Nam Sang Wai

Hey Everyone,

Last week or maybe it was two weeks back, my cousin J invited me to spend the afternoon with her. We hadn't spent a lot of time together in the past, because of the distance, but we were trying to make up for it. She had suggested that we try our hand at photography, and go to Nam Sang Wai to experience a different perspective.

Walking through a Clearing

Nam Sang Wai is located in Yuen Long. The place gives me the impression of a natural reserve. I'm told that many people like to walk and bike to the area, to escape the busy city life and enjoy the quietness of the park. The park does give you the sense that you have entered the country side. There's a river along one end of the park, a paved road, and very few buildings along the river bank.

From Across the Pond

We had taken the train to one of the stations and had planned to walk to the park. J had gone to the park once before, with friends, but she didn't know exactly how to get there. We walked for maybe five minutes and then of course we sort of got lost. We then decided that it was probably for the best to go and catch a cab.

Usually in Hong Kong, 20 HK$ can get me from my place to Central. The taxi fare started off at 16$ and then ended up driving almost 40$ worth. "Goodness," I thought to myself, "that's far!"

House in the Distance

There were a lot of photogenic places within the park. Among them, was this house in the photo above. Both J and I managed to walk all the way to its front door, but no one was home. It was all boarded up and fenced in. Walking on weed grown pathways was a lot of fun, almost as if we were exploring. I'm curious by nature so of course seeing if anyone lived in the house was a must know!

Dock/Fishing Area

Another iconic photographed site was the dock (seen above). Although the photograph doesn't show any people, there were a few that were attempting to fish. I say attempting because when we walked back a few hours later, it didn't look like they caught anything. 

Shanty House(s) 01

There were a lot of shanty houses within the park. Many of them were sinking into the ground, fenced off, and even abandoned. What surprised me though, was that there were so many of them, and a few were clearly inhabited. It was such a contrast coming from Hong Kong Island where skyscrapers dominated to this community where their buildings were held together by wire, nails, and whatever else was available. It was hard to believe that I was still in Hong Kong and that there were people living in these conditions just a few miles away.

Shanty House(s) 02

Although these buildings were falling apart, I found them fascinating and somewhat beautiful in their own respect. For some reason the idea of different materials of boards, siding, pretty much anything and everything fused together to make what is necessary to live, had something poetic about it. But it could also be that I'm tired of looking at the same type of curtain walled building. This was a visual difference that I could appreciate and enjoy without being bombarded with advertisement. These buildings looked as if they could fall apart any second, but upon closer inspection they were soundly placed on stilts, above the marshy ground!

Shanty House(s) 03

After a few hours, maybe three we started walking back towards the stretch of road leading out of the park. It was one of the longest walking experiences in my life, well at least in HK. I'm exaggerating here, but it sure felt like it. It was hot and humid that day, but thankfully there were was an overcast of clouds so the sun was not beating on us.... but there were no taxis coming into the park as it did go anywhere except lead to a dead end. J suggested we walk back, I thought she was crazy, but we weren't going to just sit and cross our fingers waiting for a taxi to appear. So we walked, and walked, and walked. After a good hour of walking in the heat, we saw a taxi. Thank goodness! According to google maps if we had walked all the way back to catch the train, it would have taken us two hour and a half hours... on top of the hours we had already walked!

Even though my legs felt like they were detached from my body after all that walking, I'm very happy that I was able to see a different side of HK. Thanks J for taking me!