12/10/2017 - 15/10/2017 : Wow what an adventure trek! We did it!
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BACKGROUND OF THIS TREK!
Many asked me how on earth did I get to organise this particular trek?
Well, it just so happened that I picked up one flyer from the Tourism Malaysia booth at the Sutera Mall on sat evening in Aug2017.
I had literally no idea that this trek can be so challenging! In ignorance, managed to gather 6 people to partake in this adventure of our lifetime! With many FIRST experiences encountered by all of us!
It was all about mud, leeches, streams of waters, gushing rivers, waterfalls and all the up and down steep climbs with ropes! In a nut shell!
But did we enjoy it?
All of us - above 50 and 60 : Yes we did despite the challenges! LOL. With a pat on our backs, here is the photo summary!
Day 1 : 12/10/17 : (THU)
We departed from Spore at 2pm in one car to JB for overnite stay.
- Massages and makan in JB!
Day 2: 13/10/17 (FRI)
Initially due to depart at 8am from JB home. Alas, the YN's rented car driver lost his way in JB and we ended leaving at 9:20 instead :)
10:30 am Arrived at Yong Peng. Stopped for fish ball noodles!
11:30 am Arrived at Bekok
We had to unload our bottled water and barang into the 4 wheel drive.
From Bekok to the base of our chalet - it took a rolling up and down drive of 1 hour into the mountain.
About 1 pm: Arrived at the base of the mountain chalet.
Below Left : Anouther couple in 2 bedder.
Below right : The dining area is open air with a small kitchen attached.
Because of the pricing and eco place, all of us had to wash our own cutlery after use:)
2:30pm : Off we went for first day trek to Takah Pandan Waterfalls!
Degree of Difficulty : 7-8 /10 (Intermediate)
6pm : Back at the Base finally!
Washed our shoes in the river nearby.
And BS found more leeches on his body! Oh My! YAKS!
9 pm : Singing in the family living room of our chalet! And played rummy cards!
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DAY 3 : 14/10/2017 SAT
Degree of difficulty : 5-6/10 (Intermediate)
9:15 am : Set off for the second trek to another waterfalls called Takah Tempaang
This trek was longer in time but less steep climbs. However we had to remove our shoes to walk through streams before reaching our waterfalls :)
About 15 minutes from this stream walking - we finally arrived!
Awesome cool waters! Fishes in waters! Natural Jacuzzis!
Fish feeding!
Water massages!
Felt so reluctant to leave this awesome waterfalls !
Great swim in the waters! Pretty deep though...not for non-swimmers!
After an hour long at this resting place, we had no choice but to trek back to base at about 1 pm.
3:15pm : Arrived back at base to have a late lunch
4pm : Went to do the river tubing!
Guess what happened? All the 3 guys fell into the water during the tubing! Only the ladies remained intact in the tubes! LOL
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Day 4: 15/10/17 (Sun)
After breaky we went for the Herb gardens walk and the blow pipe event
Giant ants......
11am : Bye bye to the Base!
Bye Bye to the glorious food...Breakfast , Lunch, Tea, Dinner & Supper !
12 noon : Arrived at Bekok again...a small town with only about 3000 residents
You can take the train from JB central to Bekok - one way S$6 ticket! This old train will soon make way for the new high speed train in few years time....
Bekok - a place where there were many wall arts...painted by painters from Penang.....
Reflections
It was a little brochure that led us to this adventure...
Had I known it was a pretty challenging trek prior to coming, would I have proceeded? Ha Ha..chances that I would not dare to bring friends along unless they are all pretty fit and healthy!
Perhaps it was also a wrong season to be trekking..as it was nearing the monsoon period where the national park would be closed from Nov till Jan.
It had been raining prior to our scheduled trek on 13/10/17.
But still, our prayers were heard as it did not rain when we arrive for the 2 day trekking! Praise God!
Look at the weather forecast which I checked earlier! Supposed to be thunderstorms! But The Lord gave us perfect weather instead!
The DOs....
- Best to trek from April - Sep where it is dry!
- Be prepared to meet leeches during the wet season!
- Bring cigarettes, vinegar or ash water to rid the leeches! And insect repellants!
- Wear long NON-BLACK (To see the leech!) socks and tights (so that they will not enter the body ) through the loose clothings!
- Must wear good water proof shoes as the mud can be tricky (Mine Geotex boots proved its manufacturer's claim! Double confirmed after this trek!:)
- Must bring scuba shoes or good slippers for the walk in the streams
- Must bring trek poles as they really help to push you up the slopes!
- Must bring lots of water and energy bars for the long treks!
- Must bring haversacks and not sling bags
- Must wear loose comfortable breatheable tops (the sweat is tremendous)
Well, there are 3 main entrances to this beautiful natural rainforest of more than 248 mio years old. From Pahang side, or Kluang or Bekok side. A good guide who can speak English would be most helpful and make the trip more enjoyable. At the end of the trek for the great natural waterfalls would be our best reward which we found in this Endau Rompin - Selai Trek via Bekok.
If we above 50s and 60s can do it, I am sure you can too!
We did not drown in the streams or during the water tubing down the river!
We saw many beautifully coloured butterflies at the rest area where the streams were!
And with this end of the nature trek, it is a good reminder of our Creator God who made this ancient rainforest.
Many of us saw a real leech for the first time.
Let alone being sucked of the blood!
And whatever it is, we were safe and sound throughout the climb and waters.
We were exhausted after the second day trek that we cried "Wow Daddy! Wow Daddy!" ( to be translated in dialect :)) LOL...
But it was all a great unforgettable and memorable ADVENTURE of our life time!
Will definitely go down memory lanes in years to come.
And with a proud pat on our back...
We can all say...
We did it! Yeah!
Got our certificates!
For this "COMMANDO" training!
P/s: By far this Rompin trek is one of the toughest among the earlier ones done - Mt Pulai in March this year, Jeju mountains in July this year and the one in Albany Castle rock in Sep last year! Bukit Timah and other treks now seem like chicken feet? LOL
Great adventure and narration. No wonder leeches are so repulsive. Yuk a million times. At least as humans we are able to rid of them. Poor animals if they got these stuck on them ! Yuk again to leeches
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