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Penang Hills and Trails - Relau Explorer 2 |
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This is one of a series of pages on walking the hills of Penang, click here for the index. This is a Grade 3 walk verging on the Grade 4 if you are a cissie. 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. IMPORTANT As of January 2024, the route south from Anjung Indah has been blocked by a new owner with a security fence backed up by razor wire. This is the second in a series of walks which build on each other as we explored the region between Anjung Indah and Relau. It would be sensible to read the first report before this one as it assumes some existing familiarity with the area. The final two reports are based on the first two. Two days earlier at Yuehong's instigation, we had had a very successful initial investigation of the area below the Anjung Indah masts, always allowing for the 'thud and blunder' element which wasted the best part of an hour and a half. Today we went back for 'more', judge for yourself whether it was as successful or not, but we had a whale of time. We took a 502 bus most of the way up to Anjung Indah and walked back to a concrete road above our usual starting point which had always tempted me (at km 5.3). It's easy to miss but it turned out to be pure gold. The concrete didn't last very long, but at the first hut someone had started to blast a road up the hill, it looked inviting.
When it began to fade we cut to the right where not only did we find a great view we found a concrete path above what was a familiar house on the normal concrete road up. When the path died, there was an inviting ridge path which continued upwards. And when that finished. we entered an area which Yuehong assures me is full of Dragon Fruit (Pittaya), to me it looks some out of place cactus plant. Personally, I think they look and taste like overpriced beetroot and stain as badly, but Yuehong and the Malaysians adore them.
All good things come to an end and we were faced with some young rubber. Would Yuehong chicken out and go down to a hut? Not a chance and quite right too as there was a good path out and that was our regular concrete road coming up below.
This was great news to us as we had almost totally avoided the new concrete road which offers an unrelenting baking hot climb. We just had to remember to keep left at the next junction and go up to my personal favourite house and on up the concrete trail to the ridge. We had probably knocked the best part of 15 minutes off the climb with the new route.
We went down through the rubber to the birds' nest factory and turned left. I had forgotten what a pleasant concrete road down it was.
I ignored two trails to the left, one an incomplete road and another a concrete path (ultimately this would prove to be the right choice, see the Relau Explorer 3 report) as I had identified a concrete road as being worthy of investigation. Suffice to sat it was not worth the effort. So not wanting to go back up we continued down noting that the key vegetable patch we had visited two days earlier was on the next ridge.
We turned left at the next familiar junction and when we came to the first house went down beside it to the left and joined the concrete path below which we had used before. Basically, you have to resist all temptation to go on down and use the concrete path which Yuehong is standing on back up.
It's a great path, shady with a gentle climb, just remember to keep right at the only junction of any significance.
In no time we were back at the hut in the developing vegetable garden. We could have gone on into familiar territory but it was not yet 14.00 and Yuehong knew how interested I was in the cultivated area up the ridge albeit there was some 'interesting' vegetation in between. "Don't worry" she said "I'll come up there with you." I think I said "Are you sure?" to cover myself and together we vanished into what might once have been rubber terraces but was now in effect secondary jungle, I demanded one 'smiley' before we headed up...
Necessarily, I tend to 'run' ahead in such terrain but, tell the truth, I had trouble getting far enough ahead to record my athletic schoolgirl in action. Again. to be honest, parts of it were bloody awful but in less than half an hour we were out and sitting on a rock in a well maintained durian estate with a good path beside us.
No wonder someone had a big grin. The views were everything we could ask for. Leaving aside Bayan Baru and the bridges to the mainland, we could see down to the birds' nest factory of two days earlier, across to the Anjung Indah masts and also the other settlement which we had seen from below.
With electricity poles ahead, to me at least we were guaranteed a way out ahead. Madam, I confess, was feeling the climb and misinterpreted what lay ahead. Behind us were two paths which might just connect with the road to 'The Carpet' although possibly one would only go to the small mast on the ridge. They would have to wait for another day (covered in the Relau Explorer 3 report). We were actually firmly inside 'private property' and had a locked gate ahead which was readily negotiated, looking back we could see the small mast above the house where we had come from. All became clear when we saw the poles (the first was JTS 68 41) and saw trespass notices outside the next property, we were now back in the public domain.
I've never really fancied visiting Pulau Jerejak but I have to confess that it looked very attractive from here.
It's a lovely walk along the ridge, by now I was certain we could come out at Anjung Indah. To the right was the fenced off estate we had skirted two days earlier, to the left behind us was an open area used for fruit with two possible paths to explore. Frankly, this part of the Bukit Relau Permanent Reserve, cut off by Jalan Tun Sardon, is a complete write off, it's of no great area now and it has this concrete road and the masts occupying a large part of it. Who says that Penang Island is safe in the hands of those who are elected to administer it? There are no votes in conserving what makes it special in my book.
The situation is way beyond our control, we have to just enjoy what is special while we can. We were not in a hurry today, it was not yet 16.00, we waited half an hour for a 502 down to Balik Pulqu and relaxed until the 17.30 501 bus took us back to our own private idyll.
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