18/01/2011: LAMMA ISLAND

Lamma Island is the closest inhabited island to Hong Kong with 5000 people living there. we were keen to visit it as it sounded so different to Lantau and Macau.
To get there we went down to central piers and got the ferry..about 30 mins.

Believe it or not they are still building around the harbour



Guess what??

There are no cars or buses allowed on the island but lots of bikes and quad bikes with trailers.

We landed at Yung Shue Wan. It's a very laid-back place and the guide books say it's full of New Age ex-pats.  It has a nice beach with restaurants along it. Also some houses on stilts..

 And the temperature reached 22 degrees today!!

 Low rise accommodation and the usual live fish on offer...

CHRIS ALERT!!!!

And more shops

 

 Great sports facilities and comfy sitting out area

AND yet another Tin Hau Temple ( Sea-faring god)

 

There's a walk across the island - pretty steep in places - that takes about two hours and takes you through tropical vegetation to the village of Sok Kwu Wan, via a couple of beautiful secluded beaches.



We didn't see any evidence of squatters





Sitting areas along the way




Roadworks, Lamma-style

The blue pipes along the side of the path are filled with fibre optic broadband - perhaps a great place for home working.

Surprising what you could find along this path.....

and some outstanding beaches......

Empty today but not overcrowded apparently in the summer because it is not PC for the chinese to be tanned.

 Note the power station which serves most of Hong Kong Island, it is coal fired which explains some of the pollution that hangs in the air around the skyscrapers.

All the beaches have BBQ pits and seating, also free and clean showers, toilets and changing rooms.

 A restaurant by this lovely beach

Just before the end of the path to Sok Kwu Wan take a diversion through a village with single storey houses to an absolute gem of a beach....

Just before the end of the walk to Sok Kwu Wan we came across some rural houses with allotments..

Views of Sok Kwa Wan - floating pontoons where some people live

There's not a lot to Sok Kwu Wan.



They obviously had plans but......

There's a temple:

and a street full of sea-food restaurants, all hawking loudly for business. We chose the Rainbow as there were lots of people in it already (always a good sign) and it advertised its own ferry service back to Hong Kong. Probably the best decision we have made all holiday so far as the trip back across the bay, on the open top deck, was spectacular! Photos wouldn't have done justice to it....so we sat back and enjoyed the view!

One shot on the way back

Our boat.   The day in Lamma Island was the best in our visit to Hong Kong...