I promise that Singapore is really a dense place with lots of buildings and cultural institutions and people and pavement; however, of late I've just wanted to be outside. To hike, to walk, to see greenery, to be a little bit alone with my scattered and ponderous thoughts. And so today it was to Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
According to the National Park's site on the Reserve, Bukit Timah was one of the first nature reserves established in the country, being set up in 1883. It's one of the largest tracks of primary rainforest left in Singapore, and it's chock full of different varieties of plants and trees. It is also *hilly*, and boasts Singapore's highest hill (163.63 m).
It was a great place for a Sunday morning hike.
I arrived at around 10 and left the park at around 12:30. No idea how far I went, but (as the pictures below will show) it was far enough to get incredibly gross. Totally worth it, though! Lots of plants, lots of animals (yes, monkeys, squirrels and tree shrews), lots of meandering. Another place to which I will return.
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| Steep up |
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| Steep down |
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| Early-ish in the hike |
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| Later |
I don't know if I ever told you this story, but when the family lived there, Bukit Timah was where my brother would go to run some cross country practices (especially before a race with hills since it was the only elevation in the city). He saw the monkeys figuring out how to get into the garbage cans one holding it open while the other foraged. Then he saw one monkey drop the lid, trapping the first monkey inside. The first monkey bagged on the lid and my brother said he could have sworn the monkey was laughing.
ReplyDeleteThat cracks me up! After having seen the grumpy expressions on the monkey's faces when I gave them my, "Dude, all I have is water, and not much of that" face, I can certainly believe it!
ReplyDelete