Late September in Hong Kong means heat and humidity. After landing and getting to my friends' flat, I was feeling a little grubby and sleepy so I decided to have a shower to wake up. My usual approach to jet-lag is twofold. First, I skip sleep to get onto local rime as soon as possible and second I medicate myself with vast quantities of alcohol. Not big and not clever but it seems to work.
After showering I still felt sleepy so I decided to get some exercise. What could be better than a brisk walk up to the Peak, I thought. What indeed.
I've walked to the Peak before - it's not all that far. But it is uphill. (Most of Hong Kong island is uphill, in fact - it's one of the things that really struck me when I first came here: no matter how high the skyscraper, there's usually a natural vantage point, from which you can look down on it.) However, I'd forgotten just how steep the Peak walk was in the year since I last did it. In some places it has something like a 30 degree incline which may not sound like much but feels like a hell of a lot - especially in the muggy heat of yesterday afternoon. Within 100 meters my clothes were saturated (nice image, eh?) and by the time I got to the top it was definitely time for another shower!
Getting back down the hill is as bad as going up - the impact on the knees is pretty hard - but all in all it's a terrific workout and the views are worth the struggle. Did it sort out my tiredness? Not so much: when I got back to the apartment I promptly fell asleep on the sofa!
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