Lepoh Falls, 18th mile Hulu Langat.

Small waterfall for a large group.

Another week has passed since the hike in Lata Naning and it seems the knees and ankles are looking OK. I wanted to sign up for the Bunga Buah hike but I was expecting a parcel, another lens actually , heh, heh and it was expected to arrive on Saturday which was the day of the hike. I deferred my hike to Sunday and also to test the new lens. This is my third Minolta lens actually, I still liked them as I was a loyal customer of Minoltas before Sony took over the company. 

Lilian has to work on that day actually but I have signed up, so we just went. We have to shoot back as soon as possible and since this should be an easy hike, she should be able to work after the hike. Lilian drove this morning and we had breakfast at a 'warong' at the 14th mile Hulu Langat road. Later, an old friend Tang Weng Kong and Meng Oye and another joined us. Just before 8.30am (the appointed time), we drove to the mosque but it was full of cars. As usual, I took my name tag and after a while, we all convoyed to the trail head.

Group photo!

At the trail head, we took a group photo but we couldn't start as Brigitte was a bit lost and we waited for her to arrive. She finally arrived but not much later. I took the sweeping role today and after all went ahead, me and Lilian crossed the bridge. In front of us was Robinson and company, a hiker I didn't see for quite some time. I took a slow hike and Satvin was not far ahead from us together with Siva and Sumi. Monique and her mom who also hike in Lata Naning was among the few last hikers. There's no rush actually, the trail was well marked by Alex's trail and although quite wide, it was under quite a heavy foilage. The humidity after the rain made me and others really sweat. The trail was not steep so this made hiking today easier.

Oh! Langsat, glorious langsat.

The trail passed through an orchard and there was a few 'langsat' (my favourite) trees. There was so much fruit on the branches and so many just fell to the ground. What a waste! There was durian trees but not bearing fruits. Betty was suffering as this was her first hike, well she did do FRIM. But FRIM can't really compare to a real jungle trail, can it? As the trail meanders deeper into the jungle, the elevation increases and finally we came to a steep ascend. Betty was telling Robinson off! Robinson promised an easy hike, he,he. She did managed anyway. She was happily joining the crowd and having lunch once at the falls.

From L to R, Satvin, Alexandre, Sumi, Sive, Robinson and Betty.

After 1 hour 40 minutes, we came to a shack. There was a solar panel there but it was not maintained at all. Also another waste of funds! A bit after that, Alex was there waiting for the last few. There was a dangerous section there, rocks! It was slippery and narrow. One slip and down into the gulley , you go!

The rest was there when we arrived and the place can hardly accommodate all of us, ha,ha,ha. Wei Ching, the 'water duck' was already in the waters. This time Sumi and Siva did not do any swimming. Mary was in her swimming attire and was enjoying her lunch, probably after a swim. The place, so small and all of us was laughing and joking there. The biggest joke was Soli who went water sliding from above the falls and rammed into the crowd below. No one was hurt but the lady gave Soli a big whack on his shoulders, ha,ha. Wei Ching was splashed! And I got it on camera!

Craaaaaash! Poor girl!

I sat at the far end with Lilian and Tang and few others just chatting and the topic was leeches. I did not encountered any, maybe spraying 'MosiGuard' into the shoes and also on the socks before putting them on helped. After a while, at 12.15pm, Lilian went over to Alex to bade him goodbye as we are descending. Lilian has to catch up with her job. Tang wanted to follow me and there were already a few others doing the same.

Today with the knees doing OK, descending just took us 65 minutes. By 1.20pm, we were already changing our shoes and on our way back home. On the way home, there was a downpour, I wondered how the others fared. The trail can be very slippery when it rains.

A total of approx. 9 km. hike, to and fro.

Today's hike, although easy was refreshing. At least we are sweating it off and also enjoying some nature time. We can't be doing tough hikes all the time. In fact, I think it is wiser to hike more simple ones and do a tough one once in a while. As the pictures here proofed, the new lens ( not new but bought newly as Minolta lenses are usually more than 20 years old! ) Ha,ha, ha! Like the Bahasa words, " Bukan beli baru tapi baru beli ".

A sneek revelation by Satvin says, " next week we are planning Kutu again ". So let's see if I am going to do Kutu again next week.

Lata Naning

The Group Photo

It's been quite a while since the last time I have been there. I think the last was March, so that's almost half a year ago. Time seems to pass so fast. There was actually another hike that was planned a day earlier where me and Lilian did signed up but we opted for this trip instead. Maybe she liked the place as I am not particular where I hike. There was another hike the next day to Tabur but I will have to judge if I can do after this hike.

Like usual, I like to wait at the venue instead of the appointed place because I like to travel slower as my 'Kancil' can only do so fast! It's also safer as I have experienced once when I was younger, we convoyed in 4 cars to Port Dickson and one car was involved in an accident and two of my friends perished. Maybe, that's why I don't like cars travelling in convoys.

Chamang in the early morning.

I did't get a wink of sleep the night before and I was all ready by 5.00am. I asked Lilian to drive and we were already there by 6.30am. It was still dark and there were already quite a number of cars parked there. Before long the rest arrived and Alex handed me the name tag. There were almost 50 hikers at this hike and it seems Alex's system of name tagging and 'compulsory' filling in a form works.

The hike begins like this!

As usual a group photo was taken and a briefing was given. So, off we went! As usual with Naning or Rajah, the start is a killer! You practically have no warm up and it's steep. It's probably a 70 degrees incline. Once up onto the 'logging trail' the hike is a slow......................tedious hike of 4 kilometers. And as usual me and Lilian is always the last. We do meet a few slow hikers but we are usually the last. By the time I reached 'Matau' a name given by the rangers here for a flat plain where the 'logging trail' continued to a sluice gate for the river, I barely had time to rest, Siva was moving the rest on.We are going offroad now, into a jungle trail. It's already been 75 minutes since we started.

It's a long road.

I must mention that this is the 4th time that I am on this trail and I do know the trail well. I know what to expect and what lies ahead. I didn't see much of the hikers as me and Lilian was taking it slower as we did not rest. When we reached 'River Y' only half the group was there taking a rest. There was a jam as there was a large rock to climb down to the river. I took the 'shoes taking off time' as a good time to take a breather. Then after crossing, the 'putting on shoes' time was also a good needed rest time for me.

Breather at 'River Y'

After putting on my shoes, Lilian was already ready and so were the rest. We started off again but Lata Naning is not far from here. The trail from here gets more tricky. Narrow ledges, fallen trees, coffin looking like tree..ha,ha. Trees roots, overhanging branches and small stream crossings with a sudden descending and an immediete ascending after crossing. Just before reaching the ridge where we hike on a small ledge with a deep gulley on one side and the cliff of the river on the other, I suffer a small cramp on my calfs, both of them! I had to slow down from now on. I took off my gear bag and took out a bottle of '100plus'.

It seems my engine is slowing down. There's a shortage of fuel treatment in my fuel systems. I am like a diesel, slow but reliable with good torque but really bad on the acceleration and top speed. From then onwards, I knew I am going to suffer on the way down! I was already thinking of the return leg. I was the last to reach and Bella urged me to sit down. The rest were already enjoying the rest and many others enjoying the waters. Boy! they should see the water here in Naning when the weather was good. The waters that day was murky with fine sand precipitating the waters after a downpour. A few campers on the way down confirmed this when we exchanged greetings.

Lata Naning

I had a lunch of leftovers, ha,ha,ha. Leftover spaghetti that was brought from my own fridge. Bella had some, Patrick had some too. Lilian boiled water for a good cup of Earl Grey, my usual drink! I asked Alex, what time will we be moving out and he replied, " latest by 2.00pm ". So I have a full solid 105 minutes to rest. That should be good. It was drizzling a bit up there and the weather can't hold long, I've guessed. By 1.00pm, you can see many have started to pack up and some even are ready to move. Many have started down already and I don't want to be the last again. 

We started off too at 1.20pm and Patrick passed me a walkie talkie. He wanted to test the range and effectiveness. We started off and I kept a fast pace but my fast pace was never a faster than the other's slow pace, ha,ha. It started to drizzle and I was thinking of 'River Y' where I had an experience the last time. I crossed 'River Y' and Lilian was relieved and just after starting a heavy downpour started. Lilian took out the ponchos and also covered her backpack with he rain cover. I stuff both cameras into the dry bag which I was carrying. I was actually anticipating rain today as it has been the past few days. That was why I choose the 'dry bag' over the more comfortable back packs. The uncomfortable 'dry bag' makes my effort worthwhile afterall.

A sign never obeyed.......sigh!~

A while later my legs were paining again. My feet was wet as water has already soaked the shoes in and out. The shoes seems to be getting smaller in size and was like seizing my ankles and toes. The last toe was starting to blister. The pain got more and more painful after a while. We have no alternative and our choices for now is, either you walk in pain at the same pace or you slow down to decrease the pain and 'God knows', how long will the hike be? Without asking or answering each other, we continued on as fast as we could. To her, the choice is easier but to me, one square feet of skin is barely enough to take 100 kgs in a fast pace. It's like 4 bicycle tyres running on a normal car. The pain on the blister and soles were excruciating

We kept on going and tried the walkie talkie without any reply. I had a few leeches on the way, something I never experienced before on this trail. I kept toying with the walkie talkie to no avail but I accidently switch on the radio. "Might as well entertain me for a while", I thought. Even the FM reception was bad, I doubt the UHF transmission will be of any use in the jungles. It was like the last experience we had the last time from then on. We were alone in ponchos, legs paining, heavy downpour, clearing all the obstacles that comes in view and I was following and watching Lilian's steps without looking around.......except that this time it's still daylight. We know the trail well, so, after reaching this cut log, stream etc we know how far we were from 'Matau'.

Matau

We reached 'Matau' at 4.15pm which was fast compared to the first time we did. I rested a while here and tried calling Patrick. This time there was a reply but I can't make out what he said. The signal was breaking off so much. I took a 'pee pee' here and then set off again. Like the last time, after a rain, the mud at the logging trail will stick to your soles. It makes walking harder and the mud flips all over after your steps and some will end IN your shoes. Patrick called in to say he's already 3 kilometers on the logging trail. That means he was 25-30 minutes ahead. when I reached the pipeline, Patrick called in and said Bella and him has reached the car park. I and Lilian finally reached the car park at 5.05pm.

First thing I did was took off the shoes and socks and then sat there. I did not want to do anything else. The bathrooms was dry without water supply. There was one source of water though, outside the toilets. After Lilian cleaned herself up, she used a bottle to store water and clean herself in the toilet with that. I on the other hand, took off my shirt and then drenched myself and then walked into the toilet to dry up and changed into a set of dry clothes.

EC Chan was looking at me and said I am to take them somewhere for something good in Bentong. I was like , " HUH! ". I only know 'ice kacang' in Bentong and they said a proper meal was needed. I told them Janda Baik is a better place and they said too far. So, I just took them back to Bentong town and hunt for the place with the most customers. Ha,ha,ha. So much for a foodie. We sat ourself in a place called " Talk 3, Talk 4 Restaurant". There were 14 of us and it kind of intimidated the boss. He dared not take our order and instead pushed her young daughter to take our orders. Seems funny, if I was the boss, I will try my best to hold on the customers if you never seen a crowd before. So, we joked and ate and then paid and say our 'goodbyes' and left.

The Route

Can I called it enjoyable day? The friends and jokes was, the hike was painful but it never makes us give up. Don't ask me why, I don't know. So, till the next hike.

Chilling Waterfalls.........A place I never get bored with!

The majestic falls of Chilling.

Ever since the first time I went to Chilling, I have loved the place. Maybe because the river crossings, the easy hiking or maybe because of the fishes. It  has been a long time since I been there and last Sunday, 5th August 2012, KL Hiking group organized an outing there. 

Since I have been there before and knows the place, I have opted to go there first and not rendezvous at Bukit Beruntung toll plaza. Me and Lilian took a very leisurely drive as the meet was quite late, at 9.00am. The place opens at 8.00 am anyway. It is actually a fish sanctuary managed by our Fisheries Department for the preservation of our local species of fish, namely the Kelah. This is a very highly prized fish which is fished almost to extinction due to the quality as a table fish. Looking at the fishes swimming in abundance here actually makes me happy and it can be called towards your wiggling fingers.

Hikers congregating at the entrance.

I was at the entrance at 8.00 am after a breakfast in KKB. Me and Lilian was the first one there and I had the opportunity to chat with a KKB local who cycled there. Cycling seems interesting too! The convoy arrived shortly and after Alex passed me my name tag, we were on our way into the sanctuary. Wei Ching collected RM2 for the entrance fee and there was a total of 66 participants. After gate collection was given and also a short briefing by Alex, we crossed the '4X4 bridge', a term coined by the rangers there, meaning to cross the bridge 4 person at one time!

The trek was an easy one so I don't have to be on sweeper duty this time. I was free to take photos. It was not as wet as the last time too and this makes the trek faster. Not long after we started, we came to the first river crossing, it's called the second one as the first one is the bridge, where you can choose to walk cross the bridge or cross the river. Like before, there were many hikers that are there to assist in the river crossing and even me had a helping hand, much to the dismay to Siva! Someone held a helping hand, off course being polite I held on to it, ha,ha,ha, eventhough I was firmly standing on my own.

One of the many river crossings.

We came to the third, fourth, fifth and then the final one before reaching the lower falls. All regrouped here before deciding who wants to stay or carry on to the upper falls. I brought some biscuits to feed the fishes here but sadly, it was hardly enough. I must bring more next time. The fishes were swarming all over!

Abundance of 'Kelah' swimming in safety.

It seems that only one person stayed back due to a weak knee and all the rest were going to the upper falls. The elevation here was 290 meters asl. I wanted to stay too as the tendonitis on my achilles heel is still there and I am on some weird drugs sold by some chinese medicine shop which seems to cure until it wears off! Lilian urged  me to climb and I was contemplating on staying. Finally I relented and followed them. The  trek started with a steep slope but it was not hard on me, quite suprising! I managed to follow them but the trek was slow due to the many obstacles ahead. We came to a fork where one leads higher to the third level and the other the second but Alex suggested that we do the higher one first. All made it without much difficulty and by the time I got there, many were already in the cool water. My watch recorded 420 meters for the elevation here. It's just a mere 130 meter climb but took us 40 minutes. Much to my suprise the climb was not hard, maybe because of the training I had in Lone Pine last week!

The merry group enjoying themselves.

Lilian choose a nice spot and we sat there, having a nice picnic. We finished our lunch hastily and drank a lot too. We chatted with other hikers and I was taking snaps of everyone enjoying the water. Monika cut her knee on some fallen bamboo and Alex decided to take her down first after some first aid. Satvinder has to follow as she gave her a lift. The moved out first, leaving Sivamohan and Wei Ching to take charge.

At 1.00pm, Siva gestured everyone to move to the lower falls. I was the nearest to the exit and me, Lilian and EC.Chan was first down. We caught up with Alex, Satvinder and Monika but after a while we took the lead down.Siva caught up later but we stopped at the fork to the second falls. Siva guided them towards the seconds falls but since I was not going, I was given the task to herd the rest towards the path. Except for Alex and Monika, the last swept by Wei Ching arrived. I told Wei Ching I am going to wait for the them at the Ranger Station.

The local resident of Chilling.

Me and Lilian headed down first. The descend was as usual fast paced and we met Uma waiting there at the lower falls. He has crossed the river and was waiting for all the others. We told him that the others are coming soon and he waited for the rest while me and Lilian kept our pace back to the crossings. We managed to reach the bridge to the station by 3.00pm. We clean up at the facilities there and waited at the gazebo there. It was relaxing and we finished up all the food we had left. I was watching some families enjoying the cool river there when it started to rain.

One by one, the others came out of the jungle and rejoined the group at the station. some overshot the junction and have to cross the river instead of crossing the bridge. The rain was getting heavier at this juncture and finally Alex appeared with Siva, Sumithra and Satvinder with Monika in tow. After much bantering around the gazebo, the rain finally slowed down to a drizzle. A list check was made and we all made our way to our cars which was parked outside, a half a kilometer walk away. We finally parted, leaving me still grinning from the jokes and bantering the whole trip. It was fun and sometimes I think, we should do some simple hikes time to time, instead of torturing ourself on tough hikes all the time.

The injured is taken care, not by one but FOUR!

If there's another Chilling, I bet you, I will sign up.