Penang Hill
This morning we decided we’d head to Penang Hill. We thought a week day would be a better option and hopefully not as busy as the weekends.
We had our breakfast and headed out just after 10 am via Grab to Penang Hill. The cab driver we had was a chatty guy and we enjoyed our 20 minute drive with him. He did tell us that it was very last minute but the government announced yesterday that today (Monday) would be a holiday. Our cabby said some government offices were closed and some people had taken the day off but many were working because of the short notice about the holiday. We had some concerns what that would mean for long lineups at Penang Hill. Thankfully when we arrived the ticket line up was quite short and once Gary had the tickets we only had a short wait to catch the funicular up the hill. Even better we got directed to the front of the funicular and although we were standing had prime spots to watch our trip up the hill. It’s a little disconcerting how quick the funicular goes up the hill. You watch the cables and wheels/pulleys that bounce around and you wonder if there is an accident just waiting to happen. We were at the top in about 5 minutes.
Once everyone disperses at the top of the hill the crowds seems very manageable. There are so many areas and trails you can take that everyone kind of spreads out and disappears. We took some photos of the Georgetown skyline and enjoyed the view. Although it had rained first thing this morning by the time we arrived it had cleared and our view was quite good. The peak of Penang hill is 833 metres, the viewing point was somewhat less at 712 metres.
We decided to have a bite to eat before we headed to The Habitat a park on Penang Hill that has suspended walkways and trails through the rainforest. We barely made it to the restaurant and it started spitting rain again. We shared a pizza and had a couple of cold soda water. About the time we finished it was raining fairly heavy so we waited a few minutes and it eased off. Good thing we brought our trusty umbrellas. We felt like Mary Poppins, snapping them open and closed again as soon as the rain let up!
It was a short walk from the restaurant to The Habitat Penang Hill. The Habitat Website The park offers an authentic and diverse experience of the rainforest. The park sits on the fringes of a forest reserve protected since 1911 and consists of a 1.6 km nature trail that was built by the British East India Company in the early 1800s. There are breath taking views of Penang and surrounding areas atop the 13-meter high Curtis Crest Tree Top Walk, the highest public viewing point on Penang island, 800 meters above sea-level.
We stood and watched Dusky Leaf Langurs (monkeys) eating leaves which was followed by the monkey sitting on the tree with his back to us – taking a poop. Gasp!
Did you click on the video above to see the Dusky Leaf Langurs?
The Habitat Park also features the Langur Way Canopy Walk, the longest two-span stressed ribbon bridge in the world and the only one that sits within a pristine rainforest.
The Habitat is one of our favourite spots and was part of the reason we came back to Penang. Several hours later we felt like we had covered all the trails, walkways and sights and we headed for the funicular to take us back down the hill.
The Curtis Crest Tree Top Walk is a 13 meters highest public viewing platform located on the plateau just above the Mid-Point Rest Area and Museum. In the 1890s this plateau was used as one of the first English tennis courts in Malaysia by people holidaying on the hill.
Not far from Penang Hill is the Kek Lok Si Chinese Temple. It is the largest Buddhist temple in Malaysia and is also an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhists from Hong Kong, the Philippines, Singapore and other countries in Southeast Asia. The entire complex of temples was built over a period from 1890 to 1930. We caught a Grab there.
The temple and surrounding building are spread out over a steep hillside. We started walking up the winding driveway to the temple. It started raining again and walking became slightly treacherous as there are many tiled walkways and staircases that become like skating ice when wet! We made it up to the main temple and had a look around. There are a number of other smaller buildings/shrines or temples. The colourful buildings and beautiful landscaping are something to see. We finally found a funicular station and bought a ticket to the 36.57-metre-tall (120 ft) bronze statue of Guanyin (Kuan Yin), the Goddess of Mercy. By then it was almost 4:30 and we were fading fast. We caught the funicular back down and then started to find our way back. We noticed a buggy and inquired and you could take it to another funicular station that then took you down to to base of the hill to the main parking lot. We opted to pay for the buggy ride and another funicular ride rather than spend another half hour or more walking back down the steep hillside. Besides, we weren’t confident that we wouldn’t get lost in the maze on our way down.
We headed back to the hotel where we dropped our stuff off and headed out for supper. We ended up back at Holy Guacamole again. On the way home we picked up more water and beer to restock our hotel room fridge. It’s important to stay hydrated!
We walked 11.1 KM and up 35 floors. We definitely got our exercise today.