My Favourite Place in the World...

...well, one of them, anyway--- is Lantau Island in Hong Kong.



There is a hike up one of the trails on Lantau Island that leads to the top of Sunset Peak. Here are pictures from my most recent trip up there. It can be a bit of a hike, especially on a hot summer day, but the reward when you reach the top is always worth it. There are panoramic views of Lantau and Hong Kong for most parts of the trail, and when you get to the top there are these wonderful stone houses that were built in WWII but are now privately owned but different people and used as cabins for vacation. I think I've been up there maybe 9 or 10 times... Michelle Pardini, aka Captain Lantau, has been up there more. She is named Captain Lantau because she is usually in charge of the Lantau expeditions and also because she probably loves going up there even more than I do. I have gone to Lantau with Michelle more than I have with anyone else.

There are many things to love about going up to the cabins but I will mention the things I love the most.

1) The memories. I try to go up to the cabins everytime I visit Hong Kong...and I have been up with my family and many friends (ECC worship team, Michelle, Salome, Joanna, Isaac, Curtis, Cristy Rose, Myun Hwa, Matt, Valerie, Darius, Joseph, Jane, Mom, Dad, Ben, and others). I have had some amazing experiences up there, including sleeping on the roof and seeing many shooting stars, avoiding a herd of cows en route getting water for the cabin, swimming and discovering leeches in the water, almost freezing to death the time Isaac and I decided not to rent a cabin, being lost in a thick fog during a lightning storm on top of the mountain. Just to name a few...

2) The experience. It's so fun going up to the cabins. Shopping for food. Riding the Ferry. The familiar parts of the trail (forest of despair, orange rock, waterfalls 1 & 2, little bridge, mossy spot, etc). Finally seeing the cabins. Staying in Cabin #2. Lighting the lanterns. Relaxing with friends. Flying kites. Making food. Spending the night and sleeping on the roof. It's such an adventure.

3) Something about being up there allows you to retreat, if just a few days, from the busy life of Hong Kong. I have a thing for mountains, I realize... Ascending mountains is a cathartic experience for me- it helps me to clear my mind and I can take deeper breaths and think more clearly, and, for some reason it makes me feel more alive, deepening my wonder at the enormity of the cosmos, opening my sense to the presence of the Divine. Maybe that's why when people in the Bible needed to look for God they went up mountains too. There's a mountain here in Edinburgh that I've been going to- it's called Arthur's Seat. It's not as tall as Sunset Peak and there are no stone cabins to stay in but going up the mountain, but I love going up there just the same. My feelings when I am at the top may best be captured by a line from a song by the HK band Uncle Joe, "...and from the towers of this city, I can still see all your promises and majesty..." Sigh.

Here's a video clip of Michelle (captain lantau) describing the view near the top: