One of the my biggest gripes about Singapore is that it is too flat. I love hiking though I’m not so much of a mountaineer, hiking through mountains really appeals to me. Unfortunately, Singapore is not the place for someone who is into this. Way back during the British era, most of Singapore was leveled to what it is now. Although Pulau Ubin is one of the few places in Singapore which was hardly touched by the rush of modernity, sadly for me, Pulau Ubin hardly has very tall mountains to speak of.
Although Pulau Ubin is also quite flat, this does not mean that there are no high places in the island. On the way back to the Pulau Ubin jetty, we stopped by a small hut for some drinks. The owner of the hut was a very friendly chap and he asked if we have climbed to the top of Ubin Quarry. This was the first time I have heard of the place and he highly recommended us to climb it.
We parked our bicycles beside his hut and we started to climb the small hill just in front of his hut. The climb wasn’t very strenuous at all but for a short time, as we were making our way through sometimes thick vegetation, we were transported into a rainforest. The path though visible was quite faint, it was as though this path wasn’t really traveled that much. I could imagine this to be true since the vast majority of visitors to Pulau Ubin would be just riding a bicycle around the island.
The top of the walk leads us to a small ledge which gives us a commanding view of huge Ubin Quarry. This is one of the largest of the quarries in Pulau Ubin and it is now filled with water, forming a small lake. The view of the quarry is a fitting reward for our short hike and we just loved the view. Visitors to the view point need to be careful though, since the ledge is unprotected and a slip could easily send anyone hurtling down to the ground below.
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