When the choice of more ‘gungjok’ (work) or a walk was offered I immediately volunteered for the walk. There are only so many times you can clean the same window in 16 days! I’d also been up from 2.30am-7.00am praying with the ‘New Boy’ so I thought it would invigorate me and keep me awake. So a walk it was on a humid afternoon with several of the Brothers.
We set off from St Stephen’s and it appeared that our leader didn’t know which way to go. As with most things here a decision is never made without everyone having their say and saying it VERY LOUDLY! In the end the direction was set and off we all went. It didn’t seem much of a walk at first as we strolled along the road but very soon I found myself starting to climb up a very steep path. I say path, more like a previously undiscovered track, it felt like we were going where no man had gone before. To make it more interesting the ground was not very stable as the day before it had rained all day. Nevertheless, we made progress and climbed and climbed and climbed.
Eventually after a 1 hour climb, we reached the summit, 399 metres high, and we ‘enjoyed’ some out of date Marks and Spencer almond biscuits – only 6 months out of date (they had been donated by M&S some time ago) - and some water, as well as some great views of the surrounding area. It was a fun way to spend an afternoon and I hope that I earned some respect as I kept up with the 20 year olds all the way.
After the break we started to find our way down and as I slid down the first part I recalled a statistic that more people die climbing down Everest than climbing up it! It wasn’t quite Everest but as I continued to slide down it began to feel like it.
It took ages to find a way down and we spent quite a lot of time going back up as well but the views were great and the company was great fun. There were several places that were so overgrown that it was impossible to see where I was putting my feet and I made a couple of graceful falls to the floor on the way down.
I have a few days left in HK and then head home for the final 3 weeks of my Sabbatical. It has been a great journey so far, but coming down from it might be trickier than I think. I wonder what the casualty rate is for people coming down from a Sabbatical? Finding the right way to come down will take some careful navigating, will need a firm footing and good decisions. I hope I don’t slip on the way but I will get down and be ready for the next stage of my journey following Jesus Christ.
We finally stepped onto the road, after 3 hours. Dirty, bloodied and bruised but having had a great adventure. As we walked back up the road to St. Stephen’s I chatted to the leader of our walk. SM had been a drug addict and a Brother and now was one of the leaders in the House. He told me that he had never been that way before! But we made it down safely!
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