Full Transcript for Bride’s Pool: The Ghostly Legends of Plover Cove, Hong Kong

what are the odds? Also, what's up with there being so many rare birds around where you are and where you work? Marissa: I don't know. I don't know if it's because like more people there's more people out this way, so more people are likely to see them. I'm not sure. Grace: It's awesome. I've only seen Marissa: Yeah. Grace: a black vulture once and it was in Missouri. Marissa: What have you been up to the past week ish? Grace: Yeah, honestly, the week has been a blur. the weekend was nice. We did some house stuff. I started painting our cellar. That was fun. Didn't finish. It was a lot of painting to do. And then yesterday was just a family day. Just hung out with the baby and the husband. But something kind of weird happened to me early this morning that I wanted to tell you. So my baby is teething right now. And like you can tell because like she's drooling a lot, she's pointing at her mouth, and like I even saw like a little tooth coming through on the bottom, and so she's waking up more. And so this morning she woke up around 4 a.m. And so, you know, I I get up, I sit up, I wait like five minutes because you know maybe she'll go back to sleep. She doesn't. So I go in there at four o six and I remember looking at the clock. I'm like, it's four six, man. I gotta get up in like less than two hours at six. And so I'm standing there and I'm I'm like holding her and yeah, I I like the cuddles. The cuddles are fun, but I'm also tired. So I'm standing there, I'm holding her on my chest, and I swear it was like two minutes past. I look at the clock, it's four twenty two. I lost time. Like I I don't know what happened that's never happened to me before. Marissa: Wait, how long d how long did you think it was? Grace: It felt like a few minutes. Like I literally was thinking in my head. I was thinking of like, you know, just you think of random things, you know, I was thinking of like what I was gonna do the next day, all of this, like, I'm gonna have to get up and go do this, this and that and then all of a sudden I like I just glance over at the clock 'cause we have one of those little nest clocks in the corner of the room. And it's 4 22 and I'm like, where did the time go? I swear to god, it was just four six. Marissa: wow. Grace: And so I I literally did a triple take. I'm like, no, I swear that I got up at 4 0 like 4 06. I came in here. And I've never lost time like that before. But also I was standing and holding her. Marissa: That's what I was wearing is like you weren't even sitting. So it's that's really weird. Cause you couldn't have Grace: Okay, so Marissa: really like fallen asleep, right? While standing up. Like that's crazy. Grace: No. Like I d I don't even think I closed my eyes. Like I I my eyes were open and my head was just like on her head and I just I lost time. And I've I Marissa: That is so strange. Grace: sometimes like not sometimes a part of me thinks that maybe the clock messed up. I don't know. I don't know. But I No idea. It was so weird. Marissa: That is very strange, and that really tripped me out. Grace: Yeah, it kinda freaked me out. Like whenever I saw the clock I had I was scared. I was like my actually my first thought my one of my first thoughts was, Did I get abducted just now? this podcast is rubbing off on me. But no, I don't think I got abducted. But it was the craziest thing. Marissa: Okay, good, good. All right, so no signs of abduction. You just lost some time. Okay. All right. Grace: Yeah. I wasn't even that tired. Like that's the thing. Like I've been way more tired taking care Marissa: Yeah. Grace: of this baby. And I I don't know. It's a mystery. I hope it never happens again because it was really scary. Marissa: Right. my gosh. yeah, outside of the random having the idea to check the Discord and seeing the rare bird, I haven't been up to too much. I think I did talk in the podcast about me applying for that haunted house job. And I was supposed Grace: Yes. Marissa: to audition for it. I kind of woke up Friday. I was supposed to like go by sometime on Friday, and I was actually thinking, like, you know what, maybe as someone, especially this year. Been having a hard time with work life balance. The answer probably isn't to work more and get another job. Grace: Get another job. Marissa: So I was like, maybe not. Maybe not. So I've decided not to. maybe one year, but not this year. Exactly. I was Grace: There's always next year. Yeah. Marissa: like, let me come back stronger next year, work on my work life balance, and and we'll revisit that. But I think I'll put my energy into other things. Maybe starting up my ghost club, ghost hunting club that I've wanted to start forever. Or just existing outside of work and doing that. So Grace: Mm-hmm. Yeah. That that's sad to hear, but I totally understand. Marissa: forgot to say I did go to Canada this weekend. Me and Cody went to Canada for the first time together. Cody's Grace: Forgot. Marissa: never been. It was really nice, short and sweet trip. We got pulled over and searched at the border. I Grace: So was there any like indication of like why they did that? Marissa: No, just like, like, what did I say that made them like pull because it was all like routine questions. And they're Grace: Yeah. Marissa: just like, yeah, here's a sheet of paper. You're gonna go up there. And we got searched. And I'm like, well, Cody's just getting the full experience because he's never been to Canada. But I don't know. Grace: Hmm. It was going into Canada? Marissa: Yeah, both times I've gotten searched, it was going into Canada. And granted, Grace: Meu! Marissa: the one time it was like I did go in the wrong lane because I got scared and people are driving too fast. But Grace: yeah. Yeah. Marissa: I also feel like This is just a weirdly high number of times to have been searched because I've only been to Canada like five or six times, and two out of the six I've gotten searched. Grace: wow, that is surprising. Marissa:

Have you gotten searched like when you were going back and forth when you lived there? Grace: Yeah, yeah, only one time and I went back and forth probably twenty plus times and I Marissa: Yeah, it was just weird. Grace: got searched going into the US and it was really jarring. Like I stopped and he's like, turn off the vehicle, put your hands on the wheel and like unlock the door or something like that. And I was like like I immediately started having a an anxiety attack and he had to repeat Marissa: yeah. Grace: it. And he was really cute too, and that's the problem. It's one of the problems. Marissa: Ugh that that does make it worse. Grace: It's it was so hard. It's but yeah, it was scary. Luckily I mean, I don't do illegal things, but like the whole time they're searching, I'm like, What's in my car? Like I don't even remember. Marissa: Right. Grace: For today's story, we're traveling to Plover Cove Reservoir in the northeastern new territories of Hong Kong. The area is bordered by the Tolo Channel and Double Haven, Also known as Yen Chao Tong. Plover Cove Reservoir originally began with a serious problem. During the late 1950s, Hong Kong experienced severe drought and extreme water rationing. Hong Kong's director of water supplies came up with an ambitious idea while swimming in Plover Cove. Because the region didn't have enough flat inland land for a traditional reservoir, engineers decided to create a freshwater reservoir inside an ocean inlet. To do this, they built dams across the saltwater bay and Pumped out the seawater and refilled the basin with fresh rainwater. Construction took place from nineteen sixty to nineteen sixty eight and the reservoir initially opened with a capacity of one hundred seventy million cubic meters. Between nineteen seventy and nineteen seventy-three, workers raised the dams, increasing the storage capacity to two hundred and thirty million cubic meters of water. This tripled Hong Kong's water reserves at the time. Today the main dam stands about ninety-one feet, which is the height of a nine-story building. And it stretches for two kilometers or one and a quarter miles. Near the dam, the reservoir reaches depths of around twenty eight to thirty meters or ninety to a hundred feet. Water comes from natural rainfall and streams, including cascades such as Bride's Pool. The reservoir also receives imported water through overland pipelines from the East River in mainland China. Although an engineering achievement, creating the reservoir displaced over a thousand residents from seven Hakka farming and fishing villages. To compensate them, the British colonial government built new housing along Quang Fuk Road in Taipo, Naming the settlement Lu Kyong San Twen, or New Village for Six Villages. In nineteen sixty six, thirty-six nearby fishing families from Samun Sai were also relocated. But today the reservoir and its surrounding areas support a wide variety of wildlife. The Water Supplies Department regularly stocks the reservoir with silver carp and big head carp to help control algae. Alongside these stocked species are several types of invasive fish that live in large numbers throughout the basin, like several types of tilapia and largemouth bass. The mountain streams that flow into the reservoir support native Asian swamp eels and Japanese eels. Just outside the dam in the marine waters of Tolo Harbor, visitors may find mudskippers, fiddler crabs, mangrove snappers, sea anemones, groupers, and big fin reef squid. Which I have a bunch of pictures here for you, Marissa. Marissa: Very fun looking. And I'm pretty sure I should look up the Mud Skippers, but I think I've watched a whole documentary on them or like an episode of documentary on them and I love them. Yes, They're so cute. I love mud skippers. Grace: Are they the ones where they'll like put mud in their mouths and like fling it? Like spit it out? Marissa: I think they can do that. They're amphibious fish that can breathe through the skin and lining of the mouth, but it's only possible when they're wet. So they have to be like wet. They're so weird. Fish that can walk. They're so fun. Grace: That is so cool. They're really pretty. They have like blue specks on them. Very cool. The wildlife on land is just as cool though. The surrounding wilderness is home to wild boars, barking deer, which we've gone over before in another episode. Masked palm civets, which, Marissa, look at this picture down there. It's the top right, the masked civet. It might Marissa: Cute as heck. Grace: might be the cutest thing ever. yeah, I even put that. Porcupines and Chinese pangolins, which are among the most trafficked mammals globally, with an estimated of one hundred and ninety-five thousand trafficked in two thousand and nineteen alone. Marissa: Do you know what makes them so heavily trafficked? Grace: they're trafficked mainly for their scales, which are believed to treat a variety of health conditions in Chinese Marissa: Mm. Grace: traditional medicine. And they're a luxury food in Vietnam and China. Yeah. Marissa: so double whammy. They're both a medicine and a food. Grace: But also it says here that they're also trafficked for clothing and fashion. Which so sad. I hate it. Marissa: Okay. Yeah, I don't know if I'd want wear that. Grace: So don't eat pangolins. We love them. don't traffic them. But as far as birds in the region go, there are kingfishers, crested serpent eagles, which I have a picture below. It's the bird with the really large wingspan. It's so funny because it looks so impressive with its wings out, but then it kind of looks derpy when it's just sitting there. Marissa: wow, is that the same image? The same bird? Wow, Grace: It's the same bird, yeah. Marissa: yeah, I wouldn't have guessed that. Really beautiful though. Very striking, kind of looks black and white on my monitor, like patterning Grace: Yeah. Marissa: under the wings. Very beautiful. Grace: Yeah it is. It's really pretty. While the

reptiles and amphibians feature bamboo vipers, which I also have a photo of. That's the green one. The bamboo vipers, pythons, Asian common toads, and forest lizards. Additionally, the region supports a high diversity of native butterflies and, get this, over 120 species of dragonflies. Marissa: Ooh. Grace: And yeah, like this number like blew my mind because I didn't even know there were that many species of dragonflies. and overall I had to look this up. Globally there are about three thousand dragonfly species. That's crazy. Marissa: I had no idea. the place I recently started helping bird band at, one of the bird banders, I guess they're super into dragonflies. Like that's their main interest. I mean they like birds too, but like dragonflies. And I didn't know that was a thing. Grace: Yeah, well it's just like a world I never even thought of that people are into dragonflies and probably some people go dragonfly watching, you know? Marissa: Yeah. Grace: That's really cool. the world is so much more diverse than we even know. Marissa: It's pretty cool. Grace: The plants around Plover Cove are equally distinctive. Behind the historic villages are woodlands, densely vegetated, protected groves preserved for centuries. These old growth sanctuaries harbor native species, including the incense tree. Aquilaria senensis. A prized fragrant tree whose historical trade gave Hong Kong its name, meaning fragrant harbor. Plover Cove is more than just a massive body of water. It stands as a monumental engineering feat, born from necessity, proving that human innovation, displaced history, and vibrant natural ecosystems can truly exist side by side. Marissa: among the Grace: That's right. Marissa: beauty of the Plover Cove area are stories of tragedy and mystery with spooky legends filling the land. There's two main areas of Plover Cove we're gonna talk about, and both reside within the Plover Cove County Park, this area has one of the most prominent ghostly legends of China. The eerie and sad haunting of Bride's pool, The story begins over a century ago when a young bride was traveling in a sedan chair on her way to her husband's home. Grace: Wait, what's a sedan chair? Marissa: All right, scroll down next page. That's a sedan chair. So think traditional Grace: It looks like a litter of some kind. Marissa: A litter? Grace: So that's what they would call it in like Game of Thrones. Marissa: I'm thinking litter box. I'm like what? Grace: It's like a like a Chinese looking litter. I don't know. Ignore me. Marissa: Okay, okay. Do you spell that like litter box or litter chair? Grace: ever heard it. It's like the thing that the royals will be sitting in while they go through like Flea Bottom or King's Landing. Marissa: Okay, so it is spelled like litter as in litter box. and it's also called a sedan chair. So it is the same thing. This has a Grace: Cool. Marissa: lot of like Chinese like adornments to it, but essentially it's a really big fancy chair. The person

inside is covered on all sides with like a curtain or draping, lots of ornaments and design. It's very intricate. and there's several people on either side hoisting the chair up on their shoulders as they make the journey. So in This case, the the bride was in this sedan chair or litter on her way home, or on her way to her husband's home, which was soon to be hers. During the journey, a heavy storm came and left the area slick. So as she was carried across The stream near the bride pool falls, a porter slipped and the chair tipped forward. The bride fell out. Her heavy, red, traditional ceremonial clothes pulled her beneath the water and she never resurfaced, drowning in the storm. Despite a prolonged search of the area, her body was never recovered, and since that day, the falls and stream have been known as Bride's pool, Grace: That's unfortunate. Marissa: It is. And there's a couple different versions of the tale. That is the most common one. A couple other versions I saw included that the bride, maybe there wasn't a storm, but the bride actually never wanted to marry. And so she just jumped out of the ch the the litter and into the pool, vanishing into the water. Okay. Grace: It's like one of those cases of depends on who's telling the story. Marissa: Right. the other legend is that the bride was actually secretly in love with a porter. Love that gossip. And the slip may have been a cover for a planned escape. And in this telling, both the bride and the porter vanished. And some say their souls still roam in the mist. So that's kind of a fun one, but the most widely believed is just there was a horrible accident and she likely drowned in the in the river when they were crossing due to the storm. Regardless of what happened, the details generally remain the same. What was supposed to be a joyous wedding day quickly became a tragedy, and the bride's soul still lurks in the surrounding area. Hikers and visitors to the area frequently report supernatural sightings, including strange apparitions and sounds of someone crying. sometimes she's called Le Me. And she's often seen in her red wedding garb and is seen by the roadside or pool, sometimes crying, sometimes combing her hair. And I have to specify the combing hair because it's brought up so much. And not only are they bringing up the fact that she's brushing her hair, but also that you can hear her brushing her hair. Particularly with Grace: Like what part? Marissa: A silver comb. But I'm just like, how how loud is brushing your hair with a comb that you can hear it? Especially with the waterfall? Grace: Is it like a like a psh sound or like Marissa: That's what I imagine. Yeah, but doesn't isn't that what a waterfall sounds like, Grace? That's why that's why I'm just like, you know, I'm not sure. Grace: Yeah, you're right. That's exactly what it sounds like. Marissa: I'm not sure. So I was just like, I I just kept seeing that over and over again. And yeah. I forgot to mention this at the beginning of the episode, but I this was actually one of the first stories I researched for the podcast, but I was so overwhelmed by all the notes I had. That I've literally tabled it for seven months. So my notes are from Grace: Really? Marissa: January. Yeah. I like compiled it into actual like paragraphs and stuff today, but yeah, it was intense. So this episode's been a long time coming. Grace: Wow. Who's the alarm? Marissa: but let's get into other appearances of the ghost. she is most likely to be seen at dusk or night, with visitors saying she vanishes before you can get closer to her. The bride's pool, despite its beauty, is often described as having a cold and heavy atmosphere, and some describe a sense of being watched. Most creepily to me, are stories of visitors finding themselves looking into the water and seeing a reflection staring back at them that doesn't match their own. I hate that. Really hate that. Grace: No. I hate it too. Don't like That would be shocking. Marissa: Right. And here is a photo, I guess, of a part of bridal pool in the falls. I don't know why it looks almost glowing. This was from a official Hong Kong tourism website and they did mention the ghost in the website. So that's just how well known this this legend is. Grace: Yeah, that c that photo kinda confuses me because you can see the plants. Like, are we looking at water or rocks? Marissa: I genuinely don't know. I was hoping you could figure decipher Grace: I mean it looks like s there's just light coming from the rocks. But there's also kind of maybe some water around it. I don't know. Marissa: Yeah, it's a mystery. Maybe we'll put this photo up on our social media and a listener can try and decipher it. Yes. Grace: Yeah. Let us know what you think. Marissa: someone was walking along the water at dusk and heard a comb running through the hair. Which again apparently happens a lot, not fully understanding. Grace: Like specifically you're like walking and you're like, wait, I hear somebody brushing their hair. Like what? Marissa: I just, I've never had that thought. Like, yeah, I just, I'm just trying to think, you know, it just doesn't make much sense to me, but I don't know. As this happened though, their heart was racing and they were feeling a tugging towards the water's edge when their friend quickly pulled them back right before they were to step. This pool isn't too deep. It's only about six feet deep in its deepest parts. So so nothing too crazy, but still alarming. Grace: Hmm. Marissa: Another firsthand encounter on an online forum included an individual crossing the pool with friends when they felt a sudden cold spot and heard whispering near the water before seeing a faint figure in red rising from the mist before abruptly vanishing. And just to note, like most waterfalls, sometimes you can cross this area, you can visit this area, and the waterfall is in full force, the stream is steep and strong, and that is likely what the bride encountered on.

Final day. But other times you may visit this area and the stream is so low, the waterfall is just a trickle. And you could even use the stones of the river floor as a walking path. So maybe that's when they're more likely to hear the comb running through the hair. Sorry, I'm still getting distracted by the comb running through the hair because there's just no way you would hear that when Grace: I mean Marissa: the water was in full effect. So I guess we'd have to look more into the ecology and water levels of this waterfall throughout the year. Grace: Yeah. I mean honestly after we're done recording I'm gonna go brush my hair and just listen to the sound. Like what Marissa: Yeah. Grace: sound does this make? Especially with a comb? Like you think it wouldn't make as much sound Marissa: That's what I'm saying. It's not even a brush. Grace: with the Yeah, it's a brush. Marissa: And if you don't have any tangles, like I'm assuming it's pre-drowning You know she had her hair done up dice. It was probably already all combed. I just I don't know. Again, overthinking it. Grace: Yeah. Can you imagine you're seeing a ghost comb their hair but it's like super knotty and like she like she's struggling? We've all been there. Yeah. Marissa: feel I feel bad. We've all been there. For sure. man. So there are reports from visitors to the Plover Cove area that there are spirit tablets left under the trees, which are presented as evidence that people are attempting to honor or calm the restless spirits linked to the pool and surrounding area. Spirit tablets are carved wood or stone placards in Chinese culture used to honor and house spirits. It's a ritualistic object that is commonly seen in temples, shrines, and household altars. While it is often used, To honor like deities. It can also be used to honor an ancestor. Or in this case, the bride and bride's pool. And here are a few photos of different spirit spirit tablets. and so you can see they really can range in their design and intricacy. Grace: Yeah, like the one on the very far left is beautiful, gold, ornate, fancy, while the one in the middle is a little bit less so and the one on the right is like a carved piece of wood. Beautiful, all Marissa: Yeah, just like a chunk. Grace: in their own right. Marissa: Right. But yeah, I was like, that's that's really pretty. Grace: Yeah. Marissa: Some even, on another note, some report finding cremated remains in the pool and bride's pool. Which, Grace: Mm. Marissa: given the beauty of the location, it does seem like a nice final resting place, so that could be normal, but might not be entirely legal. The walk to the Bridespool is easy if you'd like to visit. There is a very popular trail titled the exact same: Bridespool Nature Trail. It's very easy of a walk, and you can actually hear the water rushing when you approach from the nearby road. The trail does cross a historic Bridespool stone bridge built in 1906. before this bridge was built, Travelers didn't have it

as easy. They had to wade through the streams, including wedding processions, just like that of the bride. And drownings in this area were Grace: Mm. Marissa: not uncommon. In old maps, you know, dating back from long ago, it was already called Bride's Pool on those maps. So it's been around for quite some time. And when they said Stone Bridge, I thought it was gonna be a really nice bridge. I think it's this. And Grace: It's a very narrow bridge with a small railing. Marissa: Yeah, and well they made it they called it Stone Bridge and I was just imagining Hawking Hill's Stone Bridge vibes, but this is a lot more industrial in its use and I can appreciate the I don't know what I can appreciate about it. The fact that they built it, because I couldn't build a bridge, so Grace: I d yeah, and I don't know if it's just the photo, but it looks like it I would be kinda scared to be on that bridge just because like if you're in the middle of those two beams then it's like I don't know, I feel like it could break. Marissa: You're right. I didn't realize how narrow it was. Grace: Hmm. Marissa: Sorry, I'm looking up it like separately on Google Images to make sure I'm not being led astray. Okay, no, that's the Grace: Yeah. Marissa: that's the bridge. Grace: I don't like I can't tell if it's just like the angle of the photo or what, but it just looks like a walkway. Marissa: It's a l yeah, it's a little wider from this different angle, but it's still pretty narrow here. I'm gonna add another photo. It's still pretty narrow, honestly. It's not even a full Grace: yeah. Marissa: Yeah, there's not rails on both sides. Grace: Definitely better than wading through the stream though and having to walk o on all of those big boulders. So Marissa: for sure. the cascade of the bride's full waterfall with the water spilling out when it's in full swing is described as reminiscent of a billowing wedding dress, and it kind of hauntingly links the nature delocation to the tragedy that occurred there long ago. The first documented sighting of the bride was in the late 1960s, when a group of teenagers on a night hike saw a woman in red by the pool. She was brushing her hair with a silver comb. And before vanishing, she looked up at them with hollow, sad eyes. These same sightings have continued into modern day, with the pool and trail being easy and popular spot to visit, just a short hike and drive from the nearby road. And that Bridespool Road is no ordinary road, but is actually known as one of the most infamous roads for accidents in all of Hong Kong. There have been multiple fatal and serious accidents that have occurred. The road surrounds lush mountainous jungle with wild slopes and dense greenery. And along that greenery of the roadside, you can actually see relics of accidents, like bumpers and engine parts. Though the area and those parts are being slowly taken back into the earth and overgrown with vegetation. It's pretty eerie and described as a memento mori of the area of accidents long past. And there's a lot. A lot, a lot, a lot of accident reports. I think a big chunk of my notes, I was like, I'm not gonna go into all these individual accidents. Also, I don't want to relate it to supernatural things, but every year, just so many accidents happening and a lot are deadly. And so while many attribute the deadly part of this road to the Bridespool legend, it can also come down to the geography of the spot with landslides and natural hazards frequently occurring in the area. In 2025, just last year, they actually had to temporarily shut the road down due to landslides. So water, rain, storms can be slick, it's on a curve, hazardous conditions can easily occur. So for the next bit of the story, that kind of closes the Bridespool legend, which is super well known throughout the region. And as mentioned, it's within the Plover Cove County Park. The park, though, isn't known just for the Bride's pool, but also for a variety of ghost villages throughout the park. Some people make a whole day of it, just visiting all the abandoned villages in this park. One in particular though. Has left locals and visitors alike scratching their head for a century. So the particular ghost village we're gonna be talking about is Solo Pung. And it's called a ghost village because it's abandoned, but that might not be the only reason. Solo pun is actually believed to be, despite its spooky nature, it's believed to have perfect fen shui because it's nestled in a valley with access to the sea. It also may be haunted, so there's that. Grace: Now I've heard that many a times, but I can never remember what it means. Marissa: Basically, it involves the layout of spaces and having a proper layout of things and the way things are oriented to help with, I feel like, promote promote like calmness and it should. allow things to flow well is how my poor interpretation and like how I understand it. When I just did a quick lookup, it says fen shui is a traditional Chinese practice of arranging spaces to harmonize the flow of energy and create balance between people and their environment. So basically it's really cool. And apparently fen comes from wind and shui comes from water. So it means wind water. Grace: Mm-hmm. Marissa: but The main time I hear Fen Shui, I think of Fen Shui when it comes to organizing rooms like inside homes, but it can be interpreted on a larger scale as well. but it's all about like energy flows and positioning, and it's just it's really cool. So I think, for example, like bad fen shui is having like your bed face the door, like your bedroom door. Like you shouldn't be able to like s I'm pretty sure like have it so that when you're opening that door your bed is like right there. Or maybe that's good Fen Shui, I don't remember. Let's look up bad Fen Shui. Grace: Yeah, I was just looking up Fenchway bed positions and layout. Marissa: Fen Shui examples. Grace: yeah. Yeah, you're like your feet are I don't get it. wait,

maybe I do. my gosh, my bedroom has bad fenceway because my headboard is against the same wall as the door. Marissa: you do have bad fen shui. I probably have bad fen shui though too, because my dresser's blocking the window because my room is too small. But no, it's it's really cool, just like Grace: Yeah, it's hard. Marissa: the idea of energies and and the placement of objects or even things. I guess if you even think of like trees and like how that impacts the flow and state of things. Grace: Hmm, interesting, I never knew. Marissa: Like my house probably has cursed feng shui because right when you open the front door, it like leads to the basement stairs. When I remember that was my first thought when I like we were like toward the house. We opened the door and I was like, you get used to it, but it's like Grace: Yeah. Kinda feel like you're just gonna fall down. No steps. Yeah. Marissa: No for real. Especially with how clumsy I am. It's not safe. So according to legend, when people enter this village their compasses actually stop working. Which is why the village is called Solo Pon. It roughly translates to locked compass. Grace: That's incredible. Marissa: It's pretty cool. Though, quick disclaimer, upon further research, some say and experts point out that the village was actually originally recorded in the Qing dynasty as So Nopun, meaning a valley basin surrounded by mountain ranges. When the British mapped the area in 1898, they misrecorded the Chinese characters into So Lopung, accidentally giving birth to the locked compass name. The change in the name. Grace: But is it true that? Marissa: A lot of people say it is, though some it's hit or miss with the compasses. A lot of people, though, not only say that their compasses have issues, but they also have issues with their phones and signals and similar. Also, though, this isn't a deep valley with heavy tree cover, so maybe that could be cause for the technology glitching. However, the park is pretty interesting in that The there's no one known reason why this particular village was abandoned. There's various spooky stories about the village's abandonment, with some saying a boat accident wiped out all of the villagers that were on their way to a wedding. And others, yeah, it's it Grace: It's always a wedding. Marissa: was kind of weird. I thought maybe they were talking about the bride's pool thing, but no, turns out completely different thing. Others suggest mysterious disappearances or an epidemic. Some say that the villagers disappeared overnight, leaving food on the tables, and that's pretty weird. Whether you believe the compass or not compass, the compass working or compass not working, people also report strange sensations and uneasy energies. There's also been some ghost sightings in the area as well, though it was hard for me to find any specific first hand encounters. At the end of the day, the ghost village may just be a ghost village and not be a ghostly village. Some attributing the decline of the area due to the remote location and many of the villagers leaving the area in the 70s and 80s, as young generations left the isolated area for city jobs and moved abroad. Regardless, though, it's I think always ominous and fun to see nature overtaking abandoned areas and villages, whether that's in a small rural village in Hong Kong or, you know, those pictures you see of Chernobyl now where you see the the nature taking back the area. Grace: Yeah, exactly. And in this photo you see how there's a whole tree, roots and all growing on top of this structure. It's beautiful. Marissa: It is. There's something, it's like haunting but super beautiful at the same time. It's kind of my favorite combination. So Grace: Yes. Marissa: whether you're super into dam engineering, bridles pool lore and waterfalls, or you like touring ghost villages, Plover Cove has it all. Yeah, are you ready to do a scare scale? Grace: Yeah, I was just trying to think of it. so you can pick what you wanna do, but I know what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna do the looking into the water and you see a different reflection than your own. One is calm and harmless. Like you look into the what the water and not even scared, not even startled. You're like, whatever. Five. Gives you a good creepy chill. You like look, gives you a little jump scare, but you're kinda like, and you're like playing with the reflection, maybe. and then ten, something that will haunt you and your dreams indefinitely. and I know where my answer will be. It will be a ten. I would be scared to look in at my reflection, I think moving forward, if I saw someone else's reflection looking back at me, I wouldn't like it at all. Marissa: I would hate it. I would also say a nine or a ten. I think it depends. Like I would probably just say, I made it up in my head or I got confused. But yeah, it would definitely haunt me. I would try and block it out as best I could. But that was the scariest part of the whole story for me. Grace: Yeah, me too. I just you see in the movies when that happens and like or like their reflection is the same but then it moves wrong. Mm mm. No. No. Marissa: I hate that. Yeah, I don't know what it I wonder what it is that that is so scary. Grace: Yeah. I don't know. It's just not what you expect. Marissa: What's the psychology behind that? But it really is the scariest part of a lot of horror movies for me. Like not the jump scares, but it's like you looking back and yeah, it being something else, or yeah, your reflections doing something that you're not. Like when Grace: Mm-hmm. Marissa: I'm thinking of, for example, is like hereditary, the scene where he's smiling back at himself. Ew. Disgusting. No thank you. Grace: Yeah. I'm right there with you. But otherwise, like I would say seeing or hearing a lady combing her hair it's not too scary. I mean unless the combing was really loud, that would be alarming. But maybe not scary. Marissa: She's like combing her hair so like loud and violent like so hard and loud that there's like blood pouring from her hair and she's like ripping out her hair in knots. I'd be scared. But if she's just like la Grace: Yeah. Marissa: di da combing her hair, I mean Grace: Mm-hmm. Or imagine you like walk by and the hair combing is so loud you just have to like put your hands over your ears. It's like please stop combing your hair Marissa: Somehow like thunders. yeah, comb your hair, let me know. We'll we'll do some research this week. Comb our hair and Grace: Yeah. I'm gonna do it right after this. Marissa: It's just seem so quiet, but okay, we'll see. Grace: The fact that it came up so many times too. Marissa: And all like almost every single story it was so strange. Well, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of Nature Obscura. Make sure to give us a follow on social media. We'll post pictures of Bride's pool as well as some of the really awesome animals Grace talked about. And let us know. Do you think combing your hair is loud? What would what do you think about this? This is so strange. Grace: Yeah, what would be your reaction if you saw someone else looking at you through your reflection in a pool? Wouldn't you be scared? What's your scare scale? Marissa: Write in, let us know nature obscure pod at gmail dot com. Grace: Stay obscure, Earthlings. Marissa: Transmission ending.