On a bus, your eyes, ears, and pores are open absorbing in the variety, the wonder, and the magic of the city. It’s a wonderful way to get to know the city. -George Takei

Here I am again on another bus. This one is particularly rickety as if it was made out of scotch tape and a prayer, but I like it like that. It is not a true day if you don’t feel like you are going to go up in a ball of fire at any moment. It is filled with people laughing, reading and lost in there own thoughts (just like me at the time) And here I sit.

It’s an interesting bus, double-decker, just like those old British busses, a forgotten relic of Hong Kongs colonial past. I sit down on the top level, in the front, I have a 180-degree view of the road in front of me. I feel like I am in the millennium falcon. As I sit, I wonder about the cars drive past. I always think about that, who are those people in those cars that passed me. Are they having a good day or bad day? Are they happy or are they sad?  But I  also wonder if they asked the same thing about me. That one guy sitting at the top the bus looking lost like a little puppy.

I sit there in that relick of a bus, snaking through the forests of Hong Kong climbing higher and ever higher. The bus stops and people get on and off, going about there own life. An old woman sits next to me. If I was to guess her Date of birth, I would say between 120 B.C and 340 A.D. I look over and the smile. The smile that she gives me melts my heart. Just like a pad of butter on a cob of corn. I ask this lady when I need to stop.  She says broken English, that she’ll let me know when I need to get off and then I lose myself in my thoughts again.

Why is Hong Kong so famous?

Is a hot dog a sandwich?

How do the Calgary Flames suck so much?

You know….. normal thoughts.

I snap back to reality. The old lady shaking me and pointing down. “it’s there, go now” she says, I smile and run down the stairs. Just before I jump out of the bus, I say thank you to the driver. He nods and drives off on his own little journey. And then it dons on me, I have no idea where I am “shit”  I’m in the middle of this forest in Hong Kong. It’s me and a couple of people Next to us is a small Winding path leading up to the forest.” well it must be this way” I mutter to myself. I start to trudge into the forest.

No, this is not the start of a horror movie.

This turned out to be one of most beautiful hiking trails I’ve ever done. This is Dragon’s back Trail in Hong Kong it is an 8.5 km hike, starting in the middle of the forest and it finishes on a beautiful beach. I stop and do some pre-hike stretching, then I realize I have no clue what way to go. I look at the screenshot Of the hiking map on my iPod. It looks like an eight-bit arcade game. (well fuck) I cannot make heads or tails of it.  So I shrug my shoulders and start walking. After a few minutes, I pull out my bottle water and take a long drink. 

As I make it into the forest, I started to notice the plants and birds living there merry little lives, Not even realizing that they’re so close to Metropolis. I find hiking very therapeutic. You get lost in your own thoughts and the beauty around you. you notice the small and beautiful things in life. Like a ray of sunshine that perfectly passes through the dew on a flower.  It reminds me of tiny little diamonds. Or seeing little birds that you’ve never seen before because you’re from the middle of nowhere Canada. It seems like the cute little birds that I find on this hike could be on a Disney flick. They would be the really sassy partner to the protagonist.

And I walked further higher and higher up a Ridgeline. Here and there I see a small gap in the trees where the ocean pokes out. Just as if it ’s saying hello. I wonder what it will be like when I get to the top. other than sweaty and sore,   I am out of breath, I now wonder how I got so unhealthy. I take a break and sit down and start drinking some water (I am almost out) and eating my snacks Oreos the best hiking snack lol. Siting I noticed how beautiful the clouds are and how the canopy of the trees Gives me the much-needed shade. I  thinking How crazy it is that less than an hour drive from here Is one of the most densely packed cities. Where money is seeping out of it just like the jelly in a Tim Hortons jelly doughnut. And yet I feel like I’m in the middle of Amazon.

If you look at google maps you can see that Hong Kong is actually quite small compared to Hong Kong (the country ) There’s a lot of free parks and camping. It’s something that many people don’t think about when they think of  Hong Kong and its rows of Starbucks and Loui-Vuitton that paint the city like a Pissed off Jackson Pollock.

But I come back down into my head. I stand even though my body wants to sleep and then I start walking again, then 20 minutes later sweating and listen to podcasts. I reach the top of the mountain and it does look like dragons back. It snakes along the vista just like an upturned bread knife.  Ocean on one side and beautiful lush forest on the other. It is like a buy one get one free deal.  It’s so picturesque.   It hits me in the face just like a Left hook from Mike Tyson.  The sun is shining the ocean is blue, the trees are green, and it’s quiet. Perfectly quiet. other than the Russell of people walking past me. I take at that moment to remember this forever. And I continue walking.

Now I’m starting to go down, I’m slowly sinking again into the canopy of the lush forest. The path is Rocky this time, It seems like This part of the hike has some water damage. I have to jump over small rivers and over big rocks. And then there’s a clearing. The sun hits me like I was in a movie theatre for a month. With my eyes squinting, I start walking out and I noticed that I am on a beautiful beach. There are people from all around the World, young and old. And from Canada all the way to Zimbabwe, it’s beautiful. There are little cafés if I did not know better it seems like you’re an idyllic town in Italy.

 I sit on the beach and enjoy watching the people while listening to another podcast. This one from the Stuff You Should Know Gang. Today they discuss How Beer works. The thought pops in my head. “I feel like a beer” So I stand up shaking the sand off of me trying to do his best impression of Elvis,

Walking into the little town. I look for the corner store. After a few minutes, I find one. It is a small family owned store. I slink in (the heat of the day is getting to me) and notice there’s a little bit of dirt in the corners and it looks like a chipmunk organized it… But it has a Cold beer and it is cheap, 1 $ Canadian.  I go pick up beer out of the fridge and grab the bottled water  ( apparently hiking makes you thirsty) and a small bag of chips “why not”. I Pay the money and leave. I walked back to the beach, sit down just where the water meets the sand.  The cool ocean water overtakes my lags. There is such high contrast from the cold of the oceans of the heat of the sun. I pop open the beer and say cheers to the gods.

I have to say, I cannot get any better than enjoy drinking a beer,  Having small conversations with people but I mostly just I  just enjoyed myself. Once my beer is done I throw out the garbage. ask around and find the bus station and leave for my home. 

 What an amazing experience!!!!!!!