I first climbed Penang Hill with my classmates many years ago using the orchard and jungle trail at Air Itam. Our guide was our teacher who hailed from Penang and the hike was really an eye opener for us from a small town. I could still remember we met a group of students from Ipoh-Convent on the way up the hill but we did not communicate much because we could only converse in broken English while they could not converse in Mandarin.
Recently I came across a facebook posting of a friend on her hiking trip up Penang Hill and the pictures posted were really intriguing. My desire to scale Penang hill since few years ago was reignited and plan for a hiking trip was immediately mooted after discussion with my usual excursion group. With the help of our friends from Penang we finally managed to put our hiking trip into action.
There are many jungle trails leading to the peak of Penang Hill. Two in Air Itam while three at Penang Botanical Garden. One of the trail at Air Itam passes through private orchard while the other one can be assessed from Air Itam Dam. The three routes from Botanical garden are Moon Gate trail which consists of steep steps, tarred road and a jungle trail starting from inside the Botanical garden. After detailed consideration we decided to scale the Hill from Air Itam starting from a Chinese temple and going through some private orchards. Its route runs almost parallel to the funicular railway track and there will be more interesting spots on the way. We will take funicular train down the hill after the hike to avoid physical exhaustion and knee injury. As it is a Sunday and school holiday, we have to buy our train ticket early. We reached the ticket counter before 7:00 am which is time for ticket sale but there were already a big crowd queuing at the counter. Luckily we did not take too long to get our ticket which is RM10 per adult for two ways.
We parked our car by the roadside near a Chinese temple, " Tian Kong Tang" which is very near to our hiking trail. There are thirteen people in our hiking group and by the time we started the ascend it was almost 8:00 am. The beginning part of the route is made up of tar road with scattered houses on both sides of the road.
We passed by a few temples including a big Buddhist temple with many bell-shaped towers or stupa spread over its compound. This magnificent temple could easily be mistaken as a temple in Thailand or Tibet. After the tar road we entered the earthen trail on private orchard with fruit trees and vegetable plots. When we almost reached the first intermediate train station called Claremont Station, we came to a resting area with toilet. We rested as most of the hikers did before we proceed further. Not far from the rest area, we bought a kg of local fruit called golden fruit which we have never tried before. It is quite dear, RM18 per kilogram but the flesh is tender and sweet, just ideal to replenish our depleted energy after climbing for an hour.
The most scenic part of the route is the area around the middle station where we could snap beautiful picture of the arched-shaped railway bridge. We waited for the funicular train to pass by before we snapped the photo. It is just short wait as the train passes through every 10 to 20 minutes.
The final part of the trail is the most difficult as it is a jungle trail with steep ascend. We had to climb up the slope by pulling the rope at the side of the trail. All of us managed to reach the peak after two and the half hours. There were many tourists and hikers at the peak mostly came up by funicular train.
After changing our shirt which was soaking wet , we proceeded to the many eating stalls offering Penang delicacies. The most recommended cold dish is of course the famous ice-cream mixed with local fruits. Yeah, the the ice-cream with fruits was really delicious. As it is near noon we also took our lunch there where there are many varieties of Penang food either noodle or rice to choose from.
After our our meals, we walked around the peak to enjoy the cool air and lush green landscape. There are many new additions to the hill to attract tourists such as 360 degree panorama where we could have a panoramic view of the hills and Georgetown in 360 degree elevated platform. We did not enter because the entrance fee of RM 50 per adult was too expensive. We spent about an hour or so at the peak before we proceeded to the upper station to take the funicular train down the hill. The train was very crowded but the descend was just a brisk 5 minutes journey.
Everyone of us seemed to enjoy the hiking trip and some had even suggested a more challenging hiking trip from Air Itam to Balik Pulau in our next hiking trip to Penang.
There are many jungle trails leading to the peak of Penang Hill. Two in Air Itam while three at Penang Botanical Garden. One of the trail at Air Itam passes through private orchard while the other one can be assessed from Air Itam Dam. The three routes from Botanical garden are Moon Gate trail which consists of steep steps, tarred road and a jungle trail starting from inside the Botanical garden. After detailed consideration we decided to scale the Hill from Air Itam starting from a Chinese temple and going through some private orchards. Its route runs almost parallel to the funicular railway track and there will be more interesting spots on the way. We will take funicular train down the hill after the hike to avoid physical exhaustion and knee injury. As it is a Sunday and school holiday, we have to buy our train ticket early. We reached the ticket counter before 7:00 am which is time for ticket sale but there were already a big crowd queuing at the counter. Luckily we did not take too long to get our ticket which is RM10 per adult for two ways.
We parked our car by the roadside near a Chinese temple, " Tian Kong Tang" which is very near to our hiking trail. There are thirteen people in our hiking group and by the time we started the ascend it was almost 8:00 am. The beginning part of the route is made up of tar road with scattered houses on both sides of the road.
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| Bat-cave Tua Pek Kong |
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| The whole Penang Bridge is in view at this very spot |
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| Buddhist temple's stupa |
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| Resting place with toilet |
The most scenic part of the route is the area around the middle station where we could snap beautiful picture of the arched-shaped railway bridge. We waited for the funicular train to pass by before we snapped the photo. It is just short wait as the train passes through every 10 to 20 minutes.
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| a very steep climb |
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| meandering narrow concrete path |
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| The only waterfall along the trail |
The final part of the trail is the most difficult as it is a jungle trail with steep ascend. We had to climb up the slope by pulling the rope at the side of the trail. All of us managed to reach the peak after two and the half hours. There were many tourists and hikers at the peak mostly came up by funicular train.
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| We love Penang Hill |
After changing our shirt which was soaking wet , we proceeded to the many eating stalls offering Penang delicacies. The most recommended cold dish is of course the famous ice-cream mixed with local fruits. Yeah, the the ice-cream with fruits was really delicious. As it is near noon we also took our lunch there where there are many varieties of Penang food either noodle or rice to choose from.
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| The must try famous Ice-cream mixed with fruits |
After our our meals, we walked around the peak to enjoy the cool air and lush green landscape. There are many new additions to the hill to attract tourists such as 360 degree panorama where we could have a panoramic view of the hills and Georgetown in 360 degree elevated platform. We did not enter because the entrance fee of RM 50 per adult was too expensive. We spent about an hour or so at the peak before we proceeded to the upper station to take the funicular train down the hill. The train was very crowded but the descend was just a brisk 5 minutes journey.
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| Thanks to Miss Ch'ng and her husband-and-wife friends for being our guide and photographer |
Everyone of us seemed to enjoy the hiking trip and some had even suggested a more challenging hiking trip from Air Itam to Balik Pulau in our next hiking trip to Penang.
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