PENANG HILL (or 'How I got a Monkeyphobia')

Around Europe there are plenty of mandatory signs telling us not to feed the birds. Little did I know, while walking past the Please Do Not Feed the Monkeys-signs at the beginning of our hike up Penang Hill, that this was also... A thing. But boy was I about to find out.

An attempt of getting the steepness of the roads captured in photography/Heidi's unexpected tan lines at the end of the day (it was cloudy for -heaven's- sake!)

Most people take the train when they go to the top of Penang Hill. But not your Scandinavian Trio. Those roads were the indeed the steepest I have ever experienced and it felt somewhat like we walked five kilometres straight up to the heavens. Sweat was pouring down every inch of our bodies, but we kept on. This was, after all, our first ever rain forest trekk. Figuring we would need something salty and energetic, 
I had brought snacks in the shape of salted peanuts.

    So there I was, chewing on said peanuts whilst we approached a group of monkeys hanging out on the road. Fascinating, really. They just sat there, picking fleas off each other (as you do) and were completely unbothered by our existence. Emily and Heidi casually took some photos but I tried my best to keep a distance; walking as far away from these creatures as the road would allow. 
We pass the monkeys and cross the next corner. 

 And there , halfway through my thinking "phew" and "we made it",  he is. Out of nowhere he comes jumping from the side of the road. Before I know it this metre-tall chimpanzee is bouncing just centimetres away from my face. He screams. I scream. Despite my 13 years in school they never said anything about how to get a jumping monkey away from you - what the heck do I do???

      I hear Emily's voice in periphery say something about him wanting the peanuts and I realize I have them locked in my hand. With the Please Do Not Feed The Monkeys-sign in the back of my mind I throw the bag of salted peanuts at him and he immediately disappears after it. 

The crisis is over. At this point there's another four kilometres to go until we reach the top of the hill and although I am out of peanuts I am now paranoid at every single sound coming from the djungle. 
While I do feel bad about littering in nature, part of me also hopes that that chimp will get a genuine belly ache from chewing straight into that plastic bag. 

An abandoned hotel at the top of the hill.

It's unfortunately a cloudy day so we cannot really enjoy the view from the top much. On the way up, we met a group of yankees on their way down, throwing some encouraging words of "It is a lot easier on your way down!". What a bunch of Liars! The way down is worse. With a mind thinking the worst bit is over and with legs like jello you now have to use the front side of your legs to break the speed all the way down, or else you'll have to run. (Although, if it saves you from the monkeys, is maybe not such a bad thing.)