Penang National Park 16 January 2016

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  Pei See is driving. Cute bobbleheads on the dash. At the park entrance We're hiking from the entrance to "F" Tasik Meromiktik then on to Pantai Kerachut to see the turtles, ~3.4km. They estimate 1 hour 20 minutes (pretty accurate!) Initially the trail is paved! Must be low tide, kind of a mud bath at this beach.

 
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  Looking back at the piers at the entrance. We'll end up there in a few hours since we're returning by boat. The piers go on and on, with buildings out on the water. Trash mixed in with the mud :-( Cute trail map. Red area is "sound zone" We're heading to the left.

 
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  The secret of Mangrove tree (click on thumbnail and click again for fullsize to read all about it) More trash :-( Just like the US :-( Maybe 1/4 mile in, trail changes from paved to dirt, and starts to climb. National Park Boundary Learning stuff as we go.

 
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  Steps uphill with a handrail rope where it gets steep and steps are washed out. Getting steeper Tree roots hold the path together. Cool sign next to a deep ditch: The ditch is still here today, still maybe 3 feet deep.

 
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  We're in the "sound zone" here, very high pitched hum Still uphill. Water break Crossing another stream

 
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  And more uphill. Looking upstream. Bridges are concrete here! Maybe the only material that lasts in this humidity? Keep our Parks clean!

 
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  Another water break at a covered bench. HUGE ant, maybe one inch long! Gorgeous trail through the jungle! Flat for a bit here. Trail forks off here to Monkey Beach

 
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  Well signed trail Trash :-( Very impressive rock cut ahead! That's solid rock above Sue's head Very impressive rock cut!

 
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  At the top, another set of covered benches to rest on, and more information signs.

 
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  Just south of SPOT hit 11 is where we started. Jungle was too thick while hiking to get any satellite hits, so SPOT 4-9 are the first hits from today. Track 10 is the boat ride back, Track 11 is the pier where the boat let us off. Terrain map. Just south of SPOT 11 (middle right) is where we started. Group of tracks on bottom left is the beach. We hiked through the trough right to left. Another trail goes up from this high point It's a steep trail!

 
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  That trail is Nearly straight up. We'll skip it and head down to the beach. Finally on the downhill! Steep down! Steep enough we all used the handrail rope!

 
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  1 km left to the beach! Red and Yellow painted on the tree... trail marker? The guys in black are going the other way and _running_ up the steps. Very steep steps! And they all just ran up!

 
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  Only 5 minutes to the beach! Crossing another stream Last "canopy bridge" to the beach. Pei See and Yen Liang!

 
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  Jambatan Pantai Kerachut Shellie and Andy Sue and Bob

 
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  From the bridge, on the right (north) stream down to the beach. From the bridge, on the left is the Meromiktik Lake Way cool kind of lake! Mostly dry now but cool to have a lake that's both freshwater and saltwater! Gorgeous beach, beautiful white sand.

 
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  Barnacles all over the rocks. Looking south-west there's a big pier and just beyond that is the turtle sanctuary. Bob Coastline to the north Beach to the south

 
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  Turtles! Adorable baby turtles! Just born TODAY! Larger tank with some adult turtles

 
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  All sorts of turtle shells Information on various species How to tell the various species apart Pei See's sole has de-laminated off her shoe!

 
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  Hanging out Waiting for the boat ride back Gorgeous place to just relax for a few minutes in spite of the light rain.

 
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  Boat ride back! About a 10 minute boat ride "Rabbit Rock"

 
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  Interesting non-natural markings on this rock "Turtle Rock" "Alligator Rock" No beach here, rocky shore with jungle and steep hills!

 
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  Beaches and Hotels at Batu Ferringhi, local resort area on the north side of the island. Fog / clouds / rain above that hotel. It's raining where we are on the boat too. Pei See! Pictures of pictures The boat that took us back to the entrance

 
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  Walking up the pier back to land. Tons of fishing boats docked here. Nice stairway we walked up - where the boat dropped us at the pier. Long walkway back Not so much rickety, as just patches on patches.

 
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  Gaps like this drive Sue crazy with fear of heights. More modern walkway but less redundancy in stringers.

 
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  Trash :-( Looking back out the pier. Vulture-like chicken-like ? Huge visitor center. Stalls selling food, drink, boat rides... Now we head off to lunch.

 
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  Great lunch at Tree Monkey restaurant - mango sweet rice with coconut milk appetizer. Pineapple rice with cashews Gorgeous views. The bright washed out part of the photo is all ocean. Cool logo on their sign. Next, Georgetown to see some temples!

 
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  Temple of the Reclining Budda On the phones. Dragons at the entrance. Candles to light in prayer. The reclining Buddah

 
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  The othe statues are life sized, the toe of the Budda shows how much larger it is. Thanks Yen Liang and Pei See for showing us everything! Behind the Buddah, more statues, one for each of the Chinese years. Statue for Year of the Cow

 
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  Notice all the squares on the wall - we're in the Columbarium here - each niche has an urn of ashes along with a picture and information about the person. Family comes here to pray for those who have passed away. Also gorgeous murals painted on the wall of the history of the religion.

 
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  Another Buddhist temple across the street. Interesting murals here too More cool statues outside. It's raining pretty hard otherwise we'd wander outside in the gardens here. Inside the temple itself.

 
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  Electric lights on the halo add a pretty effect. Beautiful rugs everywhere inside. Just left of the middle pillar, a monk in traditional robes, on his smart phone :-) Muah Chee - a dessert of chewy dough (the consistency of a marshmallow but good-tasting) sprinkled with peanuts and cinnamon? Good! Eat each piece with a toothpick, to share among friends without double-dipping issues.

 
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  Chendul - famous dessert here. Quite good! Shaved ice on bottom, green noodle-like-thing (nobody knows what they're made of), red kidney beans, coconut milk. Tasty! World famous as having the best Chendul around.

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