Simple Elegance!

The statistic during Mt. Kinabalu trip….

- 10 people suppose to join this trip. 1 pull-out last minute
- 8 able to reached the peak while one with cramp calf muscles at Laban Rata. Kesian!
- We climb via Mersilau trail to Laban rata & descent down via Timpohon gate.
- Took us 8hours++ to climbed to Laban Rata & another 3 hours to the peak
- 1 married couple, Katie & Don
- 6 married and 3 still available plus 1 anak dara
- 1 person have a weight > 90kg.  Guest who?
- 1 person nearly lost at Laban Rata and make most of the team panic…
- 1 person reached at Laban Rata after dinner. Luckily sempat tapau for him…
- 1 person sharing the bed with others trekker ( cos the room with 8 bed already occupied )
- 1 person keep sleeping on the path after 30 minutes of walk… gila!
- Just everyone about to sleep, this 1 guy give a very good air boom….stinky fart! *yuck*
- 3 people keep fighting with their snoring & make others can’t sleep. Best snoring is… who ek?..
- 3 people wear LAFUMA shoe while others only wear cap ayam ..
- 5 DSLR , 4 Nikon and 1 Canon. What? Canon?
- 2 people didn’t bring any camera at all, even the compact…
- 1 Infrared camera but rarely used
- 2 tripod brought to KK but only one used. The other one damn heavy..
- 1 tripod has been used as trekking pole during descent to Laban Rata. Sorry Pian!

What else aaa?….

Full report coming soon. I’m lazy now!

The benchmark for us before we conquer Mount Kinabalu. 2 more weeks to go. I told the team that we need to reach at-least at Puncak Pengasih or paling busuk pun Kem Pacat. Or else, we can forget to climb Mt. Kinabalu/ This is my 2nd time to climb Nuang, the first time not even reach Puncak Pengasih and i dont want to do the same mistake again. Not anymore! So i decided to bring only my compact camera hehehe ( last time i bring both my dslr & all my lense )

OK, Below are the short report & photos from my compact.

Saturday 20Feb

9:00pm : Meet @Petronas Bkt Jalil.
Confirmed : Me, Yukhairi aka Singa , Pian, Razak, Yazid, Nizam, Don, Katie & Aifah.
Absent with apologies: Awie, Din

10:00pm : Depart to Nuang Base-camp Ranger. Stop at nearest restaurant to buy some food n water. Nasi goreng + burger.

11:00pm : Arrived at Nuang Ranger. Do final packing… Singa seems to have more weight. hehehe You’re the only person bring dslr,extra equipment and food

11:45pm : Start trekking to Lolo camp. It’s a boring track & never ending road. Org kata ‘jalan penyesalan’. As expected, Singa start struggling with his heavy bag. Keep stop for every 10 minutes walk.. hehehe Now you know! The first part of the journey was really testing our mental. Up and down walk from 200m absl to 500 m absl. At times, we reach 445m, but later we had to descend to 300m…..then up again, then down again….really-really mental!

02:15am : Arrived Lolo camp after 2hr 30mins of mental torture… Setup tent & have a late dinner. Thank to Katie & Arifah for d nescafe. sedap!

03:00am : Sleep. ZZzzzzz… Some of us decided to sleep in tent. For me, Don, Nizam & Yazid just enough in sleeping bad. hope it’s not raining. I heard Pian kena kacau… someone keep scratching his hand.. hmmmm Tidor dalam tent pun kena kacau…

Sunday 21Feb

07:00am : Wakeup. Prepare for the breakfast. Sandwich & Kopi O kaw. Ada org tak mandi. Hehehe .

08:30am : The journey started. We keep our tent at Lolo . Just bring the compulsory items the the peak ( headlamp, water, chocolate & camera )
Muka masing2 masih suci & bersih… almaklum la.. Azab belum start lg

At the waterfall, Lolo

10:30am : Me & Arifah reached Kem Pacat. Setup d poncho for the rests.

11:15am : Everyone @ Kem Pacat. Razak & Don decided not to continue to conquer the summit. Mr Don have a valid reason… You razak? Hahahaha jangan mare!

At Kem Pacat

11:45am :Continue 2nd part. Still a long way to go. Track much more difficult compare from Lolo to Pacat.

One of the tough part to the peak

Virgin jungle reserve

01:45pm : Hohohohoho.. Yehaaaa. Me, yazid, Yukhairi, Katie & Arifah reached the top of Mt Nuang. Highest mountain in Selangor. Pian & Nizam join us 20mins later. Congratulation to all. We spent about 45mins up there. Nothing much scenery to photograph except the old hut. Dah berkarat pun

This is to proof that I’ve reached the summit of Mount Nuang

02:30pm : Descent to Kem Pacat. Slightly fast. 1hr 30mins. Sleep while waiting for Pian & Nizam. Tired already. Razak & Don keep smiling on us.. Korang tak naik atas, tak tau la azab dia camna

04:45pm : Descent down to Lolo. Me & Yazid run all d way. Took us 30mins only to Lolo then straightly jump to the waterfall.

05:45pm : All reached Lolo.

06:30pm : Pack all stuffs. Last coffee & maggi cup there.

08:00pm : Last journey to Nuang ranger. Another ending road. Bye Lolo

10:00pm : Arrived Ranger. Time to go back home.

11:00pm : BYE. I wont come here again…

My conclusions about NUANG:
- The Landscape is not Worth the Pain
- It’s not a place for photography
- Good to test your mental & fitness

The Kinabalu trip is getting closer. We need more training & training…This is a warm-up session before the real training next week in Gunung Nuang. Hope everyone ready for it!

Meet-up @Restoran Deen Melawati at 6.30am. Yeahh this is too late to catch the sunrise… Arey, King Marul & wife also join this trip. Oh ya, Fahmi & the gang also join hehehehe, first time for them. Habis la korang… habis lahhhh
We start climb at 7am via Tabur East route. The trail is more tough compare to Tabur West and i can hear someone start bubbling non-stop.. thehehe.. menyesal ikut la.. takde kerja cari kerja la… hahahaha

I’m not worry about Razak as he already managed to reach Mount Datuk few week ago. My concern is Pian because this is d 1st time he join the practise , hehehe Just after 15minute, both of them seems struggling to climb. Peluh dah start mencurah2 especially Pian.. muahahaha Takpa! Korang tetap hebat!

Yazid masih steady, Muka Razak & Pian dah macam org minta nyawa…heheh

After 1 hour climb, we reach the first checkpoint, a good place to rest and shoot photo. View from here is very beautiful as you can see Genting Highland, the entire lake & Dam. We stop here for 30-45 minutes for rest & have some snacks. I bring my favorite fruit, black grape..

Senyum apa? Ni baru separuh jalan la

Arey in action.

Heaven. What a beautiful view

Then we continue our journey to the peak. Still a long way to go… From here you can see a lots of Salak tree on your path. Ada yg dah berbuah pun cuma masih berputik. The trail is up and down until the last part where you need to climb vertically at almost 80 degree. Be very careful when use the rope. One person at one time.. Dont rush!

Penunggu Bukit Tabur. hehehe

Concentrate Razak.. concentrate!

Oh oh…. this is scary!

I am so proud of you guys, we make it!

Tabur in panorama view

East Wing is shorter then West Wing, We need to walk back the same path where we climb up because there is only one path. Overall, it took us 3 hours to conquer it, it is extremely tired. As usual, we celebrate it with Nasi Ayam Melawati + ABC special.

Journey to the Tabur East - END ~!!!

Gunung Datuk aka Mount Grandfather

Participants:
Car 1: Me, Razak, Pauline, Katie & Don
Car 2: Yazid, Nizam & Arifah
Car 3: Awie & Din ( from Rembau)

5.45am
Razak reached Giant Kinrara. Kena soal siasat ngan polis 2-3 minit hahahaha..
Meet-up at my house. The drive from Puchong to Rembau was about an hour at a leisure speed of 100 km/h. We stop at Seremban R&R for breakfast. Tunggu kereta Arifah pun sama. Lambat sangat!

8.00am
Reached the foothill. We need to pay RM3 for the parking. Since this is my second trip to the place, I know it’s not very hard to reach the peak. The route itself is not tough, it the weight of our haversacks makes the trip slightly tough. it is really just a hill with a height of 870m. So the trek time isn’t very long. Trekking at a moderate speed will take 3 hours two-ways. The trail is really straightforward as there’s one clear path leading all the way to the peak.

Pity on you la Razak. First time join our activity. Looks like you’re very struggle to climb it. But it just for starting. Once you get the pace, should be OK. Awie & Din terpaksa jadi sweeper.

Don & Nizam our model

Half way to the peak. Katie decided to wait here as she can’t proceed to the top anymore. Her reason is she sleep too long while on d way to foothill .. :P

The best part of the trek is at the peak. There is no beirut, nor muddy ground and tall trees to block the view. Formed by several gigantic granite boulders, the area around the peak is spacious. Whoever braves the few rungs of metal ladders and sits at the peak will be offered a 360-degree view. On a clear day, one can see the Seremban town and as far as the Straits of Malacca.

Stair to the peak.

Top view from 870m above the sea level

Once at the top, be prepared for for some of the strongest winds on an open mountain top. After the walk up, sitting with the strong cool winds blowing in you face is truly a refreshing experience.
Hehehe What happen to your hair pauline?.. btw, respect with you la.. watermelon tu… heavy wo!

We spent quite a bit of time chatting with other climbers while enjoying the beautiful and interesting sound various faunas- insects, birds, various species of monkeys etc…
Group photo

Group photo in HDR

Last makan2 before we descent down. Aik? Katie pun ada?.. oh ya!.. She slowly climb to the peak… Scare of waiting alone? hehehe

The journey down was shorter, it took us about an hour to the foothill.

I’m looking forward for a few more hills in coming weeks. Hope I’m prepared enough for Mount Kinabalu next month
In my mind so far : Bukit Tabur, Bukit Saga, Gunung Nuang

This is what I’m waiting for…never been here before, so i’m very excited with National Park. However, the trip is just only 2 days and 1 night stay in Kuala Tahan which i think is not enough the explore.

Arrangement has been made among teams who will drive from KL. So we planned to meet at Gombak SHELL petrol station toward Karak highway at 7am. I bring all my family for this trip. Just to let them feel the nature especially my kids who really love this kind of activity. Mana ade budak tak suka mandi sungai? kan? oh ya, my in-law also join.

Sometimes the journey is not as what we planned. Hmmm
Emran & gang already in Karak highway. KingMarul is on d way while I just warm-up my car. Still in Keramat. Janji melayu! So, we decided to meet at Bentong PETRONAS station. I told them to drive slowly so i can catch up.

9:00am : Met all the teams @Petronas station. Take a light breakfast then continue to Jerantut. We drove slowly at 140km/h. The kelisa really fast even with 3 big fat people inside.. hehehe jangan marah ye?…

10:30am : Arrived Jerantut. Dr Jamal & the gang already there. We take another breakfast (again?) then continue to Kuala Tahan. Another 1 hour drive

12:00pm : Reached Aki Chalet. Check-in and prepare for the canopy walkaway trekking. We need to register @Perhilitan for permit & camera. If i’m not mistaken fee is RM10/person & RM5/camera (SLR la kot). Compact bole sorok dalam pocket. hehehe

Kuala Tahan, The gate to National Park, Pahang

01:00pm : At Canopy Walkaway. The trekking to the entrance canopy is harder than the Canopywalk itself. It’s about 50meter vertical. I bring my wife, Farhan & brother in-law only since yg lain takut nak manjat2 bukit ni…

KingMarul with his gears

My wife. Aik? Pegang tali tu takut ke?

After the 350m canopy walkaway… main jongkang jongket plak!

These are my Infrared collections.

Can you see my wife at the end of this canopy?

WOW.. pink tu?

03:30pm : Back to chalet for lunch and then free & easy activity. I just shoot Macro near the chalet. The rest dah pengsan kot! Zzzzzz
Baby frog

Night : We have a great time BBQ together. The food very delicious especially squid & prawn. Thank Dr Jamal for the recipe. Memang berbaloi baloi!

Sunday
Yeeyyyyy… Lata Berkoh! Can’t sleep last night! Mmg tak sabar dah…
We take 4 bots to Lata Berkoh. 5 person in each boat. The journey to Lata Berkoh is about 45mins. The landscape is wonderful. I’m speechless! Really love the scenery.
Lata Berkoh was so beautiful and definitely worth the effort to get here. The water was clear and cool but it has a slight brownish discoloration due to the shale stones commonly found on the riverbed. There were no other people here and it was so peaceful. There were a few cascades of water and a deep pool to swim but hazardous for swimmers!

Good morning friends! Are you ready to bring us to Lata Berkoh?

Team in 1st boat able to shoot Deer & KingFisher. They’re lucky!

Hmmm.. It’s my fault didn’t bring my Tele lens… See this guy? Manyak eksyen wooo!

Last point. We had to take a short trek to the waterfall.

The trekking to waterfall is easy just by riverside. 30-45mins walk. Also have toilet & rest area in between but not well manage. Bau hancing! There are few spots you can stop to shoot a very beautiful landscape..
This is one of it

I can feel it!

No one dare to make a first move to swim.. Takut kot! Air pun deras.. hmmm