Hoi Ha Beach

Jen here. Buddha's birthday is a public holiday in HK, so no work for Roy! We planned a day trip out to Sai Kung, an area in northeast HK known for its beauty and remoteness (compared to HK Island and the like). We had never been there, so I grabbed my handy dandy mapbook and planned our route and end destination.

Hoi Ha Beach caught my eye and the route to it wasn't too bad. We just had to catch the MTR, take a big bus, then ride a green minibus all the way to the end of the line. Yay!



Here's a photo from the inside of the mini-bus--my favorite mode of public transport in HK. Said GMB (green minibus) holds 16 passengers and will stop just about anywhere (you don't have to be at an official stop to catch one). I used to be intimidated by the siu ba (cantonese for small bus)because in order to stop, you tell the driver where to stop. Being on one, you'll hear things like "yau lok m goi," "ba si jaam m goi," "wai hong yau lok," "jien wan m goi" and things I still don't understand. So you can understand why I could be intimidated, especially if I can't speak a word of cantonese. :) This was the first thing I wanted to learn in cantonese class--because I could use it right away (and wanted to!). Otherwise, I was at the mercy of the other passengers and would just get off close to where I wanted to get off. If Roy was here, he would tell you, "If you just say anything and make eye contact with the driver, he'll stop." This is true...but something in me keeps me from speaking english...maybe my fear of being different or other people thinking I'm a silly American. One of my friends told me her husband once said, "Chocolate cake!"and made eye contact with the driver and he stopped. :) To my relief, I learned what to say on the mini bus to stop (Yau lok m goi is best...generic...it means "have down please" or really "stop please") but I can also say other things, with the help of Chinese friends and my Cantonese teacher (Bus stop please, turn the corner, wellcome supermarket, our street name, etc). Onto Hoi Ha...

Hoi Ha is a small beach, far out, so we hoped it wouldn't be crowded, and it wasn't! After hiking around the area and scampering around on the rocks, we had a few cuts to tend to and then looked for a spot on the beach. We made our camp under a tree in a distant end of the beach (see photo). If you look at the photo, you'll see an umbrella on the bottom right, and a Roy taking a nap under it. In the top left is the main part of the beach...that's where people would come in and look, hang around and then leave. Very few people ventured over to our area. We found later that the shallow stream of water we crossed to get to this sandy area began being not so shallow as the day continued on. By the time we left, we had to wade through water up to our waists!

What a fun day we had. We lounged on the beach, sunbathed a little, chatted, read and enjoyed the beauty of His glorious creation! Roy found many hermit crabs and I waded in the water. It was a nice break for both of us...a nice little get-away from the city. :)

Check out what was on the tree we camped under...kind of like a pineapple, but not...? Strange, but very unique.