Penang Hills and Trails - Another Sungai Ara Figure of 8

This is one of a series of pages on walking the hills of Penang, click here for the index. This is a shorter than average and gentle Grade 2 walk. There is a sketch map at the bottom showing the route followed. 

Please visit my Penang buses page for information on accessing the starting point.

Yuehong is under orders from our doctor in Penang to scale back her hiking as her right knee is suffering from osteoarthritis. So we've had a diet of gentler walks capped at no more than 4 hours 'net'. Today we were again on the north side of the Sungai Ara valley, no doubt Mavis would have parked herself here except that 5 days before it had been Mavis Mk 2. We had a short delay as it had decided to rain as soon as we drove up but it soon eased. It is a universal truth that putting on a plastic raincoat is the best way to get it to stop raining.

The gate was not the anticipated threat to progress, it was in pieces. Wearing a raincoat in Penang in March is akin to living in a pressure cooker and even before we joined the old path, it had vanished back into the bag.

As we turned left at the only junction, I had no recollection of doing this path before but as it's on my map probably we had. We climbed past a small shelter.

Just above it was what appeared to be the orchard HQ from where no doubt, the recent application of herbicide had been directed. Beyond, the path climbed further.

The gradient is very gentle and the climb consisted of a series of zig-zags from one end of the property to the other, ending where we met the four year old road at the top.

This time someone had left the gate open for us and we joined the concrete road which we have followed many times in the past.

The first of several junctions had gained seasonal durian nets since I was last here, it leads to the Buddhist meeting hall and we would return to it later. For now we continued on the 'main road' and as the sun finally came out we passed some attractively coloured garden plants.

At the top of the climb is a birds' nest factory and here we turned right, Yuehong is successfully waving her sticks as the cowardly dogs. We climbed up through the unlocked gate.

The first orchard is mature, the second less so with its second class shrine although there were plenty of fruits on the young durian trees.

We went through a shelter and down to a junction. Ahead was a complete unknown, I gave my Captain Oates speech ("I may be gone some time") and left Yuehong sitting under a tree.

The path soon turned left which was not unwelcome as the hillside below is 'wild', but it did not go much further. Normally, I view a dead end path as a challenge but I was very willing to make an exception in this case.

We followed the other path round the contour to the next orchard where we took a break as we had before coming the other way.

With the rain clearing the pollution we had a fair view of both Pulau Jerejak and also the second crossing which is almost as long as the name of the royal gentleman it bears. The foreground needs no comment from me, such is the regard that the state government has for its hill that much of it was badly flooded in the November storm, something the people who have the misfortune to live here had better get used to because it won't be the last time it happens.

We walked down along the border between orchards past the Danish Briyani House.

We passed the Buddhist meeting hall on the left, rounded the bamboo and returned to the main road.

We turned left and went back to the crossroads and turned right onto what remains one of my favourite sections in this area despite the erection of ugly fences.

Once we got into more traditionally defined orchards, we took the opportunity to check out a concrete path on the left we have always flashed past. Not surprisingly as I knew no exit point below, it was a dead end, beyond the shelter, old rubber covered the hillside.

Never mind. it's a lovely walk down and very 'knee friendly'. We came out just above the mountain bikers' shelter on the valley road, turned left and quite soon we were reunited with Mavis.

Yuehong was very pleased despite the warm humid conditions as we had managed over 6km in just under 3 hours. I was actually rather tired as my ankles had been trampled all over by a rove beetle overnight and I hadn't got much sleep. That is one thing I won't miss when we go home to the UK next week. However, I will miss the YoYo in Sungai Ara which represents a traditional Penang coffee shop of the best kind.

It was a pleasant outing but, if my itchy ankles can take it, I do think I need something a little more challenging to trim down my Tiger belly...