Born and bred in Penang, I had never trekked up to Penang Hill until some time in the early 90s. During that time, some of my nieces were in high school / universities; and to unwind and relax, they would walk up to Penang Hill (via way of the tarred road located just outside the Botanical Garden). One weekend when I was back in Penang I decided to join them.
I spent many of my weekends feeding the mosquitoes and leeches in our local jungles; getting myself dirty caving; chilling and enjoying natural massage at the many beautiful and spectacular waterfalls.
There were occasions when I had ‘million-star’ instead of 5-star accommodation, where the sky was the ceiling, and hard ground, my bed.
My first test of serious trekking was when I trekked up Mt Kinabalu in 1993. Perhaps, for the first time ever, I felt a sense of achievement – yes, I succeeded in scaling the mountain and stood proudly atop the summit of Malaysia’s highest mountain.
At the summit of Mt Kinabalu (4,101m)
A re-survey in 1997 re-established the height as 4,095m
After a lapse of more than ten years, I went caving recently when a friend invited me to join her and some friends to the Dark Cave in Batu Caves. It was a very interesting and shall I say, challenging experience. It was educational too. Perhaps, it (caving) would be my renewed hobby before my knees start to ‘creak’ louder and more often!
At the entrance to the cave, before the ‘fun’ starts(These photos were courtesy of Mr Chin M P,
an avid traveller / trekker / photographer)
Crawling, wriggling, sliding, twisting and turning toget through the small gap of the cave. The ground was
muddy and uneven and mind you, this is not the smallest
gap / opening and the path is not straight!
Tackling a very steep, slippery and narrow path
Real natural beauty (above and below)
After the ‘fun’Everyone came out unscathed and smiling
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