain types of blood...

Cicadas can be heard even during the day.

Now what you don't see a mention of is the smell from the sewers (maybe not for Japan) which are much worse than in the city because of all the open drains and practically every dog you pass by barks at you like you just stole their food.

There weren't always street lights around here which meant in the past, you had to tread carefully while depending on the dim lighting from houses. Torches meant attracting all the insects towards you.

Exposed drains means quite some stench.

For me, I decided to visit my cousin again and we went out for something to eat before finding some place to shoot photos. While we were eating at a market place, there was suddenly an increase in commotion and found out there was a rat on the loose. The ladies were half laughing and trying to stay far from it scurrying across the floor. We on the other hand just sat and watched the local staff try to catch it. Eventually one of the men managed to kick it to death before they found a nest and another one popped out.

It's not an uncommon sight at market places so I wasn't alarmed at all and I've never had a problem with the food so I never thought about the hygiene either.

Cuttlefish noodles.

Finishing up we went to catch the bus and while waiting, we decided we'll be taking pictures of some old buildings and maybe temples. According to my cousin, many of the old buildings such as these will soon be taken down because of the cost of maintaining them and the hand-made signs you see will be gone with them.

Old buildings.

As you can see, everyone (including those in the city) usually hang their washings out their windows to dry because of the lack of space.

Soon to be demolished.

On the bus travelling alongside the bicycle lane I mentioned earlier as we headed back further into the city again.

Cycling in the heat.

We were back into the urban areas, Hammer Hill Park near Diamond Hill. I've yet to take a stroll around the parks since arriving in HK.

Rules of Hammer Hill Park

Lots of nice decorations and sheltered seating areas.

Nice sculptures.

A bit difficult for me to read the calligraphy writing...

Somehow, if you asked if I like my local park or this one, I would say this because of how cleanly kept it is. I do like the water fall and nature trail my local park has however.

Calligraphy's a bit hard to read.

Opposite the park is the Chi Lin Nunnery which is another great oriental place to visit.

Monastery where the Lotus Pond Garden is.

I don't think it's well-known enough for tourists to visit yet because there were literally just one or two around.

Lotus Pond Garden

This is the Lotus Pond Garden.

They must all be at Wong Tai Sin which is a much busier temple and there's so much incense burning your eyes will probably begin to water very quickly.

From another angle.

Better shot of the Tian Wang Temple.

Tian Wang Temple

The usual rules of don't tread on the grass, don't pick flowers etc. except with a bit of Buddhism writing style added in.

Rules of the garden.

Exiting through the main entrance.

Main Gate

A bit about the monastery here in English.

A bit of info about the gates in English.

And as I mentioned before, every MTR station has its own plaza nearby and Diamond Hill's one is Hollywood Plaza where a lot of HK's stars took part in events and had their names engraved.

Hollywood Plaza nearby.

Although all of the place looks new...

Wide paths.

The place is still very scenic.

Fountain here?

I'm not sure if that's real gold but you're not allowed to enter.

Gold?

Some Zen in The Rockery.

Zen.

Quite a few Bonsai trees imported from Japan here.

Bonsai trees from Japan.

Very peaceful and quiet but there's still quite a bit of construction work going on.

Some areas you can only enter if you're a customer. Vegetarian diners in here.

Vegeterian meals here.

Another off limits areas but with plenty of carp.

Fishes!

A lot of places seem to have replaced their single bins with these recycling bins. Yet to see them back in the UK.

Recycling bins only.

Next we stopped at the old flats in Ngau Tau Kok which is also going to be taken down for redevelopment soon. You should see the size of the schools... It's no wonder students have to compete so badly to get into their next year.

Outside Ngau Tou Kok.

As you can see, besides the modern shops like 7 Eleven outside the area...

They sell all sort of stuff here.

They have their own market places at the bottom which date much further back.

Would you shop here...?

Off to take the train back. My next post will probably be once I'm back in the UK. 14 days packed into 7 posts isn't too bad eh?

Heading back.

Decided to take one last walk around before changing bus back.

Well, until I'm back in the UK now!

Why not take a break?

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