pulau ubin island’s highest point

It was time to hit Pulau Ubin Island’s trails, so I headed towards Puaka Hill first. The paved road was lined with thick forests that had regenerated and hidden old rubber and coffee plantations. Amidst the lush vegetation, the surroundings had a murmuring melody of their own, but what was that far off sound?

The sounds along the trail

The trail was level until I reached the 400 metres of dirt path leading to the hill. I climbed with a group of university students who planned to camp in the area, and when I reached the summit, the disused quarry below was hard to recognize. It was filled with water (featured photo). Beyond the old granite quarry was more lush forest and further afield Singapore Island in one direction and Malaysia in the other.

The trail to Puaka Hill, Pulau Ubin Island

There was a number of other groups as I ventured through the park — even rangers checking on trees, but only a handful of tourists. It was great to see in every working group I came across all Singapore’s ethnicities represented.