Penang Hill
On Penang Hill you can escape
the heat of tropical Georgetown. The hill, also known as Bukit Bendera,
is 830
meter high (2,750 foot) and it's much cooler than in the city below. It's about 3
degrees cooler than the places near the coast. It is a popular by the locals as well as tourists.
The station to get to the top is located in Air Itam. From Georgetown, take a Transit Link
bus No 1, or No 101, or Lim Seng bus No 91, or minibus No 21 from Lebuh
Chulia to the Air Itam Terminal. Penang Hill has a population of about
1000 locals.
The funicular at the railway
station takes you to the top and it will cost you RM4.50 for one way. The train leaves
the station at Air Itam at 6.30am and at half hourly intervals.
The funicular railway will not take you straight to the top, you have to
change trains halfway. in the meantime you'll pass several small station, where the local people
get off. There are are also some small hotels and guesthouses on this stretch. The
railway was built in 1923 and it takes about half an hour to the
top.
At the top of the hill, you'll find a tea kiosk, restaurants, souvenir
stalls, a mosque, Hindu temple, and the old Bellevue hotel. The summit
offers a magnificent panoramic view of Georgetown, the mainland and
Penang Bridge.
Penang Hill also has a 32 counder cannon. It can reach the target range of 1,000 feet. This cannon was probably transported from town to hill as an ornament or to warn the presence of pirates.
The best time to visit Penang
Hill is early morning, around nine o'clock. Later on there will be more
visitors and you have to queue up, before you can get on the train.
Well that was it.....for the most visitors! You want more?? Really??
Well............. you can go to the Canopy Walk at Penang
Hill. Walking from treetop till treetop is worth a visit, specially for
those, who haven't visit FRIM (near KL) or Taman Negara.
| The Canopy Walk is closed at the
moment due to the poor of the trees supporting the swinging bridge.
|
TIP
Of course you can enjoy the view at Penang Hill. A cool and refreshing
atmosphere will be giving to you, when you watch the panoramic view of
Georgetown and the Straits of Malacca. But there's something new!
The latest attraction on Penang Hill is the Canopy Walk. Even the local in
Georgetown don't know anything about it! You can't find that in any travel
guide.
1.7 km to the Canopy Walk |
4-wheel drive to the Canopy Walk |
I prefer to walk to the Canopy
Walk, because the road is nice to walk and, in the meantime, you can enjoy
every time another spectacular view on Penang, Penang Bridge or the
mainland. After a short walk of 1.7 km you will se on your left hand side
the Canopy Walk. You can't miss it.
If you don't want to walk, because you're old and tired, the you can buy
at the station a ticket for the 4-wheel drive, which will bring you in to
the Canopy Walk a minute.
The Canopy Walk is free of charge. You don't have to pay for it. For some
reason some attractions are totally free in Malaysia, like the Petronas
Towers.
You can stay as long as you want at the Canopy Walk. At every tree you can
take a rest. You have a wonderful view over the jungle and sometimes you
can see Georgetown. Enjoy the bird watching and tall he other animals you
can see from here. The tree top path is about 150 meters long.
De Canopy Walk
If you're ready you can walk
back to the Hill station, or you can take the 4-wheel drive to bring you
back. Maybe you want to do something else? Well, that's possible!
Buy a small bottle of water at one of those little restaurant at the
station. You follow the road over the top, which going down. The road has
two white lines at each side of the road. That's the right road. This road
lis going down (and fast) and leads you to the Botanical Garden. It's an
asphalt road and is 5,1 km. You can see that on the signs beside the road.
Don't worry about the traffic, because this road may only be used by the
people, who live on Bukit Bendera (Penang Hill).
Sometimes you'll see a motorbike or a jeep (Kembara). There are several
places, where you have a seat. In the weekend some Malaysians like to walk to
the top, which takes about 5 hours. We'd like to walk down, which
takes about 1
½ hour. Exactly halfway there's tea house. Here you can have a nice cup of tea.
When you see the barriers,
then you're at the Botanical Garden.
That's the end. There are several
restaurants, where you can have
a drink. On your left side is the entrance
of the Botanical Garden
and some taxi's are waiting to bring you to town. There's also a bus
stop. It's up to you, what to do.
Enjoying the view, while you're walking from
the top of Penang Hill
to the Botanical Garden
