One way to hike to the Penang Hill Middle Train Station is to take one of the trails which starts at Persiaran Taman Cantik. Train rides are available for going up to the top or down from the Penang Hill Middle Train Station. For hiking up, there are at least two possible trails.
Starting Point : Persiaran Taman Cantik
Climb To : Penang Hill Middle Railway Station
Estimated Time Required : 1.5 hours
Difficulty : 7 out of 10
Trail Type : Steep slopes most of the way
At Air Itam, drive towards the Penang Hill Railway Station. Keep a lookout for Persiaran Taman Cantik on your right as you are nearing the Penang Hill Railway Station. Turn into this road. You can park along this road. It is within walking distance from the Penang Hill Railway Station so it's convenient for those who choose to take the train down.
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| Persiaran Taman Cantik (from Google Streetview) |
Walk in and cross the bridge in the photo below. Once you've crossed the bridge, lookout for a path with a temple on your left.
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| After this bridge, watch out for the path to the trail on your left (next picture) |
This trail is narrow and is shared by a handful of hikers, some cyclists and motorcyclists carrying vegetables or farming items up and down Penang Hill. Always listen out for bicycles and motorbikes when hiking up. If you hear them coming, some are quite fast, don't panic and just find a spot beside the trail where you can stand and let them go by.
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| Go up this little lane. It will be on your left if you're coming from the bridge on Persiaran Taman Cantik |
This trail has a lot of forks. If in doubt, ask the motorcyclists or people in the farms along the way and they'll point you on your way. Just keep going straight most of the way. The paths are narrow as you can see in the picture below.
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| Narrow path all the way up (some parts are cement, some part dirt) |
Keep going straight along the trail until you come to this fork here, with a silver-ish signboard. Follow the arrow and go left here.
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| Turn left here, there's a small signboard with a red arrow |
Walk along the slopes and in a few minutes, you will see another "landmark". A red umbrella. From a closer distance, this looks like an "open air" kitchen. Anyway, you will walk past this.
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| You'll see the red umbrella after a short climb |
You will know you're on the right track when you come to this altar. This means you're on the right track. Keep walking ahead.
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| Go past this little praying place next |
There will be some steep ups and downs along the path. Keep going and you'll come to this temple. This place has a good view of Penang. You might want to rest and enjoy the peacefulness here. When you're ready, just keep going ahead.
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| View from the temple |
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| Keep going on you'll come to the Middle Train Station |
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After the temple, keep going straight along the paths until you come to the Middle Train Station. If you've hiked enough, you can take the train up to the top of the hill for sightseeing or down to the foot of the hill. if you're feeling adventurous, I'd say, hike on to the top! There are two ways up from the Middle Train Station that I've tried, one is through the farm trails and one through the "designated hiking trail".
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