Singapore — Imbiah Trail, Sentosa, Singapore
A well-managed woodland and some cheesy landscaping
June 2015
The Imbiah Trail on Sentosa Island, Singapore, runs up the hill behind the Siloso Beach Resort.
It’s a weird trail with a fascinating history.
What made it peculiar was the hill's mixture of natural (well, managed) woodland and cheesy landscaping.
Mount lmbiah was occupied by military forces for more than a century until the 1960s. The top of the hill had been completely cleared of trees to give clear lines of fire; hence all the tree growth dates from around 1965. That is, all the growth is ‘secondary growth’ of only 50 years or so, which is impressive when you consider how thick the forest is, and the size of some trees.
The walk started (in my case) up a road with a big, large metal thing on one side. I have no idea what the metal thing was used for or why it was still there.
Parts of the walk are on proper ‘trails’ through the forest.
On the trail, there are several waterfalls. These are all false — artificial.
Below are the Imbiah Falls.
There was also the Tempinis Cascade, which looks even more artificial than the Imbiah Falls. Note the false rock just below the name of the falls.
Even the picnic tables were false in that they were made to look like wood but were made of concrete.
The photo below looks ‘artsy’ as the day when I walked the Imbiah Trail; it was so humid that it was almost impossible to keep my camera lens mist free.
And the most artificial waterfall of them all.
Even the ‘logs’ protecting the trail stairs from erosion were made of concrete and just made to look like logs. These can be seen in the photo below.
In summary, it is an interesting hike, particularly considering the hill’s history and proximity to Sentosa Beach. But, like many things on Sentosa Island, it is false, heavily managed, and feels unreal.
