Cuti Malaysia : JERJAK ISLAND

This will be the first posting about places in Malaysia. I was in Penang when I decided to follow my teacher to Jerjak Island. Formaly known as the Malaysian Alcatraz Island.

Jerjak Island is located just off Penang Island. It was there all along but I've never realize that it was that close to civilization!

These 2 pictures was taken on top the Penang main bridge there it was... Jerjak Island.

Going to Jerjak is simple, after exiting te bridge just take a left turn and g straight until you see the sign... hehe...

When you find the Jetty you can catch a bot there just for RM25 two ways ticket. There are lots of activities you can do.

Activities that can be done here.

The Jetty...

This is the Jetty, we are waiting for our ride. 

Why we wait? Because the ferry/water taxi/boat has it own time table. Cant do much abut it so we decided to have our lunch first. We ate nearby. Most of the Restaurant here opens at night. There are just a few which open during the day.

time table if you wish the board the boat :)

This is the Restaurant, they told me it is really happening here during night time

Ok, we are suppose to ride on a 2.30pm boat but we arrive 1 hour early thats why we decided to go out and eat. Who are we? Well I went with Cikgu Izham but he has a program in Jerjak Island.

So our ride is here... Yeah! Now its time to go to Jerjak Island!

Water taxi so they say

The journey with the boat only took us 5-10 min top. Once we arrived, we straight away check in our room and rest for a while. Since its still too hot outside. So I decided to rest for a while in Ancasa Jerjak Island Resort. Hotel managed by Uda Berhad. If I must say, the resort are really nice. A good place to relax.

Not bad huh? Well I went out around 4pm and start to ask around. What can we really do here? Hurm... actually guys, there are lots of fun activities to do around here but you must come with a group of people to enjoy most of the facilities and games here. If you are a lone traveler then better rent a kayak or a bicycle just like what I did.

This bicycle is yours for RM10 per hour. 

There are 2 bike trail and there are 2 prison here, one is the Malaysia prison another is from the British days prison here... Both are on different trail. I first took the trail to the Malaysian Prison... they said that I will come across abandon houses then graveyard after that only the prison... as if the prison is not creepy enough, must you add graveyard in its path? haish...  From Jetty to the Malaysia prison is around 3KM. You must take the trail behind the security guard office near the jetty. 3Km is not far but as I was cycling my mountain bike, I came across a huge tree that had fall and it had blocked the bicycle trail. Well I would had carry my bike to cross the tree but you see, the tree fall on to an electric wire and it touches the ground. I was worried I that I might get fried in the process so I turn around. Sad but true...

Abandon House. 

Here as you can see there are houses abandoned like this.According t the security guard. There were once a small village here in Jerjak. They were the people who work in the quarantine area or prison back in the old days. Now it is just ruin of the past with no one taking care of it. So I cycle past these houses and came across the tree... yes that tree. So I must turn around. But being in the location with the locals and caretakers I know many things even without seeing it myself. If I go further in this trail I will meet the cemetery for leprosy (kusta) patients who died here. Owh did I mention that the quarantine area were originally used to quarantine leprosy patients? Owh... It must had slip my mind.. oh well.... The prison ruins. Jerejak Island was once used to keep prisoners during WWII and after that for political prisoners, and due to uncontrolled hygiene, there was an outbreak of leprosy and tuberculosis. Really, the history just got pretty jumble up but here are what are left of it.

I was told that this graveyard are mixed between religion.  

These are what left of the prison ruins from the Malaysia Prison. 

Since I cant go further I decided to take the other trail... this trail is stiffer and there are time I have to get down from my bicycle and push it. Hehe... please note my physical condition :p haha.... So I went up the old dam and walk its  suspension bridge (jambatan gantung). Well I am not afraid of high so its no problemmo for me. Though though had crossed my mind if I ever fall who would know I was there? keke...

As you can see, you can choose to do the red or the blue trail. Ive decided to do NONE!

The suspension bridge.

After this bridge I cycle up and finally I dont want to follow the trail anymore. It is fun, yes to be one with nature but I must admit. I am not that kind of person who are willing to spend time in the forest alone... owh... actually you can get a guide from the resort but you need to be in a group. If not it will be expensive. The ranger here said that the British prison ruin are not easy to spot and if you are going up there alone, most unlikely you will see it. Well I was told that one of this trail will lead you the prison and Russian Cemetery. It was said that during WWII the German U-Bot (Submarine) had torpedo down i guess since you cant say gun down... at least 15 Russian Ship near Jerjak Island. So they made this Cemetery as a memorial to those who had fallen. But as the description said, there were no evidence that there were actual body buried here.

Ok, history are really confusing so please dont look here for the understanding. i myself are a bit lost. Hahaha....

Ok, so i decided to cycle back down the hill and far away... huhu... happy cycling down and its really fast coz my my bicycle has a little break issues... fast... thats all i can tell you. haha...

I went up to the Sun Yi Villas. Its really nice up there. Usually they wont allowed guest to go up there other than their guest but I manage to went in coz the Manager is not around and there were no current resident guest. It is priced at RM800 per night for 2 person including the spa, meal, wine and airport transfer.

Hurmmm... after riding down back once again in the Jerjak Resort Area I just sit down at a bench down it short beach and enjoy the sunset... no picture coz the sun set on the other side of Penang Island so you can really see the sun set. Hehe...

Owh... that night I was lucky I guess. I got to see the fire show! WoW!... they dont usually perform this but since there are 2 big group that night so they did the performance. Nice and warm...

The next day we took the 7.30 am boat to Penang. So thats about it. I have nothing much to review just that if you love nature and adventure (and you are in group) then you will like this place. Or if you have lots of money you will love Sun Yi Villas.

My personal opinion, this place if properly taken care of can be somewhat like Nami Island. It is possible coz they have lots of space and can be develop and preserved as a tourist attraction. I have a high expectation when I visit this place and frankly speaking that expectation has not been meet. As far as the resort and villas is concern, they are great. Activities are good also... the only thing lacking are the conservation and attraction of the island itself. Hopefully in the future they will see the true potential of the island.

Nice place, near and yet poorly maintain heritage...  Adios...

Good bye penang...

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