EuCHO0.NET - (^(0o)^) The Pigatory

7:30am - woke up early to prepare for our planned jungle trekking up Gunung Beremban.. JH figured we had to set off early so we will be out of the jungle by early afternoon.. and not get caught in the late afternoon rain.. first thing of course was to prepare our strawberry breakfast.. mixed the strawberries, some tangerines bought from the farm, plus the raisins into a bowl.. then add milk.. viola! a nice strawberry breakfast..

next we prepared our outfield equipment.. i did not bring have much except for some string, lighter, jack-knife and a water-bag.. JH also had a compass which proved useful.. we packed extra water and some chocolate bars in case the trek took longer than expected..

9am - so with our camelbaks and a sketch of the trail.. off we head into the jungles.. started off at jungle trail 9 towards the Robinson Waterfall which marks the beginning of jungle trail 8.. anyways.. JH was having a major intestinal gas problem and was farting away throughout the whole journey.. so poor old me had to keep ahead of him to avoid the stink bombs he releases along they way..

the waterfall wasn't too far in but it was further up where the map sketching indicated.. much closer to the intersection with trail 9a.. nevertheless.. we went on and reached the cliff facing the waterfall.. another so-so waterfall.. at least it was about 60 feet tall.. quite impressive already as compared to the Parit Falls..

did not stay long to admire the waterfall.. so backtracked to the road diversion to jungle trail 8.. this was where things get rough.. there is an old saying.. when the going gets tough.. the tough gets going.. up up and up and up some more we scaled the steep steep slopes.. at least the climbing was not too difficult as there are seasoned tracks etched into the slopes.. simply follow the clearing and use the roots as steps to pump our way up.. had to stop several times to catch our breaths though.. i was thinking how appropriate that i had been climbing Kent Ridge hill to reach my lab every morning.. the trail may well have left a more painful memory if not for all the climbing i do on my way to work.. the way wasn't going as well for JH who was having a slightly harder time climbing.. good thing he was lagging anyway.. so i could stay out of the way of his gas bombs..

the steep road did not persist for too long as we eventually reached a strech of lower incline.. still it was an upslope and the road was long.. so i trudged along leading the way for the moment.. still keen on avoiding his gas bombs.. the jungles became mossy.. similar to the road during the previous day's mini-trail.. and i noticed some nice mossy clearings which would have been perfect as a camping site.. hope there will be a chance to return some day to set up camp on this mountain..

at about halfway up to the Gunung Beremban's tallest peak.. there was another lower peak where we could gaze further into the mountains.. there we took some photos.. a huge cable tower was constructed at this spot and i wrote our names on the post while JH went to the sides to relieve himself.. hope that our names will still be there if ever i get a chance to return to this spot again.. imagined bringing my son up to the mountains and telling him.. "Son, twenty years ago I conquered this track with uncle JH.. See our names written on this post..".. ahah.. thinking about it now i don't think it's possible since i wrote it in ball-point ink which would probably be washed away by rain in a few years time.. but who knows..

the following trail continued downwards and we realized that we have reached a small valley.. which of course meant that we have to go up again.. and probably much higher up this time.. some of the route was tortuously long and rather at the same time (see above).. the terrain got slightly rougher and more muddy too.. we were chanting "Mud! Mud! Mud!" more often now.. our simple relaying message to "watch our steps".. our top priority was still to avoid mud

11:30pm - reached the highest peak of Gunung Beremban at near mid-day.. we bumped into a couple who arrived at the peak clearing before us taking a break and enjoying a snack.. they were an unusual couple in my sense.. the man was a Swiss while the lady was a Thai.. they appear to be unmarried but seemed to share a rather intimate relation.. the Swiss was a open and friendly guy and took no time to have a conversation with my equally talkative friend.. more importantly we realized that we were travelling in opposite directions.. we exchanged our experiences of the road behind us and so we decided to continue with the way that the opposite party had taken.. before we parted ways.. JH exchanged contacts with the man and agreed on the possibility of meeting for dinner the same day.. we'll see what happens..

12pm - we parted ways going off in our respective directions.. skipping down the slopes at a relatively fast pace.. going downwards was definitely faster than upwards.. though it was definitely more dangerous and of course we had to watch our steps carefully.. and the impact was definitely on the knees.. as i performed "leaps of faith" down various tall tiers.. was wondering if my knees would actually buckle before we made it to the bottom.. trail 3 led to trail 2 which was slightly more challenging.. it wasn't down-hill all the way as we had to cross several undulating knolls.. described precisely by the lady on top of the mountain before.. the trail reminded me of a military excercise during my army days.. famously known as "Mount Biang and the Seven Knolls".. this was akin to the series of knolls.. which was rather challenging due to the many steep slopes.. one slip and we could be rolling down the side of the mountain to no-man's land.. eventually we reached an area where we could see civilization at the foot of the mountain through the vegetation.. we found ourselves no longer in the jungle but rather in a brushy area of tall weeds.. the worse thing was that some parts were infested with ants and i certainly was unmercifully bitten several times.. the weeds were also so thick that the sloping ground could not be seen and so it was rather slow even though the remaining road was rather short..

1:30pm - finally we reached the chinese temple (Sam Poh Buddhist Temple).. civilization at last with flat tar roads rather than dirt.. we bobbed along on our sore feet towards the entrance of the temple.. we were rather ragged at the moment.. i believe if the deities were real.. we should have shown enough sincerity through our 4 hour climb to earn their blessings (a mini Journey to the East perhaps)..

we were supposed to remove our footwear before entering the main hall.. but i realized how soiled my feet were and i thought it would not make any difference whether i removed my sandals or not.. since they were equally dirty but i removed them anyways..
i could not recognize all the deities present (maybe not ever).. but i guess there were the Er Lang deity, the thunder and lightning deities, along with some others..

seems like the end of the day for us as were rather taxed by the climb and it was only about 2pm.. made our way towards Brinchang.. before we could decide what to have for lunch.. i suggested KFC in an attempt to fool with my vegetarian friend.. who would have known that he agreed readily.. seemed like he had gotten a craving for their coleshaw and potatoes.. so we entered the KFC in Brinchang where i ordered my chicken while JH ordered his non-chickens.. enjoyed a slow meal there to rest our legs.. i believe that in our minds.. we were already dreaming of our soft beds back in Tanah Rata.. wanted to catch the local bus service down the hill.. but seems like we would need to wait forever so we hired a cab instead.. back to our cozy rooms to wash up and sleep..