A Day Trip to Penang Hill & My Scary Encounter…

One of the main things to do in Penang is to take a day trip to Penang Hill. Scott and I went with two of our Australian friends, Brenton and Christine, whom we’d previously met in Thailand. Penang Hill is definitely worth a visit if for nothing else, its beautiful nature. If I had to describe our visit to Penang Hill in two words it would be peaceful and eventful.

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The main lesson I learned from our visit to Penang Hill was sometimes staying on the beaten path is the best option.

Let me explain…

What is Penang Hill?

Penang Hill is a group of 10 peaks located in the Air Itam area on Penang Island in Malaysia. It is also known as Bukit Bendera in Malay so if you are wondering where is Bukit Bendera, it’s the same as Penang Hill.

Penang Hill is full of breathtaking views, flora, fauna, rainforest, wildlife and history of the British colonial rule. In the 18th Century, Penang Hill was a lookout point to oversee the port and any incoming vessels to Penang Island. Penang Hill is the oldest British hill station in South East Asia.

How to Get to Penang Hill

My best advice for how to get to Penang Hill from Georgetown, or anywhere in Penang actually, is to use the Grab app. It is by far the most useful thing I had in Malaysia because it is reliable, cheap, digital and safe. I would highly recommend downloading the Grab app and if you use my referral code, we will both get discounts or a free ride on the app! My referral code is: GRABHDTRAVELS.

The Grab ride from Georgetown to Lower Hill Station cost 13 MYR one-way and took around 20 minutes to get there. Lower Hill Station is the closest station you can use to get to Penang Hill which reaches an elevation of 2723 feet! Being so high up, it is a much cooler temperature too.

At time of writing this Penang Hill blog: 5 MYR = £1.

You can opt to hike to Penang Hill from Penang Hill Lower Hill Station and there are many routes you can follow. They are listed on the official website here.

Instead of hiking from Penang Hill Lower Hill Station, you can use the Funicular Railway which is an experience on its own and what we did.

There are two lanes to queue for the funicular railway. The normal lane Penang Hill ticket price (2019) costs 30 MYR and the fast lane (to skip the queue) costs 40 MYR. The Penang Hill train waiting time was 10 minutes in the normal lane before boarding the ride.

While we were queuing, 3 out of 4 of us picked up a map: in Chinese, Arabic and Malay. This was probably a hint for the event to come. Here is a digital view of the penang hill map.

If you prefer to visit with a tour, click here to book through GetYourGuide.

What is the Funicular Railway?

The Funicular Railway is sort of a train which is pulled up a steep railway to get from Penang Hill Lower Station to Upper Station and takes just 5 minutes! Penang Hill is the only hill station with a funicular railway in Malaysia. It was built in 1923 and from then it was the steepest tunnel in South East Asia. Until 2010, the railway was in two parts (the lower and upper) where passengers would have to change trains in the middle section and this took about 30 minutes plus the time to change trains. In comparison to the cool train ride I had it’s a reminder of how technology and time moves on.

Read Next: How to get from Kuala Lumpur to Penang

What to do on a Day Trip to Penang Hill

When you arrive at Upper Station, an army of people rush off the train and everyone seemed to go in the same direction so we went around the other way. You are greeted with greenery as soon as you step off and the sound of birds that stay with you until you’re back at Lower Station.

In the centre of the resort, you’ll find easy access to walk the loop around Penang Hill, find hiking trails, take pictures under heart arches and learn the history of Penang Hill.

For lookouts, you can go to the SkyDeck or SkyWalk for 180 degrees views of Penang and hopefully it’s a clear day to make the most of your views.  There is also Love Lock bridge filled with locks on the side and an impressive sight over the rainforest.

There are also Penang Hill excursions available at an extra cost such as The Habitat, an education experience on a 360 degrees walk way surrounded by rainforest. There’s also a pavilion to experience the intensity of strong Earthquakes and Typhoons.

You can also walk up a few steps and see Sri Aruloli Thirumurugan, the Hindu temple, and Penang Hill Mosque.

There are a few cafes, restaurants and stalls to choose from if you wanted to take a break and reflect on your day before heading back. We decided to skip this and go for some food in Little India in Georgetown instead. We needed it!

Book Your Penang Hill Day Trip Here.

How long to spend at Penang Hill?

The best amount of time to spend at Penang Hill would be a day but an afternoon or just a morning should suffice.

Read Next: Best Food in Penang

Our Trek on Penang Hill

It all began when we had finished looking around the main area and wanted to walk the loop around Penang Hill. I believe the loop is about a 5km walk so the four of us were happy to walk amongst the oxygen-rich area for this length.

Saying the walk is peaceful doesn’t quite do it justice. It is such a calming atmosphere, surrounded by the serenity of the rainforest, that you are truly brought into the present moment. It was the best meditation I’ve ever had and it was unintentional. Along the loop, there are other tourists and cars with tourists but it’s not chaotic. People passing by don’t bother one another and it doesn’t interfere with the tranquil vibe.

The walk has a few turns but around every corner there is something to look at. The vast amount of flowers and plants is so impressive and so pretty! They all have information signs next to them to see what they are and the butterflies winding in and around them is lovely to watch.

Later in the trek we noticed the fascinating work of an army of small ants. The line of them was so long and when we looked closely, they were all carrying bits, working together.

We found the heritage post box that has been around since Queen Victoria’s reign (1837-1901) as well as several heritage bungalows. The stillness of the area is so soothing, you can almost hear the silence. That is until the birds start chirping! I’ve never heard such loud birds anywhere before. It was as if they were all conversing with one another and at some points we compared it to a construction site from the noises they were making. They all seemed to be camouflaged amongst the trees until they flew past us on the walkway. Then it would all go still again.

Next up were the Dusky Leaf Monkeys! We spotted about 10 of them along our route, leaping between the trees, climbing branches and just sat staring down at us. The funniest part was when one started peeing and that was our queue to walk on.

It All Went Down Hill..

We’d passed ‘Monkey Cup’, a small cafe just off the trail about 30 minutes before, when we suddenly realised that we’d been alone on the path for quite some time. There was literally no one else around, no cars, tourists or guides and suddenly the perfect silence felt a bit eerie.

We made the decision to turn back on ourselves instead of walking further into the unknown. As soon as we made this choice, someone was driving toward us on a motorbike so we flagged him down and asked if further on was the way back to Penang Hill Upper Station. He immediately replied with ‘you cannot be here, it is a military base.’ 

The look on our faces must have been a picture because in sync, we all turned on our heels, knowing we needed to get back on the beaten path, pronto!

Quickly walking back toward Monkey Cup, we started noticing things we hadn’t previously. There were a few, in very obscure places and mostly out of immediate sight, signs saying ‘dilarang masuk’. Translated into English, this means no entry. And after a google search, is apparently the name of a horror movie. Ah, great.

But the scariest moment was coming across a metal, pink sign covered by a few leaves that had two people on it. One had their hands behind their head and the other had a gun pointing to them. In this moment, my heart sank and I walked away as fast as I possibly could. This is where I realised in a survival situation with ‘fight or flight’, I am most definitely flight. I was out of there.

The juxtaposition of the peaceful stroll and then being thrown into the scared state at a military base was a contrast I don’t need to happen again.

Luckily, we weren’t too far away from Monkey Cup cafe and arrived there safely, back with other tourists and staff. We paid 5 MYR for a (well-needed) ride back to the Upper Station.

Only afterwards did we realise that ‘bypath A, B, C and D’ are the shortcut-ways to get to the Upper Station. Tip: Follow other tourists and try to stay on the map’s paths.

For ease of mind, book your Penang Hill trip with a trusted tour group with Get Your Guide here so you don’t end up with a scary encounter like I did! Or try this tour with Klook.

Looking back, I think we would have been okay because there wouldn’t be serious danger in such close proximity to a highly-touristic area. At the time though, it was obviously scary and panic was a natural reaction to that situation.

Check our Brenton and Christine’s vlog about Penang on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8pBx8o3cXI.

Where to Stay in Penang

I’d recommend staying in Georgetown, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We stayed there for a week and it was a lovely area.

To get to Penang Hill from Georgetown takes about 20 minutes in a Grab/taxi.

I use booking.com to book all of my accommodation. Use the booking.com search box below to book a place to stay in Penang!

Booking.com

Read More on Malaysia:

• 3 Weeks in Malaysia Itinerary
• Get from KL to Penang
• Friends Themed Hostel in KL
• Wildlife Safari in Malaysian Borneo
• Sandakan Travel Guide
• 48 Hours in Kuala Lumpur Guide
• Why I Love Malaysia

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