penang hill

hear ye, hear ye! all ye who are coming to penang for holiday, you’ll have to miss out on one of penang’s well known tourist attraction – the penang hill.

the cable car of penang hill

i’m sure you have heard of the ‘accident’ that happened in penang hill where a new cable that was being installed plunged downhill. repair works on the hill started on 5 dec. and it was stated that the repairs would be completed by 11 dec. however on 9 dec. this ‘made in switzerland’ cable suddenly decided to take a break, and plunged, slided, rolled, whatever downhill. and now we get the news that the hill service may be disrupted for three months due to the damage to the wire rope clamp.

penang hill seems to be popular with visitors/tourists… but actually come to think of it, there’s nothing much to see/do in penang hill. oh well, if you love nature and enjoy a whiff of fresh air in a quiet, relaxing, cool surrounding, then it’s ok to visit it i guess. the last time i went there was more than 5 years ago, so i wouldn’t know of any changes there. the popular places there are the belluvue hotel, bird park and the food court, where there is a stall famous for its ice kacang and of course stalls selling souvenirs. penang hill being 830m above sea level command a lovely breathtaking view of penang island.

now that the cable car transportation to penang hill is closed, penang hill seems to be so quiet and deserted. in the meantime, penang consumers protection association (PCPA) president k. koris had called on the state government to revamp the entire Penang Hill funicular railway system and not change the parts on an ad hoc basis.

there are many bungalows in penang hill, spread through the middle station and the upper station. most of these bungalows are owned by corporate companies and there is one owned by the catholic church (la salle brothers, which is btw, said to be haunted!) and one by the methodist church. most of these bungalows are available for rent for schools or groups going for a conference or seminar. Well I had been to the Brother’s bungalow (located at middle station) but no, luck was not with me as I did not run into any ghost. 🙁
another bungalow i had been to was the ‘southview’ bungalow located at upper station. very nice and big bungalow.

penang hill beside the cable car as a means of transport, of course one can hike up penang hill too. there are many hiking trials leading to penang hill, the most famous is the ‘moongate’ near to the botanical gardens. there is also a jeep track just beside the botanical gardens.

i had hiked up the ‘moongate’ trail once long time ago,,, think just after i left school. since that was my first ever hike, i found it to be very tough indeed and… embarrasing to say this… i threw up twice during the hike, and of course i hold up the group too (about 8 of us – my brother, my sister and their friends). it was my first hike and my last hike!

anyway, later on, i did hike up penang hill but no more using hill. i used the jeep track next to botanical gardens. at that time, i was interested in hiking and believe it or not, i hiked up every sunday. it was fun hiking up with my best friend… but along the way every sunday, we managed to make a few friends who were also regular hikers. most of the time we hiked up to the halfway mark only, known as ‘no. 64’ (or was it 84?), where there is a rest-place with drinks and light snacks served.

well that was also long time ago… about 10 years ago. now if you ask me to hike up the jeep track, no way! me bones are getting heavy so i don’t think i’ll be able to hike anymore.

coming back to the cable car of penang hill, do you know there is always a long queue of people waiting to board the cable car during school holidays. i once (very long ago) waited with some of my KL friends for near an hour… and one of my friend nearly gave up waiting and urged us to not to go up penang hill anymore. the last i heard that now the queue is moving a bit faster now but hopefully as reported on 4 dec they are going to install a computerised ticketing system soon and that will certainly solve the problem of would be passengers tearing their hair apart waiting and waiting to buy tickets.

i usually don’t encourage my friends to visit penang hill as i said there is “nothing to see there”… though of course that is an understatement, as sure up there, there are things to see/do…. for first-timers. Anyway, to many people, the fact that there is ‘nothing to see’ and ‘nothing to do’ encourage them to go as they need to do nothing to get away from the hustle and bustle of city life and working life! it is because i had been there so often (when taking visitors around) that i usually say “nothing to see”. anyway, it seems that usually visitors will visit penang hill and the kek lok si temple on the same day because these two attractions are nearby to each other.

though i myself don’t really fancy penang hill but penang hill being a popular tourist attraction, i hope they will get to repair the cable system fast so that tourists will be able to visit it.