Today is our last day here. As the day before, we wake up early and faithfully wait for the sunrise.

A serene morning it is.

Sunrise on second day.

Cool runnings of water, where we took our chilly bath every morning.

I took a stroll around for one last look of Baha’s Camp. Don’t be surprise, Baha’s Camp is quite convenient, they even have small shop selling trinkets and some camping bare necessities up here.

The chalet. A modest place to stay I would say, especially if you are in a middle of a jungle, only RM10 per night.

Our cozy ‘hotel room’ for the past two days.

After breakfast, we tidy up the place and ready to descent. Group photo before starting the journey down.

The weather is good, so our guide decided to take us down using another route; a bit shorter and scenic albeit more challenging.

A beautiful texture of the rock surface in mono.

We arrived at the park ground around 5pm. We took some time to wash ourselves, have some early dinner at the nearby eatery before being transfered to the train station to catch the 9pm train to KL. 

The last look of Jelawang waterfall.

 Back at Adam’s booth, a stray scorpion discovered us.

Next Morning. Having breakfast in the train cafetaria, bidding time to reach home.

The End.

It’s still dark when I wake up from my deep slumber. Yesterday’s three hours climbing must have done me some good. I quickly perform my morning prayer and then wait patiently atop the Jelawang Fall. This is the must do activity here; waiting for the sunrise.

Sitting at the verge of Jelawang Falls. By a few inches forward, I would have experience a free fall straight into the chasm, 300m down below.

First streak of sunlight. The magnificent view immediately cures my acrophobia.

We linger a while, enjoying every drops of the early sunrays. If you are lucky, you would be able to see the cloud carpeting the whole area. Guess we are not that lucky enough.

We stayed for the sunrise long enough before our empty stomach starts grumbling for breakfast. Menu of the day – Nasi Lemak (Rice cooked with coconut milk and eaten with spicy chilies and eggs).

 After such heavy breakfast, we are told to get ready for the day’s activity – climbing upstream (again!) to the two peaks’ waterfall. This time 45 minutes trekking is required.

The steep climbing over big, mossy boulders and what’s not. I wonder how we are going to get down; well perhaps I’ve to put that thought for later. Now, up, up and up we go!

Our guide is showing us the Tongkat Ali tree, a local Viagra (I’ve mentioned it before during my CH trip. See HERE.)
 

How to identify Tongkat Ali in the middle of the jungle in case you might have stumbled into one? Just raise your head and you will see its distinctive umbrella-shape branches.

If Tongkat Ali is for men, then this small plant, locally known as Kacip Fatimah is for women’s vitality.
 

The two peaks waterfall. One is running down from Mount Ayam while another one is from Mount Stong (there are actually 9 peaks altogether at Stong State Park).

This one is running down from Mount Stong.

It’s splashing time!

What a shower!

One of the attraction is called “telaga Tujuh” (The seven wells) depicting water holes like this. Count it yourself.

We were introduced to a few act of stunts by our guide; among others is to completely plunged yourself in the swift current (I was later told by those who attempted that there’s eventually a hole fit enough for you to snuggle while the water rushing above you, leaving a mere space for you to breathe!). And naïve I to thought that was the climax, until…
 

The sliding act of daredevil brought to you by our guide… A 20m slide at 70 degree inclination, straight into the shallow water down below.

Our delectables dinner that night; Barbequed ‘Marijuana’ Chicken by Chef de Mission; Mr. Spark. ‘Marijuana’, because they taste so good and so addictive! (Thanks to Ms Nurul for the superb photo. )

>> End of Day 2.

It was already 3pm when we finished our caves’ tour. We were then fetched back to Adam’s camping booth for a quick lunch and to prepare ourselves to ascend the Jelawang waterfall. Lunch over; we were drove to the Stong State Park, some 3km away bypassing the Sg. Galas river. The trekking to Baha’s Camp which is situated at the top of the waterfall begins here.

The murky Sg. Galas 

Jelawang waterfall from afar. On a close watch, it somehow resembles a face, with the water running down from its forehead.

Welcome to the Stong State Park! There are actually 2 routes to Baha’s Camp; one is by crossing the waterfall and second route is via the jungle. Adam opted for the latter as the day is already getting late and also due to the swift current; a downside if hiking during the monsoon season.

The most treacherous path to Baha’s Camp. Heavy rain has caused the soil becoming soggy and slippery you would feel like walking on jell-o. I lost count how many times I slipped here.

Baha’s Camp at last! The trekking takes about 2 – 3 hours the most. We were the last one to arrive as DH was suddenly having a severe muscle cramp on the way up. Tired, we quickly set up our tent with the help of our thoughtful friend; Shahrul, wash ourselves and have dinner. A splendid dinner it was, thanks to the rest of the team who arrived early and made it ready.

End of Day 1.

By the time we reach Dabong, our guide, Adam is already waiting at the station. Having identified ourselves, we were then get prepared to realize the first item in the itinerary – exploring the caves in the area, or should I say it, spelunking the caves in the area?

Leaving our heavy bags at Adam’s camping booth which is in the train station compound, we were then picked up by van for the short ride to the Gua Ikan Recreation Park (note: ‘Gua’ means cave in malay).

Adam throws a brief intro of what we need to know about caving and the associated terminology, as well as emphasizing on safety measures.

We crossed the road and trudged into the thick bushes in front of us. A bit of trekking is required afterwards.

Soon we arrived at the entrance of the first cave.

Me, inside Gua Batu Pagar. Behind, a giant serpent is about to swallow me alive.

Droplets of water falling from above onto the rocks mould the singular fish-scale like formation. Apologize; my el cheapo compact camera does not do this place its justice.

The plants that inhabit the cave’s floor.

A frog-like rock formation standing guard at the mouth of the cave.

After milling around, admiring the superb limestone formations with our mind drifted from one rock to another trying to imagine their resemblances, we then made a move to visit the second cave, the Gua Keris. There are actually 4 eminent caves in the area namely; Gua Ikan, Gua Batu Pagar, Gua Keris and Gua Gelap but this time we are only visiting two. Gua Ikan, being heavily vandalized by ignorant delinquents, is no longer worth visiting while Gua Gelap is not suitable for our team as it requires extreme crawling and creeping through its narrow passageway; and being 3 hours behind schedule it is highly inadvisable (otherwise we will not have enough time to reach the waterfall summit before dark).

Sharp spikes potruding from the earth on the way to Gua Keris.

Gua Keris majestic cavern

This columns is the cave’s namesake. It resembles a Malay dagger, the keris.

The stalactites inside Gua Keris.

A frozen waterfall or ‘ghouls pool’, according to Adam – if I heard and spelled the name correctly.

A fissure on the cave’s floor.

A shallow ghoul-pool, formed by a mineral deposits precipitated by a slow running water flowing from the flowstone.

A streak of light coming from the opening above us.

Caves drapery, formed when water deposits mineral in thin sheets. This superb formation might have taken a few thousand (or perhaps million) years to be produced.

Shroom-like formation.

The gang admiring the inside of Gua Keris.

The cave’s grotto. Beautiful isn’t it? (can you spot a face here?)

Micheal Jordan left his shoes here.

We were surprised to found out some scattered shells at the cave’s mouth. We were told later that those shells were brought there by a species of a bird, using the rock to crack it open in order to eat the snail inside.

Another species of flora that dwells on the cave’s floor.

The trap door spider.

Exited the Caves. A pose at the entrance of Gua Ikan Recreation Park.

>>To be continued…

This trip is actually to fulfill an overdue invitation by a friend, and also DH’s burning desire to go hiking again. We are about to conquer the Jelawang Waterfall, the so called the highest waterfall in South East Asia. So, on the eve of the Federal Territory Day, we quickly finish off our work and head to KL Sentral to catch our 8.30pm train, just to be informed that the train service to Kelantan has been cancelled due to the sudden flood at Gemas, Negeri Sembilan (all trains to Kelantan from KL will pass through Gemas Station before changing its course to the east). However, for those who still want to proceed with their journey, KTM (Keretapi Tanah Melayu) is arranging bus transfers to Mentakab Station in Pahang for the passengers to board the train from there.

Me waiting for the bus transfer, feeling slightly bored and melancholy. I somehow missed my kids a lot.

The bus arrived about 10 minutes to nine, and praise to god, we reached Mentakab safe and sound around midnight. I barely close my eyes during the journey. Traveling in a rickety old bus drove at full speed, with the recent jump in bus accidents statistics keep flashing in my mind are among the reasons.

At Mentakab Station

We were told by the station master that the train that will take us to Kelantan will only arrive at 2.30am, and soon we found ourselves filling up the time with idle chatter over supper at the nearby stall. Our petty tête-à-tête is suddenly interrupted by a rush of a swine coming from nowhere straight into the bush across the railway, disappearing into the darkness. In the fluster, I quickly snapped a picture of the brute, which turned out totally blurred; evident only by the glow of his eyes.

The Hound of the Baskerville Mentakab?

The train arrived as scheduled, all the passengers disembarked for the trip back to KL using the same means of transport that brought us here. Without wasting any time, we quickly board the train, find our seat and settle down. I was a bit disappointed with DH for booking the seat instead of the sleeping berth, but thanks to the flood, many have cancelled their trip so we get the whole coach for our gang. The next 6 hours was a bit uncomfortable; nevertheless, I sleep like a baby throughout the night.

Being a light sleeper, I was awoken around 6.30am by all the hullabaloos, and found out that the train has arrived at the Kuala Lipis Station. I hastily perform my morning prayer at the station mussolla in fear of getting abandon, only to learn afterwards that the train is facing some minor problem with its braking system and need to be repaired.

 Kuala Lipis Station

We were stranded at Kuala Lipis Station for 4 hours, in which during the time we occupy ourselves with some small talks, loafing around, photo shooting session and exploring the train with the intention of locating the galley (and of course, the food).

Kuala Pilah Station in the morning

Boo!!

DH with the morning news paper

The warehouse

The town mosque amidst the contenas

The train finally made a move at 9.00am, and it was such a slow journey, bypassing remote villages and what’s not. (image credit to Mr. Spark)

DH falls asleep again… (image credit to Mr. Spark)

Pit stop at Gua Musang Station

After so much hassle, we finally reached the quaint and slow-pace township of Dabong at 11am, 3 hours behind schedule.

DH, getting of the train

Dabong at last…

Dabong Train Station

The track

>>To be continued…