Southern Ridges: Afternoon Hike
Been stuck at home for a few months now - haven't travelled anywhere and it's already killing me. I've been very lazy and just wanna eat and sleep all day long. Arg. So, I decided to just write about the activities I have done before, uhm, months.. months.. months ago (and maybe years ago?). One of those fun excursions I did way back is the hike to Southern Ridges. Woho!
I have always been in love with trekking and hiking. In fact, I have climbed three summits in Cebu (excluding those hiking activities I've joined when I was a girl scout), wherein one of them I trekked twice already. Southern Ridges is a popular destination for hikers - the trail isn't that tough or challenging. It's a perfect place to go on a great outdoor activity and to sweat out.
Southern Ridges comprise of 10 km green, open spaces that connect 5 parks in Singapore: Mouth Faber Park, Telok Blangah Hill Park, Hort Park, Kent Ridge Park and Labrador Nature Reserve. It's the home to a wide variety of flora and fauna. All these ridges are ideal destinations for history buffs, walking enthusiasts, nature lovers (like me), shutterbugs and families who wish to experience an exciting family activity.
We started our hike at around 4pm so it wouldn't be that hot. Our starting point was in Alexandra Road. We had two options - either the Forest Walk (trail on land) or Canopy Walk (trail above the forest). My best friend was a little scared to go on a land trail, hence we opted for the canopy walk. Elevated 16 metres above the ground, we had a magnificent view of the city.
From the canopy, we were able to see different kinds of plants and wildlife, including squirrels. After the canopy walk, we reached a concrete road but still filled with trees. The side walk had signs leading toward the Henderson waves and how many kilometres more we needed to hike.
Along the way, we stopped by a small park, wherein we needed to climb a few steps to reach the top.
We had a panoramic view of the city from the top while the sun was setting. We rested for a few minutes, inhaling fresh air and feasting our eyes with the breathtaking scenery.
Minutes have passed and we continued with our journey to Henderson Waves. We saw other hikers taking other trails.
Finally, we reached Henderson Waves after almost 2 hours. It is a structure not to be missed when you visit Singapore. The Henderson Waves stands 36 metres above the Henderson Road, and is the highest pedestrian bridge in the entire country. It is famous for its artistic, unique wave-like architectural structure consisting of a series of undulating curved wooden "ribs."
These curved ribs formed alcoves that served as shelters with seats within. We slumped onto one alcove and took some pictures. From the top, we could feel the bridge shook a little whenever buses and vehicles passed by the road. The decks of the Henderson Waves were made from slats of yellow balau wood, an all-weather timber found in Southeast Asia. What made the bridge more interesting are the lights installed. The wave-forms are lit with LED lamps at night from 7pm to 2am daily giving a delightful view of the bridge.
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| Photo credit: yoursingapore.com |
The Henderson bridge looks incredible during night time.
The view from the top of the bridge was marvelous. However, looking down the road was a little scary - I could imagine what if someone falls from the bridge. Arg there goes my imaginative brain..
It was getting dark, so we decided to continue hiking toward Marang Trail, where we planned to exit. After the Henderson Waves, we walked through a forest that gave me a chill. I could imagine horror and suspense-thriller films being shot there. haha. Me and my "filmmaker-wanna be" mind.
A few minutes walk, we reached the Faber Park. If you wanna reach Sentosa Island by cable car, you can start here, or vice versa. It was already around 7pm when we passed by Faber Park and the night had fallen.
We were about to descend to Marang trail when my best friend hesitated. For her, taking the trail to exit would not be a good option when it's dark since there were no lights in the middle of the forest and it's already on land. She feared snakes might come out. lol.
Anyway, so we marched back to Faber Park and booked a taxi. We waited for 30 minutes and we were surprised that a car came to pick us up. Lucky us we got a grab-a-car instead of taxi. We asked Uncle to take us to Ikea where we can have a sumptuous dinner after that hours of hiking. Actually, I failed to check the exact time we started and finished due to excitement.
So, hiking Southern Ridges is one of the most exciting things to do in Singapore if you love nature. Maybe I'll hike it again when I'm already back in shape, just a couple of months from now. *excited*
See yah!