Hmmm.... so I went forest trekking The place is the Penang National Park, 10 minutes drive from my house, near the famous End of the World cafe in Teluk Bahang. My intention today was to trek from Teluk Bahang all the way to Pantai Kerachut where the meromictic lake is. For the uninitiated, a meromictic lake is a rare natural lake which is permanently stratified (having layers of water of different densities). It only fills up during spring tides - right now it's the low tide season. Anyway, the trek was 2km long, and it's a hilly trek to boot, with hill gradients as steep as 18ยบ. It took me 1 hour 15 minutes to make my way through the forest, and I had to climb over 4 fallen trees too which were blocking my way But well, the 3 hours of trekking in and out was well worth it - Pantai Kerachut is amazing! So... armed with a camera and a makeshift polarizer (my sunglasses!! hehe..) here are some of the pics, in order: 1) The Pantai Kerachut Jetty 2) The shore of the Teluk Bahang fishing village... 3) A view thru the trees in the forest 4) The smallest of the 4 trees I had to climb over 5) Stilts at the edge of the fishing village And it wouldn't be complete without panoramics.... Panorama of Pantai Kerachut Panorama of the Stream Full Gallery All said and done, my legs are officially tired!
More pictures... 1) Meromictic lake on low tide 2) Zig-zaggy edge of the lake 3) A mini delta 4) Colourful granite rocks. Look how clear the water is 5) The stream leading into the lake
And finally, Pantai Kerachut.. 1) Clean golden sand! A rarity nowadays 2) The inlet 3) Pantai Kerachut's shoreline
Hmmm let's try to plan a photography trip there in the near future.. anyone up to it? Even I don't know about the place until recently...
Photography trip... if you plan to just go to Pantai Kerachut, it would be better to hire a speedboat to take you there. The only other way to access PK is to trek through the forest like I did... and it's rather dangerous, there's a lot of steep hills and narrow paths, and even huge trees to climb over, while some are rather small, there are about two which I had difficulty climbing over. And you really need to use your two hands to grip the edges, slide down, jump here and there, and it's while it took me 1 hour 15 mins, most people need 2 hours to trek From Golden Sands, drive straight on, till you reach the Teluk Bahang roundabout, go straight on till you see End of The World, go straight on till you see a fishing village and a little hut on your right - the Penang National Park's security and information office. It's rather direct. The path entrance is to your left, just walk straight in and follow the paths and markers thru the forest Or, take a speedboat there. Mind you, they may charge exorbitantly. And there's not so much fun anymore, because the thrill is getting the reward of a beautiful beach after trekking so far.
i will be there by 21st Jan 06 for day trip i'hv been there for many time already, day trip and even camp there, during nite time that place is nice, ever seen a sea fire flies? djspinnet, i heard they start to selling drink and food already, is that true? seem like they rebuild the jetty....tat time we went b4 tsunami the jetty is like going to break anytime...and i dunno how bad is tat place during the tsunami
And turtles! Hehe.. Hmm... you mean where? Pantai Kerachut itself, or the fishing village? In either case, no, didn't see any food and drinks stall. Not sure about that either, but I suppose it should be rather bad, considering that Pantai Kerachut is facing Indonesia directly.
Yup. I know about the treking and yes. we really should plan a trip there. When I heard about the place, I really really want to go there then! ;D
Hehe tell me about it. Thank goodness I'm quite fit, being the queen of walkabouts, so it wasn't that bad for me, but my legs ached for a whole day after that. The trick with hiking is to keep up the momentum - once you start slowing down you begin to feel tired and wobbly.
I have decided. While some are going to continue collecting ang pows over the later days of CNY... I'll be going to make a trip over there.. Anyone wants to come along?
Tell me the date, I'll see if I can make it - if yes, I'll happily come along too - I don't mind a second trek there
