After a quiet morning I met my friend T in Central at about 2:00 PM. We went to the IFC mall for lunch and talked about what to do--boat ride to Peng Chau; movie; or go to the Peak? We decided to go to the Peak, but not the regular way. I had read about something called the "escalators" which go from Central up into the hills, to what is called the mid-levels. So I wanted to find the "escalators" and ride them as far up as possible, and then we would catch a bus to the Peak. That was our plan!
Outside the mall was a posted map of Central which showed all of the important buildings and landmarks, including the escalators. So we were able to find our way without too much trouble, and we were soon riding up. The esclators are a series, perhaps a dozen or more, of block-long esclator ramps (not stairs) that take you about half-way up the hills towards the peak. The neighborhood it goes to and thru is called (logically enough) the mid-levels. As we got higher up there were interesting looking shops and restaurants along the escalator. It was clear we were definitely getting into the high rent district.
When we reached the top I looked around for a bus stop. There were stops for buses going downhill, towards Central, but none in the other direction. Hmmmm. We walked down the street hoping to find a clue. We did find a sign showing how to walk to the peak. We were right near the beginning point. We did not want to walk downhill to try to find a bus stop, so we agreed that we woul go ahead and follow the path uphill at least for a while.
The walk generally follows what is called "Old Peak Road", a single lane roadway that is now used just for pedestrian traffic. No vehicles or bicycles are allowed. It zig-zags its way up towards the peak, with some parts quite steep. Good thing there is no ice and snow here! There were several other people also walking up, but my favorite was an older guy, perhaps in his late 60s or early 70s, who just kept going at a slow and easy pace. Unlike the rest of us he never stopped to take a rest. He just kept going, and I think he actually beat us to the top! We were all hares. He was the tortoise!
The walk up took just over about 90 minutes. With the cool weather it was really a great day to be outdoors engaging in physical activity. There were lots of people at the Peak building. Across the street was the Peak Plaza, a small shopping mall, and we went inside to the McDonalds and got a Coke. Ahhhh, refreshing!
After walking around the rooftop plaza for awhile I told T that I wanted to go up higher, to the nearby hills that overlooked the Peak. T said OK, and we started walking west on XXX Road, following signs that pointed to the Peak Victoria Gardens. We were in a very rich residential area, called Mount Austin, with condos and townhouses to our right that faced north towards the harbor area and Central. There was almost no traffic on the roadway. A sign stated you needed a special permit to drive on these streets. After about 45 minutes we made it to the Gardens, which is actually a viewpoint that looks southwest towards Aberdeen and Lamma Island. But, there were still some hills higher up, and I really wanted to try to get up as high as possible and look down on the Peak and to Central and the bay. Was this possible?
Well, we walked back down the roadway a short distance and then took a driveway that appeared to lead up the hill. This ended after a short while, and we were left with going up a concrete pathway. At the top of the hill was a large collection of various antennas and some related buildings. We followed the concrete path all the way to the iron fence that surrounded the antennas. Unfortunately we were on the wrong side of the hill. We could not see Central and the bay, and we could not get to the other side of the hill. It was too steep, and there was no pathway, no way into the the fenced area. But there were some nice views from a nearby flat area that looked down towards the Peak, and later another small hill that almost looked towards Central. All in all it was an interesting hike.
We finally made it back to the Peak at dusk. It was definitely getting cooler now that the sun was going down. We caught a bus back to Central, and then went to Admiralty where we had dinner at the food court of Pacific Place Mall. It was then time to say goodbye, and I was soon on the MTR going home.
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