Penang, Malaysia 2007 Hiking to Pantai Kerachut

The Pantai Kerachut trail is a little more difficult than the Monkey Beach trail. I only brought a half liter of water, I would have used 1 liter if I had it. The hike to the beach took me about an hour and 30 minutes with stops. The forest service estimates the hike at 3 hours.

This trail was virtually jungle all the way to Pantai Kerachut which is another beach. I think this beach is much nicer than Monkey Beach. You cut thrhough tropical forest over hills. the first kilometer of the hike was all up hill. I met a nice Indian couple when I got to the top that took a picture for me. I was soaked from sweat when I got to the rest point at the top of the climb. I met another couple on the way that were regulars of that hike. They told me to take the left hand trail when I got to the t in the trail. It is a more beautiful way to go. They were right. That route took me through extremely dense forest. The sky was obstructed by forest for most of that part of the trail. At one point I stopped to listen to the sounds around me and it felt like I was in Jurassic park. If you go to Penang and have one day to do anything you want, do this trail. The trip to the beach is beautiful as well as the beach. The next time I take this hike will bring at least 1 liter of water and maybe food so I can stay and relax a while.

Jungle trail. Notice the lack of light at 11:30 AM.

This is near the top of the first climb. This climb went straight up for about a kilometer. I was dripping wet by the time I got to the top.

This is the highest point of the hike. It's a great view of tropical forest. I needed the rest when I got to this point.

This is looking up through the forest canopy. Tall trees and blue sky.

This is video of the forest. The took the video for the forest sounds.

The beach at Pantai Kerachut. Beautiful, but no swimming. There are a lot of large, dangerous jellyfish.

Penang, Malaysia Dec 2007 Hiking to Monkey Beach

Before taking this trip I did a little research about stuff to do in Penang. I discovered that Penang has a national park with a couple of hiking trails.

On my first full day I decided to drive to the national park and check it out. I went fully prepared to do some hiking (water, shoes, and camera). There are 2 main hikes in the park, Monkey Beach and Pantai Kerchut. I decided to try the easier hike which is Monkey Beach. The Monkey Beach hike skirts the coast line all the way to Monkey Beach. The hike is estimated to take about 2 hours. I took a more aggressive pace and did it in an hour. The hike is mostly shaded since it is all forest next to the coast. I actually saw some wildlife on the hike back from the beach. One of the main things I wanted to see was monkeys, I didn't see any at all during this hike, but on the way back from the beach I saw a couple monitor lizards.

The main park office. You have to check in here and tell them where you are going.

This is the main trail entrance to hiking in the park.

Monkey Beach!

The lizard! This monitor lizard is about 4 feet long.

Penang, Malaysia, Dec 2007 Right Hand Drive!

This is from my most recent trip. I went to Penang, Malaysia. This is a great place, people are extremely nice and the food is great. This is the first trip outside the USA that I decided to try and rent a car. What an adventure! Malaysia cars are right hand drive like in the UK. It took some getting used to. I only drove on the wrong side of the road twice.