Roaring Forties

 

 

 

Care to climb a top ten highest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia at relative ease?

No	Top Ten Highest Mountains	Feet	Meters	Location	State
1	Gunung Tahan	7,185	2,190	Tahan Range	Pahang
2	Gunung Korbu	7,162	2,183	Ulu Kinta	Perak
3	Gunung Yong Belar	7,156	2,181	Titiwangsa Range	Pahang
4	Gunung Gayong	7,129	2,173	Ulu Kinta	Perak
5	Gunung Chamah	7,122	2,171	Gua Musang	Kelantan
6	Gunung Yong Yap	7,113	2,168	Ulu Kelantan	Kelantan
7	Gunung Ulu Sepat	7,089	2,161	Temenggor	Kelantan
8	Gunung Batu Putih	6,993	2,131	Kg. Woh, Tapah	Perak
9	Gunung Irau	6,923	2,110	Brinchang, CH	Pahang
10	Gunung Benom	6,913	2,107	Jerantut	Pahang

Gunung Irau is undisputedly the most accessible and the easiest to climb amongst all of Peninsular Malaysia’s top ten highest mountains. It is the ninth highest standing at a height of 6,923 feet or 2,110 meters, a mere 262 feet or 80 meters lower than Gunung Tahan, the highest of them all. But in comparison to Gunung Tahan, climbing Gunung Irau is a walk in the park due to two reasons. 

Firstly, the track starts at the Gunung Brinchang trunk road which is the highest paved road in Peninsular Malaysia. This means that you do not start at sea level or in the lowlands but at a relative high altitude of about 6,000 feet.

Secondly, a return trip from the starting point to the peak can be done comfortably within 7 hours which means that there is no need for heavy overnight packs. Comparatively, all of the other ten highest mountains require trekking over longer distances, climbing much higher elevation and involve overnight camping unless you are a  physical extreme junkie where in one case, I know a lady who managed Gunung Korbu in an 18 hours return trip marathon instead of a  4 days normal trek. 

My first attempt at Gunung Irau was in August 15. Mei & I left K.L. 3.30 in the morning to meet up with our friends who had put up the night at the Kwan Tee Temple in Kg Raja.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stories of hearing a lady sobbing into the night prompted us to forgo our sleep and took the wee hours drive instead. We managed to reach on time at 6.30 am for the rendezvous. There were a total of nineteen of us. Break fast came next and promptly at 7.30 am we started driving to the starting point of the track. Unfortunately, our leader’s GPS took us to Brinchang town instead. We were delayed for about 30 minutes when Ee who has been to Irau before, took over the lead and directed us to the correct road and we were soon going past the Pallas tea plantation heading towards Gunung Brinchang. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We could hear a light air craft hovering above us and the next thing we knew, we were bombarded with white coloured pallets. For a moment we were stunned. It felt like we were attacked by a WWII Zero. The white pellets fell from the sky like rain hitting our car, the road and the surrounding tea plants. Then we realised that the pellets were fertiliser which is been sowed by the plane. What an interesting start to the trip?

We continued our drive up the mountain until we come across a hut with a wooden staircase. This is the starting point for Gunung Irau. We promptly parked our cars but with the new digital photographing culture, we lost another good 30 minutes as everyone wanted get their pictures taken.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We finally started 9.45 am. Being big group, there was a queue at the starting point. Mei & I pushed ahead as we did not want to be stuck with the stragglers. The starting point is a series of wooden stair case leading to a wooden broad-walk which ran about 200 meters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 It was very scenic and we could see the mountain ranges though the trees. At the end of the boardwalk, we started descending. This intrigued me as I thought we were supposed to be climbing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The descend took a good 30 minutes before we started climbing again. The terrain consist purely of roots and mud. It was a lot scrambling using all fours. The climb was longer than the descend and just when we thought it was never ending, we reached a summit just before noon. It was a beautiful spacious summit. We were pre-warned that it was a false summit so we knew we still have some ground to cover. Janice & Justin caught up with us 5 minutes later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 After a short rest, the four of us set out for the Irau summit together.

 Again we have to descend and as it was already past noon, we hurried as the turn back time was 2.00 pm.  After 20 minutes, we started the climb again. It was a good 30 minutes to finally reach the summit at about 1.00 pm. Yes, we reached the ninth highest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia. 

We managed to rest a good 20 minutes before the second group arrived. All in nine of us made it to the summit. The rest were either too busy taking pictures of the scenic track or they were stopped at the false summit by Mr. Liau, our organizer who insisted a turn back time of 2.00 pm at the summit or 1.30 pm at the false summit. This was to ensure that everyone has enough time to get out before night fall.

I was pleasantly surprised that the track wasn’t too tough but it was very interesting especially the mossy forest which we have to trek through. The terrain was very challenging and muddy. It involved a lot of scrambling and climbing over trees and roots. 

 

We left the summit at 1.45 pm and backtracked the same way back. Normally, the return trip is faster for the other mountains as it would be mainly descent but the Gunung Irau trek is shaped like a “W” where we have to descend and then climb to the false peak before descending again and climb the final stretch to reach the starting point. We couldn’t really improved on our returning time. As a matter of fact, I was tired out at the final ascent stretch and was relatively slower.  Nevertheless, we made it out before 5.00 pm and it was a truly great trek. It was most enjoyable!

Jan 1 – Time really flies. While sitting back to reflect for the past year, one would always reminisce on the good times. I always try to capture the good times on my digital camera so that it would invoke the memories. I share these pictures in Flickr and my 10 most memorable pictures from my Flickr account are as per below;

My Creation of Beer Bottles – Most Viewed 11,460 views.

Something I created out of boredom and had the most views in Flickr

 

Bromo Volcano – Viewer’s Favorite – 22 and Most Comments – 70.

Was a great trip and truly one of the most spectacular sight  I have seen.

Children In Bangkok – Voted As Most Interesting By Flickr

I wonder why but this picture was chosen as most interesting by Flickr

Bukit Tinggi Colmar Village – Favourite Malaysian Scene -11 by Flickr

It looks better in picture than in real life and the place in now in disrepair.

My Favourite City Skyline Shot – Dubai U.A.E.

The dessert air made the scene looked so unreal.

My Favourite Road Trip – Sapa, Vietnam

An unbelievable trip on motorbikes through the mountain pass of Tram Ton.

My Favourite Malaysian Destination – Cameron Highlands

Has always been a favourite place for me. I just love the cool air.

My Favourite People Shot – Sapa, Vietnam

Suu was a friendly Hmong girl who followed us thorough our trek.

My Most Memorable Journey – East Africa

Most memorable as it was the journey where I broke my left arm and my right hand.

Have some unfinished business there and will want to revisit this place one day.

My Most Memorable Stay – Manila, Philippines

Lastly but not least, my stay in Manila will always be a special part of me.

Mar 8 – It was the 12th Malaysian General Election Day when we made our way up to Cameron Highlands for a retreat at the Hilltop Bungalow. This escapade was the second visit to this old Cameron Highlands establishment for May and I but it was the first time for VM, YP, ML & JS.

We agreed to allow the morning for voting obligation and to proceed for a rendezvous in Bidor at the well known Pun Chun Restaurant for brunch. From Bidor, we proceeded to Lata Iskandar where we took a short break to absorb some negative ions from the falls. We then stopped at the Bharath Tea Plantation for a pit stop and a photo break.

We finally arrived at Tanah Rata at 3 pm and proceeded to the bungalow where we had to navigate through a narrow and steep climb up a private hill. The sight of the bungalow as you emerged at the top of the hill, never failed to bring out a whispered “wow” from my heart.

The Hilltop Bungalow was not majestic in comparison to some of the old colonial bungalows but it portrayed a picture of real serenity for me. It was a quaint little bungalow on top of its own knoll without any neighbouring structures in sight. The curved driveway and the green lawn provided a picturesque welcome.

Mrs. Chong’s famous scones with English tea were waiting for us and we had the honour to be the last weekend guests for Mrs. Chong as she was due to retire on Mar 15.

After tea, we took the opportunity play badminton in the drizzle with the kids in the beautiful green lawn. When the drizzle turned to rain, we seek shelter. It was then time for beer and chilling out in the living room while absorbing the cool mountain air.

Mrs. Chong then announced that dinner was ready and we were treated to a sumptuous steamboat; the real stuff over hot coal fire. There is no better place to enjoy a steamboat dinner than in the cold of Cameron Highlands.

We also took the opportunity to celebrate EW’s birthday. Due to non communication, we ended up with two jelly cakes, both little doggies jelly cakes.

After a splendid dinner and having our tummies stuffed to the brim with jelly, we adjourned to the living room to watch the Election Results.

ML introduced a puzzle where you have get 10 nails and a piece of wood. The objective of the game was to balance nine nails on one nail. I was distracted with the incoming election results. May and Renee managed to solve the puzzle after about 30 minutes. It was quite remarkable.

We drank beer and kept vigil as the 12th Election Results kept coming in. By 10.30 p.m., text messages came in the Selangor has gone to the opposition. But there was nothing on TV. Only at about 11.00 p.m., RTM announced that PAS has taken Kelantan. At midnight, Kedah was officially an opposition state and at 1.00 a.m. Penang joined suit. By 3.00 a.m., there were still no announcement for Selangor despite SMSes confirming the results as early as 10.30 p.m. We then decided to call it a night.

That was how we spent 8th March 2008, a truly historic day in Malaysian politics. 

I have been to Cameron Highlands on numerous occasions and has always wondered what Robinson Waterfalls was like but never actually attempted to visit it.

Finally, I managed to assembled a group of enthusiasts (May, VM, YP, JS, ML, JT, Joey and the kids) for the mini adventure. Locating the falls was relatively easy. Coming up from Tapah, take the first right turn after the main row of shoplots in Tanah Rata. Drive on for about one km and look out for sign to indicate another right turn.

Proceed straight to the end and park your car. The path to the Robinson Waterfalls lies across a concrete bridge. From the bridge, walk for one km and you will reach the main falls.

What’s interesting about the falls is that you reach the top of the falls first and the trail leeds down the mountain. We could see the falls but could not find any assess to the falls as the side of the trail faced a steep ravine.

 

As we walked down the trail, we found that it led us away from the falls. After a good 2 km down the mountain, JT and I being the least fit were horrified at the thought of climbing back up the long 2 km uphill. To our relief, failing daylight forced us to turn back as we did not want to be caught in the dark.

We met an orang asli on our trek back and asked about the falls. Our good man advised us against going to the falls because the water is very toxic as it was actually a pesticide laced ground water flowing from up the mountain where all the farms were. His reasoning made real sense.

We also inquire about the trail down the mountain and we were informed that it stretched a good 10 km all the way to Ringlet.

Robinson Waterfalls is an easily assessed falls from Tanah Rata and makes a great trek in the cool atmosphere. After the advice from my Orang Asli friend, I would think twice before attempting to bathe or swim in its waters.

It is one of the most assessible waterfalls. Lata Iskandar is located at the side of the mountain along the main trunk road to Cameron Highlands. You can park along the road and take a short walk to the bottom of the falls where you could have a good overall view of the falls. 

The more energetic could do the 3 minutes hike up the cemented steps to the top of the falls. It is a nice small   but tall falls which would make a perfect picnic and swim spot if not for being easily assessed. The place can be crowded during week ends and tne holiday season. Souvenir stalls near the falls offers an interesting range of handicrafts including orang asli products.  

  

Lata Iskandar is an ideal stopover for city slickers (not the hardcore nature lovers) on the way to Cameron.