R U N N I N G

Sunday, May 14, 2017

Gunung Besar Hantu

Gunung Besar Hantu located in Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan standing 1,462 meters.

The distance is 5.3km (one way) and 10.6km (return) – from the trail head.

Few notes on the distance as it’s all depending on your location as follows :

· From Kampung Chennah Police Station to Kem Bukit Perjuangan is 4.8km

· As per current practiced and for my journey, we parked our car at Kem Bukit Perjuangan for our 4 wheel drive vehicle. From Kem Bukit Perjuangan to Guard Entrance is 12km

· From guard entrance to trail head is 1.32km

· From trail head to peak of Gunung Besar Hantu is 5.3km

· There were other group of hikers who normally use the roundabout to hop on 4x4 or lorry. It is just less than 400 meters from Kg Chennah mosque (if I’m not mistaken).

GPS Coordinate :

Kg Chennah police station : 3.089851, 102.078155

Kem Bukit Perjuangan : 3.089928, 102.078173

Guard Entrance : 3.175166, 101.988590

Trail Head : 3.175166, 101.988590

Please be reminded that the above GPS coordinates are based on google maps and may vary when importing the data to gps device. My car’s GPS navigator unable to trace any of the gps coordinates above, except kampong chennah.

Travelling and Transportation

The best transportation solution to get here (Kg Chennah) is by car. . It took almost 2 hours from Kuala Lumpur to Kg Chennah.

4 wheel drive vehicle is even better – as it can go straight to guard entrance/or trail head

It is recommended to hop on 4 x 4 vehicle towards the trail head as the road leading there is under construction (as at mid may 2017). They are building new set of road to improve mobility and connectivity. I heard it will be completed in July 2017.

Accommodation

Searching via google may guide you to homestay kenaboi or homestay Kuala Kelawang. It’s perfect if you wish to stay overnight.

Meals and eatery

Kampung Chennah has its own eating outlet but may be limited. There is no 24 hours grocery shop and I would advised to stock up your food & drink ration beforehand.

Toilets and Getting Ready

We parked our car at Kg Chennah mosque for our toilet break and freshen up. The mosque is kind enough to allow us to use their facility.

Joining a Group of Hikers

I decided to join an open trip of hikers named "Kaki Daki" suggested by a friend. With a fee of RM40 which inclusive of permit, 4x4 to & fro pick up, guide and lunch at the top. There were 35 of us and 3 pick up trucks to ferry us.
You may find more info in their FB Page : kaki daki adventure and their instagram : kaki daki instagram

The Hike

The journey on 4x4 vehicle from Kem bukit Perjuangan took around 40 to 45 minutes to trail head.

There will be 3 pit stops for a breather along the way – Kem Sungai Kering, Kem Orchid and Simpang Y.

From Trail Head to Sg Kering

Distance : 3km

Time taken : around 2 hours plus

Trail Difficulty : easy, Moderate incline at certain section

Trail Condition : dry clear trail

From Sg Kering to Kem Orchid

Distance : 1km

Time Taken : around 1 hour

Trail Difficulty : moderate incline, hard incline at certain section

Trail condition : dry trail. River crossing. Narrow trail

From Kem Orchid to Simpang Y

Distance : 800 meter

Time Taken : 1 hour 40 minutes

Trail Difficulty : Hard and long incline!

Trail Condition : Dry trail

Notes : Simpang Y is a junction leading to 2 location, Gunung kecil Hantu and Gunung Besar Hantu.

Gunung Kecil Hantu was closed due to landslide. We can’t make it on that day.

We continued to Gunung Besar Hantu (on the right)

From Simpang Y to Summit

Distance : 500 meter

Time Taken : 30 – 40 minutes

Trail Difficulty : Hard and long incline!

Trail condition : Dry trail

This is Cik Assila a.k.a "Luruh", one of the leader

En Faris (stirring the fried chicken) another leader for this team

Nice view of valleys and mountains here (if you were lucky).

The team, lead by Faris, luruh and their team member are performing a tremendous effort ensuring the safety, motivation, esteem and not to forget, preparing a nice meal set consisting of fried chicken, nuggets and sausages. We thank you for their relentless responsibilities.

Ascending down become easier as the trails are 95% downhill and less effort of using energy (or what left). We reached the trail head within 2 hours. Another 18 minutes (1.32km) to guard entrance. Another 2 km reaching Kampung Orang Asli through rubber tree plantation before hitch a ride to Kem Bukit Perjuangan, 12km away. We offered our rider a sum of cash for their valuable service.

We ended the journey and back at Kem Bukit Perjuangan nearly 6.00pm, before heading home.

Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Bukit Repin via Janda Baik

Bukit Repin situated at Janda Baik, Pahang. As far as I know there are 2 mountains via Janda Baik i.e Gunung Nuang and Bukit Repin.

Bukit Repin is actually a mountain category as it stand 1,300 meters (according to my Suunto ambit 2)

What to Expect on Climbing Bukit Repin

- The distance is approximately 4.29km

- flat and easy walk few kilometers at the beginning and steep climb last few kilometers towards the peak

- will be passing through rubber plantation, orang asli settlement and 4 to 5 river crossings

- the trail is clear, but be careful to follow correct path as there are many trails leading elsewhere

- I will try to give the best guide for others not to get lost

- be mindful of leeches especially towards the summit – get ready for a few bites (a mossy guards spray or leech socks would help)

the ascending/descending and distance

Accommodation

There are plenty of homestay and small hut to be rented out as Janda Baik is known as a get-away destinations.

Transportation

There will be no public transport to here. You may need to use own transport.

Temperature

Between 25 to 28 degree in the morning. Nothing to be alarmed.

Eating Place

There will be plenty of Malay restaurant at the road side up to the small town of Janda Baik – few kilometres from the trail head.

I suggest you get your food on or before here.

Breakfast and lunch are no problems but dinner may be very limited choice.

Another point to have your meals is at Genting Sempah rest area – more than 10km away.

Getting there

There are 2 ways of conquering Bukit Repin, first thru Kemensah (zoo negara, KL) and another is thru Janda Baik.

Since this is our first time and we decided to enter thru Janda Baik.

We park here (gps coordinate : 3.305605, 101.875539)

About 100 meters we reached the entrance which is a river crossing. There will be no direction to Bukit Repin at our starting location

No signboard and no trail marker.

Phone Signal

There will be few points of having phone signal but I’m pretty sure that a strong signal is presence at the peak.

Navigation Assistance

My old trustworthy suunto ambit 2 with routes direction pre-loaded before the hike more or less helped me with this climb.

Wak Nosly (good old friend) also had his ambit 3 peak with the same route.

This assurance will prevent us from getting lost

Trail Condition

The trail was easy and flat at the beginning. Passing through rubber tree plantation, secondary jungle and orang asli settlement.

(2 houses only). The trail is clear with tyre tracks and we believe it is being used for mobility for the orang asli.

There will be proper trail markers leading to the summit when you get more deeper in the jungle.

At a later stage of the trail, it will become steeper and hard climb. The trail is slippery. It took us hours to reach the peak.

Summit

The summit is somehow a small area surrounded by trees. The ground is dark in colour and covered by fallen leaves.

There is one section on the left where you can view the valley below, if it is not covered by fog.

If you look carefully, you may find trail markers leading to another section of the mountain – ‘Pondok’ and eventually heading towards Kemensah.

I heard the distance is 3 kilometres to Pondok itself.

I hope that somebody will re-open the trail route to Pondok – Kemensah, it will be more nearer to KL.

Going Back

Heading down from the summit was a very straight forward. Just use back the same trail.

I would suggest to use extra caution as the trail is very slippery and you may fall down.

Use a proper trail shoes, glove-to hang on to something and a slow pace ascending – it will reduce the risk of injuring yourselves.

We reached down around 2 hours plus.

Recommendation

Bukit Repin maybe considered a leisure hike as in comparison, it is more or less climbing Bukit Kutu.

Its manageable and doable. Of course, hikers with low fitness level may find it a bit difficult and may take longer time to reach the top. Don’t give up.

Always hike with a buddy, recommended more than 3 persons ya.

Walk through

Around the parking area