Andrew Spires reveals the best and worst places to pitch a tent in Lantau
The AFCD has 41 designated campsites dotted throughout Hong Kong’s country parks, interesting because they’re off the beaten track (some more than others) and you can stay at them for free. Many provide basic facilities such as barbecue pits, toilets and sports areas; some have showers. But that’s about it. Don’t expect fancy restaurants and onsite yurts; wild camping isn’t five-star, it’s in tents (geddit?!) and well worth experiencing.
Without doubt, our nearest government-allotted free campsite – Ngong Ping, promisingly situated at the foot of Hong Kong’s second-highest mountain, Lantau Peak – has to be the roughest my family and I have stayed at. Partly our fault, I admit. In an attempt to pack light, we didn’t bring a stove, pans, plates or cutlery. We didn’t bring any towels (there are no showers), pillows, music, snacks or enough sleeping bags. TripAdvisor would have rated our set-up 1* with a health warning.
The campsite is a 25-minute schlep from the cable car terminal. Rather aptly, you have to turn off before the Wisdom Trail. Although illegal, we saw groups choosing to camp in ‘non-designated’ flat wooded areas as opposed to the site to which we were headed, and in about five minutes, we were to find out why.
Ngong Ping Campsite is small, aimed more at the thru-hiker than the weekend reveller. There are six to seven flattened out pitches fitted with a picnic bench and barbecue pit. The middle of the site, for reasons unfathomable, has been left rock-pitted and sloping – almost unusable. This, of course, was where we slept the night. The word ‘slept ’ is carrying an awful lot of weight here. You need to show up very early, perhaps mid-week, if you’re to secure a spot at one of the flat pitches and don’t leave your tent for too long unattended or the lovely people at the AFCD will take it away.
Pitching the tent was a struggle. Imagine assembling an IKEA wardrobe on the north face of Mount Eiger. We spent five minutes discussing whether it was better to align the door with the top of the hill, so that we wouldn’t slowly slide out of the tent in the night. This wasn’t so much a campsite as a test of balance.
Ngong Ping village is a strange place. It’s an entirely fake shopping street built over the remains of a once-vibrant and entirely real village. That community still exists, but only to run the retail outlets selling oversized incense sticks and badly translated fridge magnets. I deplore the retail choices Ngong Ping 360 has chosen to occupy this ‘Disney’ high street to enlightenment. Last time I checked, Buddhism was about the absence of stuff – the quest for inner meaning through the abandonment of self. Ngong Ping has a Subway, a Starbucks and a shop called The Wisdom Trail Souvenir Shop. The monks must find it hard to be at peace.
Shopping at Ngong Ping revolves around the cable car times, with the final ride back to Tung Chung leaving at 6pm. If you’re not on it, you risk a two-and-a-half hour walk down the hill or a ride on the vomit comet, A.K.A. the number 11 bus. I’ve ridden a tiny ferry through the Irish Sea during a violent storm and not felt as queasy as I did on the number 11 bus. Be mindful if you’re using these restaurants for food that they all close at 6pm. Everything closes at 6pm, even the enlightened one, the Big Buddha himself.
After dinner, we headed back to the tent. The site was now nearing capacity and we had new neighbours. In the time it had taken us to eat our ramen, they had set up a festoon of fairy lights, a fully stocked kitchenette and a projector with full Dolby 5.1 surround sound. It was like pitching your tent next to a drive-in cinema.
The Ngong Ping Campsite toilet is a three-minute walk from your tent. That’s fine in the daylight, but at night, in the rain, it feels like a very long way. I can’t have been alone in this conclusion, as there are mounds of tissue dotted about in the treeline surrounding the camp. I’d love to be left alone in a room with whoever decided to build the toilets at the end of a long, dark and snake-infested walk.
Wearing everything we owned to stave off the chill in the air and having enjoyed half a box of value Cab Sav, (the wife and I, not the kids), the four of us nestled down under the three sleeping bags we had brought. Due to a technical error, we only had three between the four of us. Being the man of the family and incredibly brave, I insisted we share them and opened them up like duvets. Within half an hour, I was handed the leaking air bed and stripped of any covers. Cold and literally deflated, I donned my 20-year-old hoodie and lay down for an uncomfortable and bone-crippling night’s sleep, only to immediately need the toilet. I had broken the seal, and it had started to rain.
In stark contrast to the unlevel chaos that is Ngong Ping Campsite, Pui O boasts a 54-berth beauty with even, well-spaced pitches, barbecue pits, showers, clean toilets and the most wonderful view. Pui O Campsite looks out over the Chai Ma Wan Peninsula and its beautiful beach. Apart from public holidays and a few other special dates in the year, booking is not allowed and it’s run on a first-come, first-served basis, which is great if they have space, and inconvenient if not, having dragged all your kit there. It’s recommended to call ahead to check availability.
Of course, everything in life is about balance, and where Ngong Ping has rocks and a hill, Pui O Campsite has sand – direct access to a 260-meter-long beach. I recommend having a multi-layered towel system at the entrance to your tent or you’ll be exfoliating your skin into your sleeping bag. Errant sand is this site’s only drawback.
In case you get peckish or can’t light the barbecue, there is a small but well-stocked convenience store that serves fish balls and noodles. There’s also (drumroll) Treasure Island Beach Club, open Friday night to Sunday. The restaurant provides a lovely chilled vibe and tasty food which can be enjoyed on the terrace looking at the sea or at your tent, as they do takeaways.
There are always great nature finds on Pui O Beach, from little hermit crabs swapping cone shells to big hairy water buffalo rolling in the sand. More recently, pink dolphins have been repeatedly sighted frolicking in the bay.
Pui O has some excellent clam beds that can be harvested in the summer. Simply dig your heel into the sand to about 4 inches and wiggle it about. Remember to leave any clams under 5cm where you found it to preserve the population, and be sure to soak the clams in water overnight to remove any grit and sand before smothering them in white wine and cream sauce.
The party piece for Pui O Campsite is the sunset; one of my favourites in Hong Kong. There’s nothing better after a play at the beach than enjoying a cold glass of wine, sitting in a folding camping chair after a hot shower and watching the sun go down over another busy day.