Penang Hills and Trails - Zig-Zag (to) Heaven
'Bao Tian Gong' Special Day

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

We did what was essentially this walk in reverse, albeit with significant diversions, in November 2016, see the Temple with the View Circular 2016 report.

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

With effect from 2022, the dead end concrete road described in the early part of the report has been completed. If you climb up it then you will rejoin the traditional concrete path to the temple. A description of this is given on another page - the link will open in a new tab.

The descent from the 'Temple with the View' looked very different in February 2024 as the rubber trees have all disappeared and the area has been replanted with durian and other fruit. However, the basic paths remain the same.

Every Chinese temple in Penang has its own special day, that for the 'Temple with the View' high above Balik Pulau ('Bao Tian Gong') fell on 24th February 2016 and we planned the hike described below accordingly. The plan was to use the new zig-zag path on the east side of the valley to gain access and to descend the even newer zig-zag path on the west side. The second part was always going to be easy because I had given it a test drive two days earlier, but the first part didn't entirely work out as planned.

We had our standard Balik Pulau start with the 501 bus from Teluk Bahang and stocked up on refreshments before heading out on the Air Itam hikers road. At the end of the valley (electricity pole NH 4 43), we turned left and then at pole NH 4 43 14 turned left again up a concrete road we had not used previously.

It seemed a good idea at the time, but somebody had forgotten to complete it and after a few zig-zags as Yuehong indicates, we needed another way up. We had climbed sufficiently that we didn't want to go back to the start. Fortunately on the right there was a durian estate with a concrete path and we clambered down to join it. For the time being, its origins remain a mystery but I have a fair idea of how to access it. Game on again.

(IMPORTANT - By December 2020, this transit has been blocked by the erection of a tall metal fence along the boundary. Historically, it's easy to get to from the road below, just as long as the large blue gate which guards the path is unlocked.)

IMPORTANT - The road has now been completed (2023) and going up it connects with the classic paths towards the Temple with the View. 

It was the path I was aiming for, we'd picked its zig-zags out from the hill opposite as being new, it wasn't the most professional we've used  and in due course sadly it also terminated, with the advice that its date of completion was 8th August 2015, auspicious for the Chinese but a pain in the backside for us. We weren't going back now and we carried on up what was best described as a seasonal path.

Not surprisingly that soon finished too and there was then the usual debate as to what to do next. Left and right were touted, left through the long grass won which was just as well as it led almost immediately to another concrete path. Fine except that we had hit it 5 metres before it finished. Fortunately, it turned out to be a short stub from another path. Where the downward path leads, I can only guess but prior knowledge suggests it will not go far.

It was 'any port in a storm' stuff and we were just happy to be climbing again properly. When we got to the ridge we were confronted with an electricity pole which read NH 2 75 2 24 5, now most of you would have no idea what this means but to us it told us that we were at the bottom of the brand new zig-zag below the Scared Heart Lady's house. If we needed any reminder there was also an earth mover at work.

The best I can say of this concrete monstrosity is that it does the job better than the route through the boulders to the left, we were happy to escape the sun and exit right at the top.

This took us along a flat wide more traditional 'road' until we came to the road to our destination at pole NH 2 9. Thereafter, any doubts we had about choosing the right day were dispelled as motorbike after motorbike came past us. I counted 36 but there were many more earlier arrivals and they continued to arrive afterwards.

There must have been the best part of 200 people present, the giant joss sticks were alight, smaller ones were available and the temple committee were receiving the donations which would fund the feast to come and the running expenses for the nest year or so.

When we arrived, there was a mountain of pre-cooked chickens and pork on the table which was then sliced up. Large pots were being prepared to boil noodles and vegetables. Since we had a bus to catch, we couldn't wait for the bean feast which was due to start at 15.00, there will be another similar event at the other Hakka temple over the hill on Sunday when the timing will suit us better.

We retreated back to pole NH 2 69 and turned left. The organisers had provided loud musical entertainment and the visiting Taiwanese singer could be heard for the next hour and a half as we descended on the other side of the hill. What she made of it all compared to her assumed normal gig in a local night club, I can only guess. At pole 69 7 1, we turned right into the rubber as I had done a couple of day earlier. Until recently the wide path had ended at a hut, but now it continued on downwards.

Maybe Yuehong's knees were complaining or maybe it was something I said, but the next part of the descent did not go well. It looked fine to me and I knew exactly where it came out but that counted for nothing. I just kept my mouth firmly shut.

I'm glad to say that the mood soon passed, it may have been something to do with the wide flat road through the rubber that joined with the regular 'Bukit Elvira Road' at pole HT BI 10.

After which we had plenty of time to walk down to Balik Pulau for traditional refreshment and the buses home. Job done in every sense although there were an awful lot of zig-zags along the way and we both caught the sun.

The path down represents yet another welcome alternative route to the 'Temple with the View', one no doubt we shall try in the opposite direction in the future. (See the Temple with the View Circular 2016 report.)