backyard hike

let’s just say it has been a WHILE since i have written a blog (so long, that i forgot my login name and password). whoops. whenever i return to the blogging scene after a long break from it, i feel as though i have to have some sort of really meaningful blog and/or explain myself. not happening this time.

i’m gonna let you in on one fun little thing i did today. i went on a hike. by myself. in pretty much, what you could call my backyard. litterally, i just went and hiked in the mountain behind our apartment. what in the world? how many people can actually do that? lately i have been thinking about the things that i will never forget about this place. that will leave an indelible impression in my heart and mind. indelible…isn’t that a good word. i just love those kind of words that you love to hear for some reason.

while it was very enjoyable – some of you might find this humorous – i cannot remember the last time i sweated that much. and that’s saying something. tropical humidity + a hike in the hk mountains (more like a jungle) = unstopable sweat. some of you (as in my mother) might be nervous about me going off and taking a hike on my own. but, don’t worry, i brought plenty of juice with me incase my blood sugar went low.

one thing that i could not get over, was how many different butterflies and birds (and really cute little humming birds) i was seeing. i wanted to get pictures of them, but they were way too fast for my iphone. and then as i continued to take in all of these flying species, i started to notice some really, really large spiders. i’m serious when i say that they were the size of my entire hand. i think i literally lost my breath a few times. that was about the time that i realized i was ready to get back. i wasn’t even going to attempt to stand there and take a picture of them.

i stumbled upon so many things that fascinated me. the whole time, i could not stop my mind from wondering and asking questions. here are a few of them:

this is a grave. i saw many, many of these. they seemed somewhat random to me and out of place. the mountain didn’t seem to be designated as a burial site. i want to know why these are here. how long have they been here. whose ashes lay in those jars? i looked up more info on ancient chinese graves. how historically this nation has “buried” the dead and what the significance of all these things is. after reading up on all i could find on this subject, it seems as though all of these jars in this picture above are one family’s graveyard. the central one in the back is probably the head ancestor with the others being the descendants.

in particular, i had questions about these cups. no matter how many clay jars there were containing people’s remains, there were always three of these cups. my understanding is that all of this traces back to some buddhist beliefs. the cups, i believe, represent food for the dead, in the hope that the spirit would return to reinhabit the body, wherein they would require immediate sustenance. the other smaller cups might have something to do with the soul or the spirit in case the ancestor did not reinhabit the body. (please note that i’m not sure if all of this info is accurate)

there were lots of little random farms i stumbled upon. my guess is that this is where some of the fruits and veggies from our local wet market come from. i have no idea though. and they are so, so small. i just wonder how anyone makes a living on that. and if you live up in one of these tiny little places on the mountain, do you have to pay to live there? i could go on and on with questions on this one.

there were also some gardens, i guess you could say. i would assume that these are grown to sell somewhere in HK.

one view from the trail.

what i like to call a “waterfall.” there are actually pipes running throughout this water source. maybe this is where the water comes from at our apartments?

and here’s a random one for you. just for kicks.