Penang Hill
A Colonial Hill Retreat Reached By One Of The Steepest Funiculars In The World, And A UNESCO Biosphere Reserve Since 2021 For The Forest Nobody Notices · Air Itam, Penang
THE BRITISH WENT UP PENANG HILL TO GET OUT OF THE HEAT and built bungalows along the ridge; the FUNICULAR THAT TAKES YOU UP OPENED IN 1923 AND IS ONE OF THE STEEPEST IN THE WORLD, climbing over seven hundred metres in a few minutes through a tunnel of vegetation. At the top it is FIVE OR SIX DEGREES COOLER THAN GEORGE TOWN and the view runs across the island, the strait and the mainland. MOST VISITORS RIDE UP, PHOTOGRAPH THE VIEW AND RIDE DOWN, AND MISS THE REASON IT MATTERS: PENANG HILL WAS DESIGNATED A UNESCO BIOSPHERE RESERVE IN 2021 for the forest on its flanks - old, largely intact, and holding a species list that surprised the scientists who surveyed it. THERE IS ALSO A WALKING ROUTE UP from the Botanic Gardens, the JEEP TRACK AND MOON GATE, which almost nobody takes and which is free. Ride it early or at dusk, because the midday queue is the worst thing about the hill and is entirely avoidable, and take a layer - it is five or six degrees cooler up there and people arrive from George Town in shorts.
Penang Hill, Air Itam, Penang, Air Itam, Penang, Malaysia
THE FUNICULAR RUNS FROM AIR ITAM, about twenty minutes from George Town, FROM EARLY MORNING UNTIL LATE EVENING, and QUEUES ARE THE MAIN PROBLEM - weekends, public holidays and the middle of the day can mean a long wait, and a FAST-LANE TICKET exists at a premium. GO EARLY OR GO LATE. THE HILL ITSELF IS FREE once you are up; THE HABITAT, a private nature walk with a canopy bridge, IS A SEPARATE AND MUCH MORE EXPENSIVE TICKET. THE WALKING ROUTE UP FROM THE BOTANIC GARDENS takes ROUGHLY TWO HOURS, is steep, is free, and is used mostly by local walkers at dawn. THERE IS A MOSQUE, A HINDU TEMPLE AND COLONIAL BUNGALOWS along the ridge. It is cooler at the top and can be cloudy when George Town is clear.