Diary 2016:

We had a short night, but good flight from Schiphol to Hongkong. At the airport in the morning, Andrew welcomes us. The first thing we do is buy an Octopus card, a card that can be charged and used in all public transportations, (Metro, Bus, Ferry) and most stores. We travel by bus to our hotel at Tsing Yi and walk the last 100 meters to the hotel. We get a room at the 27th floor with a nice view over the harbor and the container terminal. For lunch Andrew shows us how the local bus system works. We go to the Tsing Yi station which is also a mall. We have a late lunch at around 3PM and then go back to our hotel.

One of the highlights is a 20 meter tall Buddha statue. There is a 25 minute gondela from Tung Chung that brings us up in the mountain. We have great views from the gondela. The airport and the road contruction to Macau are visible. And 10 minutes before the end point the Buddha statue appaers. In Pnong Ping Village we first have lunch. Then we walk the stairs up to the big Buddha. It is impressive. And from the top of the stairs there is a very nice view. Then we visit the Po Lin Monestry. Nice and colorfull. We take the gondela back. Later we realised that we probably could have hiked back as well.

Now that we are a little bit less jetlagged, we go to the musuem of history, to learn about Hongkong and its past. China is known for its tea. In the early days England was importing tea, and had nothing to trade back, so there was a money stream into China. Then England imported opium from India and sold that to China. Opium is highly addictive and damaged the local society a lot. The result was a money stream to England. Actions to stop the opium import resulted in the opium war between England (France) and China. As England and France had the better wapons, there was nothing that could stop them. The war was settled by giving HongKong for 100 years to England to end the Opium war in 1897. In 1997 it return to China.

Today we take the ferry to Tai O. The ferry leaves from a tiny pier behind the Tuen Chung bus station. After some detours, we arrive at the pier where we find out that we just missed the boat. The next one is in 2 hours. So we decide to first have a cup of coffee and take the time. The ferry is a nice experience. It takes about 30 minutes and goes under the bridge under contruction, connecting to Macau. Tai O is an old fishermans village and the houses are build on wooden poles in the water. Tai O is also called Venice of Asia. We buy a local food: Fishballs and make some pictures in the village. We decide to walk back along the hiking path to Tuen Chung. It is a well prepared path and it took us about 4 hours to get back to Metro.

Today is Sunday and Andrew (a colleague working in HongKong) is guiding us today. We will hike at Lamma, which is one of the nicest islands in HongKong. To get there we take the Ferry which brings us in about 30 minutes to the island. Our hiking tour starts in Sok Kwu Wan clock wise. The path is mostly along the coast / beach and if we had our swimming gear with us, we could have swom. The path is called Lamma Island Family Walk. Around noon we arrive at a nice overview and lunch place. Unfortunately we are not the only one, so after a few snacks we contnue until we arrive at the Tin Hau Temple. We have a real lunch: Tofu pudding. Nice! Are are almost back at the start, however wecontinue our path in counter clock wise direction towards the Power Station. The sky is clear and we have great views. At Hung Shing Ye Beach we could have had another dive. But we didn't. Finally we arrive at Yung Shue Wan where we have diner. After diner we stroll a along the coast until the sun sets. Really nice views. Around 8 we take the ferry back to the main island: HongKong. At the piers we take another ferry to cross the cannal to the main land (Kowloon) where we walk along the coast the Avenue des Stars. We see a nicely lighted (Xmass coloring) skyline of HongKong City. Time for dessert. We have a last stop at dessert place and take the metro back to Tsing Yi. A last 20 minutes walk to our hotel. Is is late but we had a perfect day.

A must do item is the Cable tram to Victoria Peak. This tram is in usage since May 30th, 1888 and still working. Okay: currently the 5th generation tram is in use. The tram is quite unique. There are 2 trams, connected via 1 cable. When one goes up, the other goes down. Original there awere more stops in between. (I noticed 2, but apparently there were 5). The victoria peak is climbed and the angle can be up to 27 degrees. In less than 15 minutes the tram brings us to 396 meters above sea level (we started at 28m). Here a link to peak.com with very interesting information. Once up, we had a look around, had lunch, and made a 45 minutes hike around the peak with the best views of HongKong. We walked downhill enjoying the nice views. Back in HongKong we visit another mall.

Less known is the 10000 Buddhas Monastery. We take the metro to Sha Tin and walk via Grand Central Plaze to the Monastery. The last steps up start with many Buddha statues and that continues forever. Ihe Monastery is constructed between 1949 and 1957 and collects 12800 Buddha statues. Here a link to other information and pictures: Wikipedia . It is impressive. After the visit we first go back to the Grand Central Plaza (there is an ikea) and have cup of coffee at S*$s. In the 'New Town Plaza' (a big mall) we have a super dessert from tofu. The afternoon we visit the Sik Sik Yuen Wong Tai Sin Temple. It is at the other side of the Lion Rock Country Park, but we travel by Metro. Our exit is Wong Tai Sin. Temples are always nicely colored, like this one. The complex is large with multiple squares and places to sacrifice fake money or burn incense. There is even a garden. After the visit we go back to Tsing Yi.

The science museum in London and the exploratorium in San Francisco are excellent museums for both kids and adults. Unfortunately the science museum in HongKong is more for kids. The museum is close to downtown Kowloon and opposite the Museum of History. So an easy walk. We follow the live chemistry class, which was fun. After going through a couple of other displays we stop. Fortunately no entrance fee had to be paid, as it is a Wednesday, and that means that a lot of museums are free. We walk to the center of Kowloon and visit the Ocean Centre. This is another big shopping mall. It feels like every street in HongKong has its own shopping mall. That might be true knowing how crouwded it is here: 6500 people per square kilometer, comparing with the Netherlands with only 410 people per square kilometer.

There is a greenpeak site in HongKong. Last year a colleague from Hongkong helped us out in Utrecht for several months. So now that I am here, I want to visit our HongKong site. In the morning I take some time to prepare a presentation. Directly after lunch we travel to Science Park in HongKong. Metro to University. And a 20 minutes walk to the office. After sharing information with colleagues, we take an 'Uber' taxi to Kowloon and have Christmas diner at the Royal Pacific Hotel. Food from all continents is present including Swiss racklet, susi, zuurkool and many more.

Today we go somewhere where no MTR brings us: Stanley Market. It is in the South of HongKong Island. Not only the bus ride is supposed to be nice, also the market should be large and cheap (something the Dutch like for sure!). We had lunch at a very local restaurant, no English speaking waiters, no English menu, and a lot of school kids and workmen. Our conclusion always is: if the locals come here to eat, it can't be expensive and it must be good! The food was great, but apparently made with a lot of E621 (wei jing, MSG), so starting from afternoon Marjorie developed a terrible allergy. We will spare you the pictures of that, but knowing that 5 days later, back in The Netherlands, she scared the doctor with how bad it looked, tells it probably all.....

Today we visit Chi Lin Nunnery and the Nan Lian Garden in Diamond Hill. We were advised to go there because the whole temple is made of wood and the garden on the opposite side of the road would be very nicely maintained. The leaflet says it is "Serenity in the midst of urban hustle and bustle" and that for sure is true! It also was the least colored and decorated temple we visited since FaGuShan (Dharma Drum Mountain) in TaiWan. Also the clothing and other things reminded Marjorie a lot of FGS. After a lunch break we decided to try to hike across Lion Rock Country Park to Sha Tin, according to our map it should really have been possible, but we stranded at a huge cemetery. When people at the cemetery also told us that it was hardly possible, very slippery, and Marjorie's allergic reaction got worse and worse, we decided to head back.

The day of our last everything in HongKong: for the last time breakfast at the SuperSuper in our hotel, for the last time taking a bus and the subway, one last time Starbucks and then our lat meal in HongKong. It was the most expensive of the whole week, but very good and definitely worth it. Unfortunately, Marjorie's skin rash is not gone, but with some over-the-counter allergy medication the redness goes down a little and we dare to board the flight. It felt like the longest flight ever; squeezed between to people, whose body warmth made the itching even worse, but we survive and arrive 12 hours later in The Netherlands.

We left at 9AM in the morning. No hurry. With only 6 hours of drive, there is plenty of time for stops. And we had quiet some stops. It turned out that a Monday travel comes with multiple accidendents (luckily non involving us) and related traffic jams. One was very exceptional, where we parked the car, and waited on the highway for an hour. Many ambulances, firetrucks and a helicopter arrived at the scene. At about 6PM we arrived, well in time for popcorn and a beer.

Next moring we left around 9AM again. This time no traffic jams, so we arrived at the camp site at noon. We set up our tent and met Nico & Jopie, who arrived a with their camper as well. We knew that they were coming, and they will help us, by picking us up at places were we did not park our car or is not the camp site. The plan is one day to hike to Bourg St. Pierre and to cross the mountain. We found a very recent map with hiking routes, and clearly many of the routes we didn't do before. The next days we will explore many of these routes.
We walked to the village and to Nico & Jopie.

A very short track can be found here: Garmin track of 30 August 2016: Camp site

Early moring, still dark, we wake up, and prepared for our first hike. A short one, to get our legs in shape. Champex is our target and we have done this route before, so we know what to expect. It still took us till almost 9AM to get walking, so we decided we need to improve on that. The trial is very nice, and starts along the foot of the gletcher (water). While we continue, we pass through small villages, with very narrow streets. The view from the valley, towards the mountains, was and is nice. Until this point there was a continous slow decline. The last part is through the forrest, and we gradually climb, until we reach all of a sudden Campex. There we meet Nico and Jopie and are welcomed with coffee. Nice side effect is that we don't need to wait 3 hours for the bus to bring us back to Orsieres, and then to La Fouly. Our legs and shoes are warmed up. Now we can do a longer hike.


The track from La Fouly to Champex can be found here: Garmin track of 31 August 2016: La Fouly, Champex

We wake up at 6AM, and are just in time ready at 7AM. Nico and Jopie drive with us to Praz-de-Fort, where they drop us off. They continue with the car to Campex and will park the car under the lift. At 7:30 we start. We know it will be a long climb, so we will take our time. The goal is Cabae d'Orny. We have been there, but that was coming from Campex. We learned about this route 2 years ago, but never did it. So now we do. And it was worth it. We didn't see anyone until 30 minutes befor the hut. 5 hours of nature and views. In the top, we still saw some clouds remaining. It took us until the 12 to reach the top and by then the clouds had opened up. This path is 100% enjoyment. It is not a highway, and will will go from forrest, to grasslands to rocks. There is always a nice view looking forward or backwards. There are amazing steep rocks and splashing waterfalls/rivers. In the hut we buy a soup with bread and some local cheese. We relaxed for an hour before we hike further in the direction of Champex. We were too late to do a 2 hour side track to Cabane de Trinity. The track to the skilift is rather easy. There are many nice views. A scare but nice view is the one where there is a natural door created by a tree. Don't continue the path straight ahead as you will fall down the hill, but turn directly left. We decided not to take the skilift but walk down. The first part was boring, as it is open and intended for skiing. However the last 30 minutes, close to Champex are a must see. A hiking path under the trees, with a narrow fast streaming water next to you.


The track from Praz-de-Fort to Cabane d'Orny to Campex can be found here: Garmin track of 1 september 2016: Praz-de-Fort, Cabane d'Orny, Champex

Today is a day to relax and recover from the long hike we did yesterday. We walked a couple of times to the village, we bought a very good hiking pants for Marjorie (stretch, isolating, etc). The same day we discussed with Nico & Jopie our next hiking trip. We aim from crossing the mountain towards the East of La Fouly, as we have never been there. On the new map there is a trial indicating how we can hike to Bourgh st. Pierre. We settle on the place where they can pick us up.

Very early morning (6AM), still dark, we wake up, get dresses, have a strong cup of coffee, and mandatory breakfast. Just after 7 we start hiking. It is light enough and the first path is well paved. The incline is continous up and the area is in winter used for down hill skiing. After a few hours we leave the ski resort behind and the path becomes narrow and winding. The view is perfect. We can look back into the valley the whole way up. On our way we hear some rocks falling, and recognize why. A 'gems' is climbing the rocks as well. After 4 hours we are at the peak: le Basset at 2720 meters. We take a break and continue. The other side of the mountain is less step, and green with grass. A second hill approaches. We arrive at Col du Neve de la Rousse, however there is a tiny problem. Our route to Bourge St Pierre is not on the signs. We can either go back or go to Lac de Venetre. There is however a sandpath going up. I recognize stone men and follow the route. Finally at the 2nd top (2815m) the regular white-red-white marking is back. This was a very tricky and scary part, where we had to climb using hands as well. The decline of the 2nd top is again easy as it is green and fare from steep. It still takes us 3 hours to walk to Lac des Toules near Bourge St. Pierre.

Garmin track of 3 september 2016: Le Basset, Col de Neve de La Rouse, Bourgh St. Pierre

Today we go for a short hike....that means, for us a short hike. We know the route from 2 years ago, and like it. It is the Petit and Grand col Ferret. We know that the 2nd halve will be crowded with people, as that route is part of the Mont Blanc route. We can start at the campsite, but decide to take the car and part it at Ferret. From there the path directly starts going up in a very acceptable way. We start late at 9AM and reach Col Ferret at 11:30AM. Sofar we only met a few trail runners coming down. The path stays for a while in Italy and soon we see the crowds that celebrate they reached the peak. We don't stop and continue as we have agreed to meet Nico & Jopie in La Peule. Just 15 minutes past 1, we reach La Peule where Nico & Jopie arrived as well. We have a nice lunch (La Croute) and hike the last 4km back to Ferret where the car is waiting.

Garmin track of 4 september 2016: Petit & Grand col Ferret

As predicted, it would rain 1 day during our vacation. Two years ago, we experienced that water would leak into our tent via the zippers and the stitchings. We used a sealant to repair the stitchings, but on the zippers we can't do much. Our California tent proofs again to be not water proof. We could keep the water out by using waterproof sheets (dekzeil), but that did not feel good. Anyhow, today is not a hiking day, so we drove to Martigny and bought another tent. It is again a pretty big one, with a sleeping compartment in the back and some place to put stuff in the front. Cooking can be outside protected by rain.

Pretty late we start with this long hike. There is a reason, as last night an uncle of Marjorie passed away, and Nico and Jopie will leave today. That means that we changed our hiking plans and now need to get back on our own. The good thing about leaving late is that the clouds started disappearing. The bad thing is that we will be late back. The plan is to walk to the Grand St. Bernard, via the route we had in mind 2 years ago. Two years ago we missed the route and did a very difficult gletcher route. At 9.10AM we start hiking. We have nice views of thin layers of clouds with mountain peaks showing up above the clouds. At Lac de Venetre we take the path up to Colles Chevaux. The route up is not as easy as we remember. It is the steep view downhill that makes it scary. Better stay on the path and don't slip. We reach the first top at around noon. We eat some snacks and continue for another hour. Then we have a lunch break at the next point of decision. Will be go for Pas des Chevaux, or take the long detour to La Drance d'Entremont. We see people coming down from Pas des Chevaux. It looks quite difficult, so we decide for the easy but long detour. At 15:30 we reach Col du Grand St. Bernard (Italy). We buy some drinks in Euro's, and have a 15 minute break. Then we continue. We realise that it will have another 3.5 hours in front of us. Luckily we know this route pretty well. And the weather is with us. Some nice pictures are shot on the way back to Switserland. We reach Fenetre de Ferret 5PM, our 2nd peak and are back into Switserland. Now it is 800m downhill. Via Lacs de Fenetre we hike back to the car. At just a few minutes after 7PM we are back. The sun is already behind the mountains. Enough time to prepare a diner (eggs, mushrooms, uniouns) and take a shower. Another great day has ended. It was a long day, but absolutely worth it.

Garmin track of 6 september 2016: Grand St. Bernard

The weather is nice and we pack up our old California tent. We make some pictures, as we want to sell it to someone that camps in weather like in California. In the afternoon we do a short hike to La Peule. We are pretty late, so they ran out of eggs. Too bad, as the egg specials on the menu are looking pretty good. Short is relative. The hike is still 13.7km with 560 meter altitude change. It is halve the distance from yesterday and only 1/3rd of the altitude meters.

Garmin track of 7 september 2016: La Peule

6AM: Wake-up time. Today we hike up the Cabane de la Neuve. The sun will be shining pretty soon, so good to start early. One hour later we start with the 1.1km climb. The path will slowly transition from forrest, to bushes, to rocks and finally snow. It continously climbs, without giving back. The 5.7km path took us 3 hours and 20 minutes to finally arrive at the top. We pick a spot outside and the sun is shining, keeping us warm. A good soup is prepared by the cook and we enjoy the view and the quieteness. A little later we start with the decline. The decent took us almost 1 hour less. There are people actually running up/down, which they do with an astonishing lightness and pace. We walk it. Note: This was the shortest hike from distance of the 7 hikes we did so far, but 3 other hikes have less altitude meters. Just to give you an idea of its steepness.

Garmin track of 8 september 2016: Cabane de la Neuve

6AM: Wake-up time. Today will be a long hike, and maybe a difficult one. We have breakfast, and prepare. At again exactly 7:13AM we start hiking. The plan is to first go up La Basset, go to Cabane de Tsissenette and decide if we cross the mountain back to Saleinaz/Les Arlaches, or hike to Som La Proz. La Basset we have done earlier this vacation. So that should not be too difficult. The sheeps are happy to see us back. But having a snack with sheeps does not work. Unless you like the attention of 100's of them. The last part to the top is the most difficult one, but soon we arrive at the top. We know the way, so we stay there for some snacks, before we continue. This valley is a resorvation, and access is very limited. We don't see anyone until we arive at the Cabane de Tsissenette. On our way we visit a renovated shelter. In de Cabane we decide NOT to go back over the mountain, but to continue walking to Som La Proz. It is long downhill, and we will just miss the bus from 4:30PM. It is a long decent, and slowly the environment changes from no trees, to a thick forrest. At around 5PM we arrive in Som La Proz. That gives us plenty of time for a drink. The bus brings us back to La Fouly. We quickly clean-up/shower and go back to the village to have our first meal in a restaurant. It is our last day, and we have had a great time. Tomorrow we head back to NL.

Garmin track of 9 September 2016: La Basset, Cabane de Tsissenette, Som-la-proz

We are pretty much packed, when these 2 donkeys arrive. The belong to some place, but are curious and come to the campsite. Soon the owner comes and the friendly animals follow her. A last check, and then we leave for Wijchen. A long drive, without traffic jams. Around 7PM we are back and start unpacking. We look back at a perfect vacation.