It was a pleasant afternoon on 29th June 2014 in Hong Kong, and we decided to go for a small and smooth hike. The weather was favorable and little cloudy with subtle chances of rain. Eight of us decided to hike on MacLehose Trail Section 9 "Hike from Route Twisk to Tin Fu Tsai". We got some information from this helpful website about the trail, and did some more research on Google about start/finish locations and timings. We could find some information in bits and pieces, but not at one place, so I decided to write this blog for anyone interested to try this trail.
Trail Summary:
Starting Point: Route Twisk
Finishing Point: Tin Fu Tsai (Final destination is Sham Tseng Village)
Length: 6.3 kilometres (Total trail is 10 kms till Sham Tseng Village)
Time: 2.5 hours (3.5 kms for 10 kms)
Difficulty: Easy Walk
Our journey step-by-step:
16:30 - We all reached Tsuen Wan West MTR Station. Took Exit E1 for Bus # 51.
16:30-17:00 - Boarded Bus # 51 and got down at stop #11 COUNTRY PARK.
17:00-19:00 - Started at Route Twisk and reached Tin Fu Tsai in approx 2 hours. Although its a 2.5 hours trail, we could complete in 2 hours. This part of hike is very easy and got cemented road. We also saw 2 cars on our way.
19:00-19:15 - After passing Tin Fu Tsai, you will see a PCCW emergency phone in red box. (picture #4 attached below)
Here you need to take a left turn towards "Tsing Fai Tong" and it will take 15 minutes to reach another T junction. (picture #5 attached below)
19-15-19:20 - At the T junction, walk 15-20 steps towards right on the road, and then you will see a board for "Tsing Fai Tong Village". Board - "5 minutes to Parents Farm, 45 minutes to Sham Tseng"(picture #7 attached below). Now take a left turn as per board directions, and in 5 minutes we reached Parents Farm with few dogs welcoming us. The big dog was chained, and you need to be brave enough to cross that farm with few dogs around. :) We could see only one house, so not sure why they call it "Village".
19:20-20:00 - We could cross that big dog hurdle and continued on a narrow path towards "Sham Tseng Village". This was the most delightful part of trail with busy jungle and immense waterfall. Later we couldn't take much pictures as it was already dark.
20:00 - We reached "Sham Tseng Village" and took a taxi back from their to our home. You can try some local food there.
In total we finished our journey from Tsuen Wan West MTR to Sham Tseng Village in 3.5 hours. Not that bad, but better to start little early so you can enjoy the nature right in middle of the city. And the trail doesn't have cell/GPS signal at most places, so better download map and this blog for reference.
Pictures:
1. Map from Starting (Route Twisk)-Finish (Sham Tseng Village) point.
2. Map picture taken at Route Twisk starting point. Its also a mountain bike trail.
3. Beautiful view on the way before you reached Tin Fu Tsai.
4. PCCW Emergency phone in red box at the end of Tin Fu Tsai.
5. Direction board for Tsing Fai Tong at the back of emergency phone.
6. Busy Jungle on our way.
7. Direction board for Tsing Fai Tong Village and Sham Tseng Village.
8. With friend. :)
9. MacLehose Trail Section 9 elevation
