Monkey Beach

Around a month ago, 靖璇 tagged along with me for a hike to Monkey Beach which was organized by my colleagues. It has been 8 years since I last hiked to Kerachut Beach and I was very surprised to see that the entrance to these 2 beaches have changed so much since then.


The entrance archway.

This place has been commercialized to the extent that there are now a Penang National Park office building erected to register hikers and also boat service to transport those lazy bugs to their desired beaches for a fee.


The fisherman's village.

I find this trip very nostalgic as history repeated itself when 靖璇 got too tired halfway through the hike and I have to piggy-back her for a short distance until she regained her sight. :D

A few of us who took the boat there have the opportunity to visit a nearby lighthouse since they reached the beach much earlier and idling around. Needless to say, the panorama from the top of the lighthouse was simply breathtaking, considering the fact that Penang has been infamously known as Darul Sampah due to its lacklustre effort in keeping the pearl shining.


Hill view.


Sea view.

The weather on that day was both good - no rain - and bad as it was simply too hot for us to enjoy ourselves. Most of the time, we were either submerged in the sea or hiding under the shade of trees. Once in a while, we took a stroll along the beach when the cloud was kind enough to cover us from the scorching sun.


When it was not so hot.


You know it was just simply too hot when you have to open an umbrella under a tree.


See, I told you it was freaking hot that even the dog need to jump into the sea!

Even though this place was pretty far away from the stretch of hotels along the Batu Feringghi area, there was a large presence of foreign tourists who were having their family picnics.

Apart from the boat transport service which I have mentioned earlier, the fisherman's village also offers various type of water-based entertainment such as banana boat and jet ski. Heck, if you are too lazy - like us - they will also help you to prepare the ingredients & barbecue the food for you on the spot. Of course, this offer will only be made available if you are paying in advance and in the event that you cannot finish the food, they will help you do that as well.


Om nom nom nom.

I have to admit that the beach was pretty clean but the same cannot be applied to the nearby toilet. I think I shall spare you the toilet description in order not to spoil the mood that this entry was written upon.

My colleagues who went for the banana boat ride also claimed that there were a lot of jellyfishes in the sea, further away from the beach. :(

As the sun was still striking down hard, all of us decided to travel back by boat with our belly full and wallet / purse lighter by RM50.


Miraculously, no one showed the peace sign!

The only intriguing part of this trip was that I see no monkey.

-sigh-


No monkey, no problem!