MacRitchie Reservoir & Sentosa Island, Singapore
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The long-tailed macaque! Click here for more photos from Singapore.
May 16-17, 2009
"Oh, look!" my friend said. "We can do this cool tree top walk through the Singapore nature reserve!"
"Does this mean we will essentially be hiking through the rainforest?" I replied.
"....Yes."
"Well. Just so long as we know what we're doing."
I was not aware, however, that this would turn into a 12-kilometer walk along occasionally very rough trails in 95-degree heat and dripping humidity. I do not think I will be doing further hikes through the rainforest anytime soon. We went with a pair of brothers from Yorkshire that we met in our hostel, however, and despite the rather miserable conditions we had a great time. The MacRitchie Reservoir occupies a huge area of land within Singapore's already small island, and we ended up completely circumnavigating (on foot!) the lower reservoir. The tree top walk, though brief, really was tremendously fun - the trees are so thick below you can't even see the ground. On our hike we even glimpsed a troop of long-tailed macaques, the monkeys native to Singapore, and heard them rustling in the trees repeatedly.
It's completely free to enter and walk the trails of the MacRitchie Reservoir, and I think the tree-top walk on its own is entirely worth it. Just be prepared for some serious hiking in sweltering conditions - a taxi can take you within 2 km of the walk, but once you enter the bridge it's one-way and the only way out of the reserve is another 5-6 km hike, most of it along a boardwalk. (Except, of course, when the trail becomes swamped in mud or encounters steep rocky inclines. Then you're on your own.) The second half of the hike actually runs along a fancy golf course for a time, so you get to see Singapore's finest citizens out practicing their drives, looking completely cool and comfortable, while you are swimming in sweat and limping from blisters. It's a fun comparison, I assure you.
It's completely free to enter and walk the trails of the MacRitchie Reservoir, and I think the tree-top walk on its own is entirely worth it. Just be prepared for some serious hiking in sweltering conditions - a taxi can take you within 2 km of the walk, but once you enter the bridge it's one-way and the only way out of the reserve is another 5-6 km hike, most of it along a boardwalk. (Except, of course, when the trail becomes swamped in mud or encounters steep rocky inclines. Then you're on your own.) The second half of the hike actually runs along a fancy golf course for a time, so you get to see Singapore's finest citizens out practicing their drives, looking completely cool and comfortable, while you are swimming in sweat and limping from blisters. It's a fun comparison, I assure you.
The view from Sentosa Island
For our final full day in Singapore (before heading off on our overnight trip to Malaysia) we decided to check out Sentosa Island. My friend E warned us against this - "It's very touristy, the whole island is basically a resort" - but after several days of first walking around the sweltering city and then the sweltering rainforest, we decided a beach resort was exactly what we wanted. It's easy to get there - just take the metro to HarbourFront, and from there you can reach the island by bus, monorail or cable car (glass-bottomed and not). The bus and monorail each cost $3 SNG (the cost of getting on the island) while the cable cars cost significantly more.
Upon stepping off the bus we did indeed find ourselves in one huge theme park, essentially - all the careful landscaping and artfully designed walks strongly reminded me of Atlantis in the Bahamas. Or perhaps even Disney World, as the island even has a ride - the luge! It is quite silly but ridiculously fun - for $11SNG you take a ski lift over the island then ride a low wheeled cart down a course, speeding or gliding as you like. Monica merrily swerved all over the course, cackling all the way. I was a more sedate driver.
Our theme-park ride accomplished we headed for the beach, where I was rather disappointed. I know Singapore is a massive hub for shipping traffic, of course, but I had no idea their resort beaches would essentially look onto a major shipping lane. They'd built mini-islands facing the beaches (which were created with sand imported from Indonesia, E tells me) in order to improve the view, but they couldn't hide the fact that some freighters were anchored just offshore. It was not encouraging me to swim, and the cloudy water speckled with debris didn't help. So Monica swam while I lounged on the beach and read a book, and we were both happy. Afterward we watched the sunset over the shipping channel choked with vessels - and with all the bobbing lights, it was quite the beautiful sight.
Upon stepping off the bus we did indeed find ourselves in one huge theme park, essentially - all the careful landscaping and artfully designed walks strongly reminded me of Atlantis in the Bahamas. Or perhaps even Disney World, as the island even has a ride - the luge! It is quite silly but ridiculously fun - for $11SNG you take a ski lift over the island then ride a low wheeled cart down a course, speeding or gliding as you like. Monica merrily swerved all over the course, cackling all the way. I was a more sedate driver.
Our theme-park ride accomplished we headed for the beach, where I was rather disappointed. I know Singapore is a massive hub for shipping traffic, of course, but I had no idea their resort beaches would essentially look onto a major shipping lane. They'd built mini-islands facing the beaches (which were created with sand imported from Indonesia, E tells me) in order to improve the view, but they couldn't hide the fact that some freighters were anchored just offshore. It was not encouraging me to swim, and the cloudy water speckled with debris didn't help. So Monica swam while I lounged on the beach and read a book, and we were both happy. Afterward we watched the sunset over the shipping channel choked with vessels - and with all the bobbing lights, it was quite the beautiful sight.
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