Nam Wa Po Revisited

Not satiated by his hike on Lamma, Boy is up for another despite a 5pm flight for Bali. Having visited my the Fish Farm in '96 (a rented farmhouse in Nam Wa Po, he is very interested in checking it out, followed by a hike up Cloudy Hill. Situated directly opposite Nam Wa Po, this is Hong Kong's third highest peak, and is part of the challenging Wilson Trail. Who am i to deprive Boy?

It's a very early start heading up from the Island to the northern part of the New Territories.

Nam Wa Po was settled in 1952 following the reclamation of Taipo Harbour. Predominantly consisting of Hakka fisher folk, they were forced inland and didn't really know what to do - not much fish to be found in the hills. To make matters worse, their new village location was quickly inundated with deadly poisonous blue snakes. The village Head (The Lam family dynasty,)quickly consulted a feng shui master who instructed the building of place of worship. Despite their Taoist roots, a church was built in 1953 instead of a temple, and miraculously no blue snakes have been seen in the village since.


The old village really hasn't changed much at all. The river bed is wider and the river just as pungent. All the front facing houses have remained untouched, although the Fish Farm has been made into two flats, all tiled up and shows no recognition of it's previous incarnation. I presume Mr and Mrs Ko, my delightful if very strange landlord and lady, must probably have long departed this world. However I lack the courage and a present to knock on their door. It was noted however that the front and the side of their house was equally as messy and still filled with rusty chicken cages.


The village has won the prestigious Most Beautiful Hong Kong Village award - although Mr Lam, the village Head, may well have bought this with hard currency. It also boasts traditional celebrations of the Lantern festival. The village square is decorated and families bring out food to share with their neighbours. Bamboo and paper hot air balloons are constructed and released skywards although not always unsuccessfully.

A quick photo shoot, but we are still late for our ascent. To try and save time I try a shortcut, but fail miserably, so we double back on ourselves to the track. We soon realise that a full ascent is unrealistic given our time constraints. We pass by some more World War Two memorabilia (this time in the form of corrugated iron shelters) and through hillside shrines, until we reach the crossroads for the reservoir.

The Boy brings out a pack of cards and we play one of the unique Groves family games. Called A Thousand, it is a real classic, but unfortunately it seems to be unintelligible to others. After a few hands we make a pleasant stroll back down. It's always good to catch up with Boy, and even better to beat him again at A Thousand.