Penang Hills and Trails - The Pensioner's Stroll
Genting to Balik Pulau via Malihom, 'Fig Tree Hill' and The Carpet

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.

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

As of 2015, there are significant changes in the route which are recorded below in red, overall these probably make life a little easier (27th January 2015).

Since I celebrated receiving my UK state pension last August, here's a long walk on good paths throughout which could probably be done in a wheelchair if you could find someone to push you up the steep hills and apply the brakes going down. The start and finish points are even places where Rapid Penang's fleet of wheelchair friendly buses pass and can stop easily; note that if like us you're using buses then it must be done in the direction indicated - these bus stops are unofficial and impractical in the opposite directions. Actually, it's only a virtual hike because we haven't done it as such. It's been knocked up using three parts of routes which we have done before; a 'copy and paste' job with minor text edits - Yuehong does not carry several sets of clothes with her! It will be the last walk posted for a while as we are set to return to the UK after a very enjoyable 2½ months in early 2014, 'Deo Volente' we shall be more than happy to do it in practice next time we are in Penang.

Indeed, we did this walk in January 2015 and even allowing for some less than welcome developments, it proved to be every bit as enjoyable as anticipated.

From Balik Pulau take a 401 / 401E bus towards Bayan Lepas - the bus drivers coming the other way would not be able to stop at the Malihom turn which is on the left coming up just after the first viaduct, you'd be blind to miss all the signs.

The instructions for the first half of the walk are very simple "Simply climb the Malihom access road until...." Take care to keep left at the first two junctions and you will know you are on the right road if you pass this small Chinese shrine as it starts to climb.

After a while you will pass this house with a better than average view before coming to a fork, the left side is the Malihom access road, full of even more than averagely threatening signs. By all means read them but ignore them, turn left and follow the road up! 

Not far up you'll probably find the main gate closed but never mind, everything on less than 4 wheels uses the side gate. It's a stiff climb but well shaded and you don't have to go to the main property at the top. At the end of one of the zig-zags is an unmistakable marker. Your path onwards is behind Yuehong.

This is Durian country and when we were last here, the recent rains had brought the trees into flower in quantity.

Follow the path below Malihom on the hill top (above and to the left) until you cross a col and start descending. You shouldn't hurt anybody's sensibilities if you do as I have suggested. Thereafter it is just a question of following the trail down to the point where it becomes a road, this landmark is of course totally tasteless but is used for the industrial scale harvesting of swifts' nests. The road is well shaded.

Eventually after one junction where downhill is obviously to the right, (there is a Chinese temple not far to the left) you will find yourself at a newish Thai style Buddhist temple, Samnaksong. It's a good place to take a break.

Turn left at the bottom, this resort is now branded 'Fig Tree Hill'. Soon you will be at the bikers' resting place, on down follows the valley to  Sungai Ara (Jalan Kenari), but instead go left up the hill.

By 2015, the climb upwards had been significantly altered by a new concrete road to the right and associated clearance. This can be safely ignored, just keep left and ignore the new junction (right picture below) and take the original shown in the following section:

Just follow the 'main' road up (ignore a path to the right and two small roads to the left) until you get to this junction. It's possible to continue up the road to the left and over the top, but today take the right fork and just before the road becomes a motorbike trail at a small concrete bridge, take the left fork upwards.

This is mountain biker country, each one of the bends is numbered.

There are views of one of Penang's most recent landmark, the second bridge.

When you get to '12A', you are just below 'The Carpet' where the bikers gather to rest up and no doubt catch up on the world through their mobile phones. Turn sharp right, curve around and you will come out on the path to the left shown in the picture below. Go up the path in the middle (the road behind the camera goes down to Relau 'village').

Almost immediately you will come to another hut, turn right and follow the path to the ridge where you will find a concrete trail which you can follow down.

Opposite the birds' nest farm now take the (new) concrete trail that heads up into the rubber (the path described above had been abandoned by 2015).

This comes out on the ridge as before and you can go straight ahead downwards.

Unfortunately the last picture above was taken in 2013, just what you will find may be a little different... In early 2014, the lower parts were being replaced by a concrete road. In due course it will look rather better, I hope, more like the road out which is to the right at the main T junction. The walk finishes on Jalan Tun Sardon where there is a lay by perfectly positioned for a 502 bus heading for Balik Pulau. We don't recommend doing the walk in reverse as we have had only a 50% success rate getting buses to stop here going up. By 2015, naturally the concrete road had been completed.

It would easily make my 'Top Ten' list except that about 2/3 of it is included in two other entries there.