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Kowloon Park Hare - Tight Lips FB photos here? The instructions were TST MTR Exit A, follow the markings to Kowloon Park. There are 2 exit As, but a quick google sorted that out. Out the exit and marking into the darkness of the park. A thinner than usual group at the start of Tight Lips’ run. “If you made it here, then you know what the markings are.” Clearly not everyone knew what the markings were and not all made it there. “No shiggy. Urban only. Virgin trail.” was the only briefing we got. Virgin trail was the promise for those who did make it. In TST!! The centre of Kowloon. Impossible we thought. Off charged the pack. Straight out of the park and straight onto a bridge across Canton Road and Kowloon Park Drive and then a direction in chalk “Trail continues at ground level”. The first time I’ve seen an open check with a description, but we’re now all looking for a way down. The hotel lobby didn’t look inviting so we chose the fire stairs. A quick On-On and we’re through a carpark, down escalators and in a fancy shopping centre. Brilliant! No time to stop for the mall cops, we weaved our way back onto the street and were back on trail, much to the annoyance of the bargain hunters and office commuters. More weaving through the crowded streets we suddenly opened out onto the real, true, virgin trail. With stairs! It was the brand new, never been hashed before West Kowloon High Speed Rail terminal. It was real! And fancy!. And plastered with CCTV cameras and more security guards! No time to stop and admire the cavernous interiors or sweeping lines of the roof. We were being watched and followed. Remarkably Hopeless seemed to know the way and looked moderately unimpressed. “I know where we’re going”. There’s no pleasing some. We continued towards the water until the inevitable right turn along the back of another shopping centre and in the shadows of the West Kowloon highway. The exhaust fans from the food court were at the same time delicious and overwhelming. We emerged with a thin layer of grease on all of us. It was here we encountered the first of several sets of arrows pointing the opposite way. Maybe we missed a turn? Or two? We headed north through Yau Ma Tei and over many more bridges before eventually turning south and heading back through Jordan. It was in this seemingly identical grid of streets that we lost arrows again and looked for shirts and lights in the corner of our vision as hashers ran parallel routes back to the park. “On home” was a little early for those not so familiar with Kowloon Park and I ended up completely lost, zig zagging through dark Chinese gardens, past swimming pools and basketball courts until emerging through the shrubbery surprising the FRBs with my stealthy and unorthodox finish. Well done Tight Lips for an urban adventure through a well-known but new again section of Hong Kong. Bash - Chung King Mansions! Several down downs from the floor - to the hare for great run, virgin territory with new China HK express rail station and also around the Fruit wholesale market. 7.02km
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