Penang - Part 2. The Hill and Kek Lok Si

7th - 10 Mar 2012

Penang Hill is a short 6 km bus ride out of Georgetown and the top, reachable by funicular. It’s a slow, very steep ride in parts…kind of like my blog writing efforts of late. The track is just under 2 km long and in places the climb is nearly 28 degrees.

The views from just over 820 metres above sea level are quite nice, overlooking the channel between the island and mainland. And it’s COOL up there!

I’d forgot to mention that we’d caught up with our daughter, LJ and her partner, the day before and between the four of us we all guestimated the length of the bridge in the distance. None of came close to the its actual 13.5 km and none of us guessed that the second bridge under construction would be a whopping 24 km when completed, making it the 4th longest bridge in SE Asia.

Apart from the view, there’s not really much to do up there. Look at the Hindu temple and mini Mosque (which was closed), visit the Aviary & Ginger Garden, have a meal at one of the many eateries or go on the nature walk, if that’s your thing.

And there's always being grateful that times have changed and we hadn't made the trip up in one of these.

My ulterior motive for going was to visit the nearby Kek Lok Si temple, whose towering image of bodhisattva Guan Yin, can be seen on the way up to the hill’s base.

My memory might be a bit fuzzy, but I wasn’t alone ‘what the’-ing the bus fare for the quick ride from the hill to the temple, which cost more than it did to journey out from the city. And, no ticket?

Anyway, I did enjoy the architecture and views (perhaps not all of the steps) and again, another short trip in a funicular.

 The bronze image of bodhisattva Guan Yin stands
over 30 metres tall.

Penang regrets, not visiting the spice farm, exploring the island some more, releasing the turtles at Kek Lok Si temple and not sampling ais kacang.

Well, maybe not the latter.

Snap's other blog Chiang Mai Thai