Sam Mun Tsai -The First Trip

Sam Mun Tsai is an old fishing village located here in the New Territories. Our first excursion was eventful to say the least. Nathan had not explored this area yet but believed it to be straightforward from the information he received and the map he had. We were accompanied by our friends the Annis family. We took the 74K with no problem, but that was about the only event that went without any problems. Once we arrived it was not clear which path to take. We asked a local man, who spoke a Little English and told us we had to walk along the beach to reach the island we wanted and he warned us it was going to be difficult.
Nathan was sure this was not what the map indicated or what he had read. It was later in the afternoon already and we were racing against the sun and a tide coming in. We didn't see a better option, aside from quitting the whole thing altogether, so we ventured down to the beach.
Originally the plan was to take a well traveled trail and end up at a beach as a result most of us were wearing sandals. The crabs were fun to watch and some interesting shells were discovered, but the bloodied feet by a few of the kids were proof that overall it was not an enjoyable hike. Once we reached the island and walked around we saw immediately the path that we should have taken. Sandals would have been OK on that trail. The shore was not a nice sandy beach, but made up of countless sea shells broken into pieces. I have never seen anything like it and found it fascinating. A village woman approached us and pointed to a boat offering us a ride. We understood it would take us to Tai Mei Tuk. After discussing the cost for the lot of us primarily using a calculator, hand gestures and Mandarin Chinese numbers,we decided we would pass this time on the boat ride. We thought we should take the trail we were originally to come down, to see what it was like and where it ended up.


The view in Hong Kong can make almost anything worth the trouble.


The beach with it's mine field of broken glass and barnacles.




Taking a snack break I think it was maybe 15 minutes into the walk when feet began to get cut. The kids here in this photo keeping things light, the eldest child was having her wound tended to. A discussion of move ahead or turn back was had and we decided to keep going on.





The crabs offered a welcome distraction for the kids along the arduous journey.

The snake we believe to be not poisonous


Our trek back did have a few inclines but it seemed relatively easy after the shoreline walk. The reward for the kids making it was a little play ground right next to the village.