Visit to Lamma Island

(Saturday 9 May)

Having discovered the delights of Lantau with its attractive climate, lush green hills and lack of crowds, I’m in the mood for a repeat experience, but this time with a trip to another of HK’s nearby islands - the island of Lamma. I visited 25 years ago, and my memories are of good seafood, lovely deserted beaches, drinking (rather a large quantity) of Schnapps whilst waiting for a return ferry, and an electrical storm and torrential downpour the like of which I’ve never experienced before or since.

Mo Tat - The Old Quarry behind the junk is where new housing is planned

 We are desperately in need of some rain today, because although promised for the past three weeks, no precipitation has as yet materialised and it’s getting increasingly hot and humid, quite unpleasant in fact. An MTR ride to Tsim Sha Tsui and the Star Ferry gets you to the Central Ferry Piers; Lamma Island is reached from Pier 5. My preferred destination Sok Kwu Wan on the island’s southwest corner is an hour’s wait, so I opt for a ferry to Yung Shue Wan, which leaves straight away. The walk to Sok Kwu is only 1.5 km along a concreted path, and I fancy the walk anyway. Most of the ferry passengers are destined for Yung Shue which is Lamma’s biggest town and where most of the restaurants, bars and shops can be found. I negotiate a steady stream of tourists, bicycles, tow carts (there are no proper roads or cars on Lamma), which thin out towards the edge of the village, until I find the path marked family route to Sok Kwu.

This walk would be a cinch if it were in our temperate climate, but here in this heat and humidity, the steady climb up and away from the town on a path offering very little shade is a killer! I’m glad I have a cap, sunscreen, water and above all an umbrella, as all are essentials in the slow and sweaty progress I’m making - plus lots of stops for a towel down and a swig of water. The views back towards Yung She are lovely - pity about the enormous power station to its left which is both huge and ugly!

The walk should only take an hour, but I’m making slow progress and I’m wondering if it’s worth the effort especially as I will have to return to catch the ferry home. But as I’ve arranged to meet up with an English editor, Vicki who does some work for HKOP and who I met on the lithography workshop, I decide to continue. After the main beach at Hung Shing there’s very few people left on the path south; just me, the constant chirrup of cicadas, the odd lizard, and some beautiful looking birds (one, the Bubul, has a beautiful white crest).

Sok Kwu is a tiny fishing one-horse town, with jut a row of seafood restaurants and shops. Still it’s a welcome rest from the heat, with shade, food and a cold drink on offer. Mo Tat, twenty minutes beyond (where Vicki lives) is even less than that. Still, it does have a bar and beach with great views across the South Lamma Channel to Aberdeen.

I’m befriended by a local dog who sits at my feet and it would be the perfect spot to draw were it not for a group of Americans who have hired a junk for the day, and swum ashore to consume a quantity of Tsing Tao beer - I’m glad when they get bored and return to their boat, leaving me and Max (the dog’s name as I discover) to the relative tranquillity of the bay.

The storm clouds are gathering, and when Vicki arrives, we decide that the walk to Tung O beach is probably not a good idea, so we seek the sanctuary of the bar. Its just as well - there is a rapid cooling of the air and a rising wind, and just as suddenly Aberdeen and the South Lamma Channel disappear in the thick greyness of the approaching storm. The Typhoon is mild by HK standards but it does nonetheless hit you with a punch - the rain hammers on the metal roof, the trees bend and twist and I’m relieved we are under cover. It seems there may be a repeat of my last visit and the storm I so vividly remember.

Aberdeen from Mo Tat Wan

But then things just as suddenly calm down and Aberdeen re-emerges out of the mirk. Vicky tells me there’s a kaido service from here to Aberdeen, where it’s a bus ride back to Kowloon, and I decide to opt for this as I don’t want to walk back to Yung Shue.

The kaido ferry is an enjoyable ride across the channel in the company of the odd loved-up couple and a group of happy chatty nut-brown fishermen.

Lamma is still quiet and relatively unspoilt - but it won’t surprise you dear reader, to learn that HK’s voracious urbanisation program includes an imminent scheme to develop the old quarry across the bay into a complex of residential high rises, that will see the population of the island more than quadruple and change its character forever.