Penang Hill (Bukit Bendera), Penang

Okay, you will have to wake up really early for this, so eat your breakfast fast and catch a cab here. If you get here (the Penang Hill tram station) early, you really save a lot of time and hastle. The crowds don't arrive yet at around 7.30am; you can whizz thru, even get a seat. Nice, splendid views on the top, beautiful houses...there's even a canopy walk. By the time you finish exploring; hehe, you can see a huge queue waiting to get up...while you make your way to your next sight,,.,,,,they're queing up to get where you just got.... :) believe me, worth the early wake up...

see the herds getting out of the train - phew - 1/2 hour of being cramped like sardines.

The next step is to decide what time train do you want to get back down to the foothill - you must make reservation at the hill top station and they will mark your tickets with the time reservation.

First train up is 6:30 am, and last train down is 9pm but weekends 11;30

There is even a hotel on the hilltop - you can come here and have a drink. The owner of the hotel was a relative of a Penang ex politican, and he was a famous architect, and has vast collection of Balinese paintings as well. And you will see them displayed.

The Bellevue Hotel sits on the former Halliburton Hil because it used to belong to the Sheriff of Penang, Mr William Halliburton.

During the weekend, this Malay family would set up their stall selling deep fried fruit fritters for snack. It is extremely delcious..espllly eaten while it is hot. This is deep fried cempedak....not sure what it is called in English...it is a fruit with sticky very sickly sweet pulp.

You can see lots of nutmeg trees esplly when you are visitng Kek Lok Si temple....here is nutmeg in packets for sale....

Nutmeg plantations were planted from seeds gathered from the Moluccus islands since 1800s.....it flourished as a popular spice trade seen in this part of the straits.

The local folks are quite innovative...they come up to the hill top and make things for sale...and this is something i was tickled...this chap is making grasshoppers from coconut palm leaves....nice!!!

On the way up, you get a good view of the city below...but not easy to see with the crowd in the train car....and if you have the chance to look outside - meaning you standing or sitting besides the door, you see lots of trees...my husband could pick out ciku fruit trees, durian trees, and at one spot I saw a monitor lizard...and got everybody in the train excited!!!!

You will also see some houses...some wooden ones with zinc roofs, but as you moved higher up, you see nice stately looking houses like the picture ...

Many of these charming bungalows were built in the mid 1920s onwards after the furnicular was introduced.

Most people would get there by this very old cable train. The ride costs only RM4, and lots of local folks and tourists love to take the train instead of hiking up...it may take several hours to hike up!!!

Just look at the faces of the crowd waiting for the train - some eager - some fed up....