Bukit Mertajam Hill at Cheruk Tok Kun, again

Earlier last week, a friend had asked me whether I would have liked to climb Penang Hill during the weekend but this trip was cancelled on Friday morning. Disappointed, because I haven't trekked up Penang Hill since the 1970s, which would have been some ... 30 years ago?

So I decided to spend the weekend back at my old haunts, namely the BM Hill at Cheruk Tok Kun. But I surprised myself by going up the BM Hill thrice on consecutive days. It wasn't meant to be this way.

On Friday, I spent 2.5 hours climbing alone to the transmission towers. This was after coming back from work. Then on Saturday, my wife and I trekked up until the Tea Hut at the 1,500-metre mark. Finally on Sunday, we made a last-minute decision to go up but we trekked only half the distance because we were rather short of time.

We spied this old rubber tree on Sunday. People had stopped tapping the sap a long time ago.

Saw them on Saturday. These people sure knew how to relax themselves halfway up the hill.

I made sure that I could also do so if I wanted. This was just a stone's throw away from the Tea Hut.

Two species of monkeys at BM Hill. The one on the left, with the black face, is much rarer. Update on this picture (28 Feb 2008): The one on the right is a long-tailed macaque. It's still very much a juvenile and it sort of froze when I took its photo. I've just learnt that the one on the left is the dusky leaf monkey. Shy animal but getting bolder now. That's why they are occasionally spotted. In fact, this was the second time that I've seen this type.


Reminded me of E.T.


Two things distressed me. The first was the graffiti.


And the second was the rubbish left by the Hash Hound Harriers recently. If only they'd be more responsible and clear the rubbish after their activities. They always leave evidence of their presence everywhere.