Our plan today was to walk around the Penang Botanic Gardens, part of the Penang Hill Biosphere Reserve. We did that, and enjoyed it, but the day’s wow factor came from something completely unplanned and unexpected: climbing up to the Hindu Waterfall Hilltop Temple.

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The Gardens date to 1884,when they were established in what had been a quarry. While the Gardens’ founder and first curator was Charles Curtis, a British colonist, he was ably aided by Malaysian botanist Mohamed Haniff.

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Because of the huge construction project building a cable car from the top of Penang Hill to the entrance of the Botanic Gardens, the access road was blocked for about the last 800m.

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That meant we had to leave our Grab driver and walk alongside the construction zone to the park entrance along a brick pathway aptly called the “Botanic Walk”.

We had plenty of company along the walk, all of it in the form of long-tailed macaques.

Near the beginning of the walkway they were particularly interested in a dumpster that had been left unlocked. They were intent on pulling out every garbage bag, tearing it open, and sorting through the contents.

What a mess.

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Due to the construction zone limiting vehicular access to the park, it was very quiet. We passed few people other than maintenance workers raking and watering.

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There were some interesting non-native trees, like this Central American cannonball tree. Seeds and plants were imported from England’s Kew Gardens by way of Singapore’s Botanic Gardens.

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Then, suddenly …

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Dozens and dozens of monkeys, all headed straight for us – everything from grey-haired old males, to babies carried on their mother’s chests, to rambunctious “teenagers”.

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We cooled off for a few moments in the macaque-free herbarium.

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We heard burbling water, and strolled through the “Symphony” garden. I’d hoped to see the park’s famous 120m/400ft tall waterfall, but it is in what is now a restricted area that also includes a reservoir and water purification plant.

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The moss-covered bridges and archways, tropical vegetation, and monkeys, felt a bit like being in an Indiana Jones movie.

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There were a couple of small lily ponds, and a few caged plant propagation areas.

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We didn’t see much wildlife, except the dozens and dozens of macaques, but Ted did manage to photograph a Junonia Iphita (chocolate pansy) butterfly and an Oriental Magpie Robin.

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As we left the Gardens, there was an area with a small fountain and some gorgeous colourful floral bowers.

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Of course, we had to walk the macaque gauntlet again to exit the complex.

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On the drive to the Botanic Gardens we’d noticed an interesting Hindu temple that seemed worth exploring.

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A sign just outside the gate explained its imagery.

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The temple we could see from the road was lovely and, had we not asked anyone, we would have assumed that it was the main temple on this site.

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But we always ask questions, and ask permission before entering temple sites, especially when there is a staffed guardhouse!

I’d noticed another sign near the gate that showed an 8.23m/27ft tall statue of Lord Shiva, so when I asked the guard if we could access the temple (yes, but exterior only) I also asked about the statue. We were told to take the staircase to the left, and return via the other side.

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What we didn’t know was that the guard had directed us not directly to the statue (which we later realized was at ground level) but to the Arulmigu Balathandayuthapani Temple (the Waterfall Hilltop Temple), only reachable by climbing 513 steps to the top of the hill. That obviously means 513 back down too.

Built at a cost of 10 million ringgit, this temple is the largest Murugan temple outside India and, as for those stairs, for comparison it takes only 283 to reach the temple at the the Batu Caves.

Fortunately, these 513 steps are wide modern concrete ones, equipped with sturdy polished steel railings, and with multiple landings that each feature ornate gates.

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Looking down from the second arch at the ground level temple.

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As we climbed higher, the views over George Town became ever more panoramic.

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And then we were at the last 21 steps, where a section of the railings was lions’ tongues!

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And finally, the “Waterfall Hilltop Temple”.

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Each side window of the temple is covered with a gilded peacock-fan grate.

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On our way back down from the main temple, utilizing 513 alternate steps, since the return trip is circular (i.e. there is an up staircase and a down staircase) we passed by a new small temple.

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A sign way back at street level read: “The Therpe Kulam (Divine Pond) is located beside the ThanneermalalShree Balathandayuthapant Temple. The 43X43 feet Architectural design of the Divine Pond depicts the story of Lord Karthikeya (Murugan). Lord Murugan was born in the form of six babies and raised by Karthigai Pengal. A chariot carrying a six faced Lord Shanmugam is at the center of Divine Pond.”

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Ted particularly liked the gate below, just outside the Divine Pond, and thought that maybe if he could convince me to stand under it…

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As we headed back down through another series of arches, each of which had their own story to tell, we got some company.

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Someone obviously thought he was in a soft drink advertisement. Ted said the tagline should be: “Macaques and Coke. It’s the real thing.”

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Sparkling water is almost as good, as long as it has some lemon flavour.

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Suddenly on the route down from the temple we were seeing depictions of peacocks subduing cobras! I’m sure there is a legend that goes with that…

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… and with this:

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With all the opulence of the temples, birds have to try harder. This emerald dove was on the temple grounds.

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One of the older male macaques near the bottom of the stairs either didn’t find a Coke can, or found too many. He had a lot to grunt about.

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We finally made it back to street level, where we only had to turn left to find the huge Lord Shiva statue.

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I was truly grateful, both for the experience and for having accomplished the 1026 stairs it took to complete it.

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We were also grateful for the air conditioning in the Grab that took us back to Campbell House.

After showers and a rest, we took a short walk around the neighbourhood to explore some of the small side streets we hadn’t seen yet.

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We ended up at Bistro Borak Borak for nasi goreng, cool fruity drinks (one watermelon & lychee; the other ginger, lime & basil seeds), and sago pearls with condensed milk and palm sugar as a dessert treat.

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13,402 steps today and up and down the equivalent of about 30 storeys.

Ted says that my definition of what constitutes a “leisurely pace” is twisted.

Just two more leisurely days in Penang left before we begin a “relaxing” month on Crete.

We’ll see.