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Penang Hills and Trails - Stay Calm and Eat
Kangkung |
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This is part 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. Please visit my Penang buses page for information on accessing the starting point. EveryTrail carries a report -
Never mind the stick looks like an assault rifle, it's a great route indicator, after a left at a Y, the first two major junctions require a right and a left and then it's straightforward. We'd both enjoyed a very good UK Christmas and these walks are very necessary to get us both back into shape.
Knowing the route, in almost no time we were into the vegetable gardens, behind Yuehong is an area of wild ginger and this is a reminder that the narrow trail off after the small bridge leads up to the upper Nanshan gardens and more walks.
We followed the contour hugging path until we came to a second vegetable growing area, the view was necessarily a little hazy as it's Penang's short dry season.
We found a small shed where the only inhabitant was a clear indication that the gardens are no longer tended by Malaysian Chinese, outside was undoubtedly a marvelous fruit tree just finishing its flowering, probably a mangosteen.
As before the motorbike trail came to an end looking out over more vegetables. Fortunately, the gardeners were at home and I had no difficulty in gaining the vital information that there was a path down and a different way out. Ignore the trail to the left and go straight ahead down next to the small hut. From a distance they look as if they should be tea gardens, but it's a more humble crop.
At first the descent was gradual but was once we had followed the path to the right it became steeper and reverse gear was required. Note the newly delivered water pipes in response to the Malaysian Prime Minister's call for more cheap vegetables - www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-25730815.
At the bottom it might look like impenetrable jungle at first sight but actually it's the remains of a long abandoned rubber estate and a small stream which is probably now full of agrochemicals.
Just a small distance up we came upon a path behind a hut as expected. The path led (right) back into the trees and leaving Yuehong to recover from the descent, I checked it out. It followed the stream and soon after I came to a Y junction where I chose left which I knew would lead close to another cultivated area. However, the path more or less finished at temporary accommodation for rubber tappers.
Returning to the hut, I found I could have spared myself the effort as I was assured that the right fork would have taken me up to the top as I would have wished - something we shall check very soon. In fact it seems it was a Kangkung collection centre. So just like in the UK, Malaysians want cheap food but they don't want the guest workers who produce it, nothing new in the world then!
In fact, the hillside was covered in the stuff. It's ecological madness of course to cut down the hillside jungle and pump vast amounts of water to grow cheap vegetables which normally grow wild in low land drainage ditches. In the long term the Malaysians will pay a terrible price for what they are doing here. Successive Penang State governments of all persuasions are culpable for allowing uncontrolled vegetable cultivation in these environmentally sensitive areas. If they can't and won't do anything about the traffic which is tearing Penang to bits in front of their eyes, it's small wonder they ignore their 'back garden' which is out of most people's view. Ignorance is truly bliss in Penang these days.
When this house was put up maybe 50 years ago it would have been totally surrounded by trees, outside are signs of temporary prosperity with Chinese New Year ahead.
Soon the path widened so it could take 4 wheeled vehicles, it leads back up directly behind Yuehong, looking out we could see down towards Pulau Jerejak.
It was not unpleasant walking and soon we could hear the traffic below on Jalan Tun Sardon which is the 502 bus route to Balik Pulau, the turning is perhaps the widest of the few on this section of road.
We waited here for a bus (the distance post says it all) and as luck would have it we had the same driver as earlier in the day who kindly stopped in a less than perfect location. Coming from Air Itam there is a convenient layby to get off a couple of hundred metres further up. Having sweated off a few pounds, we promptly put most of it back in Balik Pulau before taking the 501 and 101 buses home. I was a good start to our 2014 hiking season.
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