Penang Hills and Trails - Sungai Rusa Circular
Double Delight

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 albeit with a short 'off piste' section.

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

The myth that the path up from Sungai Rusa did not connect at all with those above Titi Kerawang had been well and truly disproved in early 2017. Today, as part of my continuing attempt to walk in every area between Pantai Acheh and Pulau Betong, we would do a circular route based on Sungai Rusa. It's not a place where we would have chosen to finish in the past as there appears to be nowhere there we would wish to dine. With Mavis, of course, that was no longer an issue. The first 500 metres is flat and just perfect for getting warmed up.

The main climb itself maybe used to be a challenge, but not any more. It's basically old rubber and the slope is such that it's never been converted properly to fruit.

The 'house on the hill' lies off the climb and the path on is not much used, probably even less now the concrete culvert has failed.

Never mind, we've been this way many time and knew to turn right on to the wide path and then left when we met the concrete road that comes over from the dreaded Botanica development area.

When the road finishes shortly after, we carried on into the rubber estate which must be one of the largest in Penang.

A year ago, it was being worked but we knew from an earlier visit on this trip that it was lying fallow. That meant trees left fallen...

... and gingers growing across the path. For the time being it's still easy to reach the end of the path.

We have continued further up, but toady we took the east overgrown terrace onwards and then climbed into another one as we reached the estate boundary.

Stepping across a small vegetable patch we found ourselves looking down at the top of another concrete path. I don't think Yuehong was too surprised, even if she wasn't expecting it, then it has happened far too often before fr it to be a mere coincidence. This was as high as we would go and the rest of the hike would be totally straightforward.

Although this area was totally rubber until quite recently, it's being converted to fruit and it's been managed extremely well so that there is none of the devastation seen elsewhere. Basically, the only rubbish is the unwanted rubber and that is being gathered and burned. 

It was time for lunch, fruit for Yuehong and cake and ale for me. This must have been a lovely house once, it even had mains electricity but with a proper concrete road to ship out the fruit it's surplus to requirements.

Ahead down the road we could see the 'Two Tigers' viewpoint which we had visited two days earlier.

I think Yuehong felt that I wasn't trying hard enough to be innovative. "How about this path?" she asked. No problem, it would clearly lead down to the familiar hut below.

Below it is a very civilised concrete path that zig-zags all the way down to Sungai Rusa.

Yuehong was on 'durian alert' as we had enjoyed a very tasty windfall in this area a few weeks ago. She was not disappointed, although the mini-season was coming to an end the gods smiled on us and we were gifted not one but two perfect specimens. So perfect, in fact, that we begged for no more otherwise we would have had trouble finishing our dinner.

Most often we turn right at this house and head past the falls to the round-the-island road below Titi Kerawang.

Today we carried straight on down through the orchard noting the view of Sungai Rusa. which, as a largely Malay kampung, has resisted the siren call of the developers. That's the school in the middle and the mosque to the right.

On the way down, we solved a minor mystery. We had seen a reference to 77 Durian Hill on our Bukit Gemuruh walks, it seems this was the place. I have been told that in Beijing a single segment of a classic Penang durian will sell for the equivalent of at least MYR 12. How much of this actually reaches the grower I don't know, in the scheme of things it won't be a high percentage but it is certainly feeding back into local prices. All that was needed now was to skip round the gate and walk along the side of the school back to Mavis.

We had our regular visit to the Magic Tiger Tree and our favourite restaurant in Sungai Pinang to look forward to. Despite it being the New Year's day public holiday, Batu Ferringhi was quiet, the Malaysian visitors had all gone home as the new school year would now start. Overweight Asians will be replaced by overweight Europeans.