Hillside Hiking

Today I was back on my feet and running faster than I probably should. Well, not so much fast as vertically. I found out it was not going to rain as the BBC predicted, so I started the day out on the peak. Beautiful, of course. Sunny skies, cool winds, its almost worth oppressing an entire indigenous people to live here. My personal favorite moment of whitewashing was a diorama about the use of the peak for housing (no mention of 'exclusively white') and how (white) people ended up using sedans carried by Chinese people. The terrain and weather were too difficult for horses, so they had to use what was available. Lucky White people, so resourceful.

Speaking of white privledge, while I was looking at said diorama, a small Asian women came up to me and asked "Can I take picture with you?" I assumed she was incorrectly asking if I could take a photo of her. Nope, she wanted a photo with me, I was such an attraction that she called over her friend/relative to be in the photo with us. When we were done I said, "Can I ask why?" The first woman said "Because you are beautiful" Aww. The second said, "We're from the Philippines!" I don't see why that's an answer, but maybe Filipinos like taking photos with giant white girls.

So after my Peak adventure (for curious minds I found lions, a mall and the only Burger King outside of the airport), I decided to check out Wan Chia, starting off with Tai Wong Temple. Simple enough, except there doesn't seem to be a Tai Wong temple. There is, however a Hing Shing temple spitting distance from the place Tai Wong is supposed to be (but no the exact spot, which troubled me). I poked around, but all I could see was Hing Shing, so I'll settle for Fordor's messing up. After wards I figured Yan Yuen Shek aka Lover's Rock aka "LOL, it looks like a dong." It was described to me a phallic shaped natural formation that women pray to for marriage, I figured there might be a temple. What was not described to me was the 45 minute, 45 degree vertical hike needed to get there. Lover's rock is at the peak of the mountain over looking Wan Chia, essentially slightly shorter than the peak the British so artfully avoided climbing. 45 minuets, all uphill, in a sweater, in 72 degree heat, for a rock that supposedly looks kinda like a dong. And by jove, it does look kinda like a dong. But it was not worth the hike with my foot the was it is. On the plus side, an old man on the way out of the site offered me some incense and gave me some lucky ticket thing, so I might get lucky soon.

I have a sneaking suspicion that it isn't the rock that gets women men, but the trekking up and down that goddamn slope for a few weeks making them lose 30 pounds and gets their ass in fantastic shape might play a factor.

After making my way s_l_o_w_l_y down the path, I stumbled on a beautiful old temple called Pak Tai Temple. Lovely old wood carvings inside and bronze statues. An d aton of lions! Huzzah! The light started to go, so I headed back. This is the longest I've stayed out,and I only went to four sites!

Now, if I can walk, I'm going to dinner. Wish me luck. Photos to follow, once they're done loading.