Pulau Tikus is a rocky outcrop off the northeastern coast of Penang Island. It is one of those places which are "so near and yet so far". For the first time in weeks, I spent the weekend at home in Penang. But even in Penang, it's kinda hard to stay at home, especially with such a lovely sky above me.
I have explored much of Penang and the surrounding islands. But there's one place I have not fully explored. I call it the mystery island. Historically, it was called Pulo Kechil, but today, it is simply known as Pulau Tikus. No Virginia, I am not referring to Pulau Tikus, the district in Burmah Road. I did a search of Pulau Tikus on the Internet, and almost every respond I have referred to the Pulau Tikus on Penang Island.
No, I am talking about Pulau Tikus the island. The Pulau Tikus that gave Pulau Tikus District its name. I know, I know, there will be a few people in Penang who has not even heard of Pulau Tikus the island. Well, Pulau Tikus exists, and I'm going to show it to you. The strange thing however, is that Pulau Tikus the district is not at all near Pulau Tikus the island!
For the benefit of non-Malaysian AsiaExplorers members, Pulau Tikus means Mouse Island or Rat Island. I am not sure why it is given that name. Perhaps because of it's small size. Or perhaps if you view it from the sky, as a bird would, it takes the shape of a rodent, with a "tail" that stretches towards Penang island.
Pulau Tikus is the kind of place that would conjure the same type of excitement found in the pages of Enid Blyton's Famous Five or Tintin's Black Island, to borrow some imageries from childhood. To reach it, you have to take a sampan. Or, if you have the necessary "manpower", you can go by kayak, as I did.
I estimated that Pulau Tikus is perhaps 500m or at most 1 km from shore. (When I checked the map later, I learned that it is actually two kilometres from shore, so the return journey meant I have rowed for 4kms -- no wonder it feels so far!) There it is, the island silhouetted against the morning sky. Although I have landed in Pulau Tikus once before last year, I have not fully explored the island. So this time I come prepared.
I started at 9:40am. At that time, the sky was hazy, and I thought I would have a lovely time kayaking in the still waters. No such luck. Within 15 minutes, the sun banished the clouds away, and it got decidedly hot. In my kayak I packed towel, sun glass, baseball cap, even a pair of Nike shoes. And of course, drinking water - it would be suicidal to go without water! And to ensure that I come back with some photographs to show, this time I remember to bring along my camera and tripod. Yes sir, I brought a tripod, so I can take shots of myself! To prove I was there!
Even though the sea was calm, I could feel the current pushing me away from the island. I had to kayak at a certain angle to keep my kayak pointed towards it. If I stop to take photos or to rest, the kayak will sway off course, usually, in the direction of Penang island. It was like, Pulau Tikus didn't welcome me at all.
The view of Penang Hill from the sea was simply dazzling. There were low-hanging clouds over the hills. I couldn't stop for long without kayaking. The up and down bobbling of the waves makes me rather dizzy.
It took me 40 minutes to reach within 20 metres of Pulau Tikus, at a leisurely pace. I am glad I brought along a towel to wipe the sweat, as the sun was fierce. However, it offered a deep blue sky above me.
Rather than kayaking straight towards the island, I decided to circumnavigate it, so I can explore it from all sides. I wasn't in a big hurry to land, and I have a reason why. I remember last year, as I approached this island, I have this creepy feeling. Well, it was still there. It feels like there's an unseen force on the island, and it's me against the force. If you had done enough exploring, sooner or later you will arrive at a place that gives you goosebumps of the supernatural kind.
Superstitious people would have warned me against visiting such a place, because it could be... how do I put it, "inhabited", if you know what I mean. How do I face something like this? My way of overcoming the fear is to remind myself that the spirit within me is greater that the spirits that well the earth, and that as long as I have God beside me, I have nothing to fear.
Well, easier said than done. To put that into practise, whenever I come across such a feeling, I start singing spiritual songs, especially those where the name of God is mentioned repeatedly, where God is praised. I find that, as soon as I do that, the force seems to "back away".
Okay, now back to the island.
I discovered that the sea on the northeast side of the island was full of rubbish. Most likely all the rubbish was carried there by the current, and was trapped within that area. However, that's the direction with the best view of the island. So I tried to avoid shooting rubbish when I photograph the island. Circling the island, I looked for the sandy stretch to land, rowed my kayak forcefully towards it.
And there, I am on Pulau Tikus. And you know what, the island was like holding its breath. I pointed my camera to the water tower (according to a fellow historian, Dr John Robertson, it's not a water tower, but rather a solar-powered light house) clicked on the shutter -- and you would never expect this, my camera jammed. What was wrong, I wondered. I took out the CF card, put it back in. Not working. I replaced the battery. Still no luck. It was like there's a sinister force trying to prevent me from taking photos of the island. As I repaired the camera, I spoke to the only friend available at such short notice, God. I told Him I really couldn't believe this is happening.
I don't want to surprise you, but my camera started working again thereafter. Hmm.
But there's not much to see on the sandy stretch. Just some rocks. The view of Penang island was great. I peered at the tower (or should I say, light house), on the main part of the island. How do I go there? There were big rocks blocking the way. Well, the only way was to go out to see again, and row there. As I pushed the kayak back into the water, it went out of my grips and to my horror started slipping away quickly into the sea. I rushed after it and that's how I got my shoes wet. Shoot.
So into the water I went again. After exploring for a bit, I saw a cove where I could land. The waves were big and mighty on this side as they crash to the rocks. Suddenly it brought my kayak straight to the rocks and we hit it on the side. Using my oar, I negotiate away from the rocks. If I were to hit like this a few times, there will be a crack on the kayak, and then I would be stranded on Pulau Tikus! I was very near shore anyway, so I climbed out of the kayak and pulled the kayak to land. My shoes were wet anyway, so it didn't bother me to get out into the water. I made sure the kayak was pulled high up, so that it couldn't decide to leave without me. Okay, now to explore ...
The place was very rundown. One of the structures was covered with grafitti, some dating back to the seventies, and yet they are still as clear as written yesterday. As I surveyed the graffiti, I was kinda remember of the movie, "Blair Witch Project". There was a stone staircase leading up to the light house. I saw that there's a shrine beside the tower, and I predicted that if there's a shrine, there has to be a grave somewhere.
I was right. There was a grave to one Seyad Mohamed Kuddoos Oliyullah. I do not know who he is, and why he was buried on this island. Apparently, the shrine was renovated as recently as 1997, by one Dr. Jameel Ahamed, B.Sc. Phd. (Hon). I need to research who that was. I am glad my camera was now working well, and so I recorded these.
It took me about as long to get back from Pulau Tikus, but I have a sense of accomplishment and conquest behind me.
Do you know ...
Pulau Tikus is also the name of a Penang district on the northern part of George Town. Learn about the Pulau Tikus District here.
Visiting Penang
If you're planning a trip to Penang, please go through the information I have assembled in Penang Travel Tips. You'd find there information covering all aspect about Penang, including accommodation, transport, food, shopping, places of interest and more. Everything you need to know Penang is right there at your finger tips!
Jalan Burma, in front of One-Stop Midlands.
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Off we go to Pulau Tikus!
View of Penang Island from the sea. Man, it's hard to take photos from
a kayak - can you imagine the risk I was taking by bringing
my camera along. Not just camera, tripod too!
Ah, we are heading towards Pulau Tikus.
You can see it silhouetted in the distance.
Having gotten near the island,
I searched for a place to land.
One of the first shots upon landing on Pulau Tikus.
My camera mysteriously stopped functioning
after this shot. Took me a while to get it to work again.
I wanted to reach the water tower, and to go that I had
to row out into the sea again, as I couldn't find a way to
clamber over those huge boulders. Also, because the last
time I came here, I saw a huge dead python, I was not keen
to come face to face with another slithering friend.
Finally I found a small cove and row my kayak up into it.
There was a dilapidated house on the rock, like something
that comes straight out of a children's storybook!
The water tower is right above me now.
The dilapidated house is full of grafitti,
kinda reminded me of the Blair Witch Project.
There's a flag flying here and it looks ... recent!
One shot from outside the tomb.
Notice the stone headboard on the right -
it calls the island as Pulo Kechil.
I suppose that's a very old name of this island.
I got in and took a shot of it. From the appearance,
it has recently been renovated, since the sign looked new.
One final shot of myself before I left Pulau Tikus.
The tripod came in handy after all.
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