Penang Hills and Trails - Permatang Damar Laut Loop
Short and Not so Sweet

This is part of a series of pages on walking the hills of Penang. Click here for the index. This is a Grade 3 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, you would need to take a 302 bus to the right angled bend on the map below and walk in..

Show this picture to the average weekend hiker in Penang and ask them where it is, then chances are that they will tell you that they have no idea even though the island in the background should be a massive clue.

Yes, and I would have struggled too until Peter van der Lans suggested that the Permatang Damar Laut area in the south east of the island was worth a visit. We made a preliminary visit walking along the coastal path and back before returning to do a loop over the top of Bukit Teluk Tempuyak Besar (211 metres). Yuehong was careful to dress almost identically the second time and the weather was mixed on both occasions, so the pictures are a composite of the two. Once upon a time, the coastal path went all the way round to Batu Maung which must have been a great walk but now there is a huge quarry that disfigures the area and even if it was possible, then no one in their right mind would want to continue, there's a YouTube video which explains all.

The starting point was near the Pondok Polis in Permatang Damar Laut. Mavis 2 is going back home shortly like us and has performed as faultlessly this time as it did last time around. The 'hillside road' starts behind this sign nearby.  

I don't know if ducks like sea water but if so this group would have been frustrated as the tide was out. Very soon we arrived at Pasir Ikan Mati, parts of it didn't smell too good but that was more to do with the rubbish in the area than dead fish.

Towards the end of the beach there is a concrete path on the left which we would return down later. Beyond, there is a flight of steps so fishermen have to leave their motorbikes here. Not surprisingly, the amount of rubbish drops dramatically as it seems that other than the fishermen, the locals don't greatly fancy exercise that involves any kind of climbing. 

Now that's a shame, as it's a lovely coastal path and there's a rest shed a little further on. For us, the highlight had to be this cluster of what look to be strangler figs, you can get an idea of their size from Yuehong, bottom left.

The path goes through a gap and immediately after is a small Chinese shrine. 

All the junctions to the right lead down to fishing positions, but this one on the left leads quickly to a small Tua Pek Kong temple. One of the signs here appeals to devotees not to bring figures unless they have checked with the managing committee that they are suitable, the old man being fussy whom he communes with.

I guess favoured fishing positions will depend on personal preferences and the state of the tide. Almost all of them are males but we did see one husband and wife pair. This boulder was covered in roots. 

It's a long time since rubber was tapped here but there are still a few old trees present. I did think that this path angling sharply back might be going up the hill but it turned out to run parallel to the lower path back to the temple. It's probably easier going and the markers suggest this is the preferred route for hikers.

We reached the last 'fishing path' and thereafter it seemed that there had been some cutting back by hikers as the path had become overgrown. There was 'blue string' here and it soon went uphill beyond this 'Hakka wall'. 

Just where it went we never found out as the climb turned into the usual 'old rubber freestyle'. We had to pick our way carefully as it was less clear than most and eventually we were confronted by large boulders. There was a sufficient gap to clamber up...

...and at the top we could see a clearer area ahead. Was that daylight beyond?

No such luck, checking afterwards we were barely half way up but the upper reaches were a little bit easier going and we had a ridge to follow for the next section. 

We knew we had to turn left at the top but almost immediately we had this formidable blockage to negotiate, Actually it was easily skirted to the left and we were into a wide open ridge.

Peter had reported this 'box of tricks' but I hadn't realised that there was a metal tower behind. Long out of use, my immediate thought was that it had provided a visual guide for incoming planes to the adjacent airport at night. 6 years ago on the other side of the flight path, we had spotted something similar in the foothills above Bayan Lepas but it seems I didn't attempt a photograph at the time.  

The ridge soon started to slope downwards which reduced Yuehong's speed so she missed a small group of 3 or 4 wild boar. There was just enough time to capture one of them before they all disappeared. This should be an isolated population as there is no easy direct access to the main forested areas of the island from here.

On down we went, passing the edge of a durian orchard on our right. We didn't investigate as we were running a little late and we needed to go down to the left. We were rapidly approaching the climb to Bukit Teluk Tempoyak Kecil, I called a halt and down we went into the rubber terraces. It was starting to look like a poor decision and Yuehong could sense it. However, both of us spotted good news below almost simultaneously. 

This was our path 'down and out'. Yuehong suggested finding out where it went but I was thirsty and it could wait for another day. Whoever has an orchard here cares enough to maintain a lock on this barrier. 

For whatever reason, the fruit orchards here are badly neglected but soon we were back at the coast.

Malaysia deserves credit for refusing entry to tarnished plastic for recycling but it has a long way to go in terms of sorting out its own rubbish particularly with regard to recycling. It's not a question of prejudice against a particular community, but each has its own issues which I could readily identify but only at the risk of being called a 'neo-colonialist' or similar.

So let's turn a blind eye to the smell and the piles of waste plastic and enjoy sights like this.

There are other available walks in this area but they will have to wait an occasion when, like this, we have need of a quiet day somewhere out of the ordinary.