Showing posts with label Day Trip. Show all posts

Another day at Tabur Extreme

Trail difficulty rating: Easy Medium
Time In: Approx 2 and the half hours
Time Out: Approx 2 hours out. We took a different route out (we did not backtrack).
Recommendation: Decent stamina/hiking experience is required. If you're super fit then, this trail will be easy peasy for ya ;) Bring Mosi-guard or any other mozzie (mosquito) repellant to ward off those pesky mosquitos. If you're afraid of leeches, don't worry, there's none inside! :) Also, wear long pants! Shrubs and bushes are tall inside this trail and especially for the ladies, you wouldn't like to get your legs scarred. (I personally have a lot and I don't quite like it :/ )

A lil something I'd like to say before we begin our journey... It's actually called Tabur Extreme not because its extremely dangerous/hard. Well, Tabur, being well known for its tight trail and rocky terrain (it's a Quartz hill), it's no surprise that it has already claimed a few lives. Hence, people would generally tend to think that 'Extreme' here would mean that its extremely dangerous, which is actually not. Its called Extreme because it is actually the trail that's furthest away from the other 3 (correct me if I'm wrong!). So, there you go! Tabur Extreme. There're 4 trails that I've come to know so far and its Tabur East, Tabur Far East, Tabur West, and Tabur Extreme with Tabur Extreme being the easiest trail to hike but it's also the least trail used amongst the 4 trails.  
Edit: (Thanks Ryan Tee for the correction) one of the least trail (the other lesser trail used is Tabur Far East) used amongst the 4 trails.

Panoramic shot captured by Ashley Chee. :) 

The peak of Tabur Extreme


Anyway, our day started at 6 am. Everyone was so nice to meet over at my house and my big godsis Ashley came over to pick me up so that we could head over to our Tabur meeting point which is Nasi Kandar Deen. We waited for everyone to come, have breakfast and then we start moving at about 7:30 a.m.


To get to the start point of Tabur Extreme, we needed to pass Zoo Negara, into Kemensah where there're several trails catered for dirt bike (better known to some as scramblers) riders and also for mountain bikers. So we needed to drive pretty deep into the village before we stop at our parking place. It's not exactly a proper parking lot but it's where everyone parks so that they could  hike up to Tabur Extreme.

*sniff sniff*

Upon arrival we were surprised as we saw a pony trotting and chewing grass! And it seems like this lil boy likes Ashley's car quite a lot! He kept walking, circling slowly around her car and we thought that since Ashley car is the biggest, he may actually be admiring his reflection he sees in the car. (Don't mess around with this boy. I also almost got kicked in the face by this pony when I got too near to his bum. Thank God I was slightly further away!)


Don't be fooled. I nearly got kicked.

I got captured. 

We started our hike at about 8 ish and it started off pretty easy. Some part of the trail was filled with bushes because its the least hiked trail and throughout our hike in, we couldn't see anyone inside. It's only us hiking the trail that morning. There were fallen trees and bushes that caused us to bend down and crawl through. But fortunately, as we hike through, the trail eased and it was definitely much easier for us to walk through. Then there were some parts where we needed to descend down so everyone has to be careful of their steps! What comes down eventually goes up and yes, there were also parts that we needed to climb and rope is definitely required.

Either you go from atop or below

Careful!

*smiles* 

Then, everyone came to a halt. Everyone hushed and quiet down because there's a green snake at our path we needed to take. It's sleeping but any movement may cause it to get scared and it'll attack. I was excited as I hardly ever encounter snakes during my hike but this time we were really lucky to have this slithering creature with us. Though, we needed to be careful to prevent it from attacking us; fortunately, there's another path that we could take to avoid the snake but it was covered with bushes.

See the green and yellow striped beauty? 

The guy in red is our super cute and funny guide for the day. 

I find this picture funny. hahahahahaha
*insert your preferred caption here*

And, as we stroll along the trail (ok it's not exactly a stroll.) we found a lil lookout point that overlooks Ampang and you could make up the twin towers from where we are, too. It was a really scenic sight and of course, we would stop to take pictures of the view and us together with it.

Capturing the Panoramic view you see below. 
*steady hands.. no shaking.. no shaking..*



We continued our journey until we finally reach to the end. From where we stood, we could see that opposite us was Tabur West and Tabur Far East. We decided to take a long break to have our lunch as well as to just relax and take some time out to admire mother nature at its best. There's this quote I really like from the Novel Angel's and Demon written by Dan Brown:
Physics is God's natural law. God's handwritting is visible in the natural order all around us. 

The 'backbone'-like hill you see there is the Tabur West Trail 

Edit: Thanks for the info Mr.Liew Heng Yew! :D I really appreciate the detailed information!! 
If you look at Tabur from KL, from left to right, you will see 
1. Tabur West (looks like back bone of a dinosaur) 
2. Tabur East is a cluster of peaks beside Tabur West separated by the dam between them. 
3. Further to the right is Tabur Far East. (I think there is no connected trail from Tabur East to Tabur Far East) 
4. And at the extreme right, you find Tabur Extreme East. Also the highest East peaks. Easily identify from afar as the biggest piece of rock on the Eastern side. 



It's only us! :) 

We had all sorts of snacks from bread, chips, chocolates. Everyone shared our food together and we all sat there talking and chatting away, planing for our next upcoming trip. We had a really peaceful and pleasant time up there that most of us really didn't feel like budging. But we eventually did.

Our sweeper Mr.Liau

This is Gerine.

argrabelelelaalblalllhh *laughs* 

An array of shrooms! 

We took a different way out because it's shorter so we needed to pass by this fruit orchard. There were different Malaysian fruits planted around like Duku Langsat, Mangoesteen, Jackfruit. I tried to get some of those but to no avail, I fail to do so! It just wouldn't budge. I shook it hard but none dropped. It just stayed where it was; as if none had ever touched it like glue. And so, we finally reached our car and then, everyone went home; thinking of the next expedition to go to....


Rotten Duku Langsat on the floor

So near yet so far....... 

Psst! You know, I'm actually a monkey in disguise. 
Don't tell anyone I told you that. *fingers on lips*

Mangoesteen! We had a few and it was the seedless kind. 

*inserts caption here base on what you can make out from my facial expression* 




Till another expedition,


P.s: Loads and loads of pictures this time in this post! I didn't mean to spam the posts with pictures but I couldn't decide which not to put in already and hence, this post is filled with all the pictures for you to enjoy! :)

P.s.s: Just updated a page on my sidekicks here: Introducing: My Sidekicks
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Day hike at Gunung Bunga Buah

Trail difficulty rating: Easy-Medium
Time In: Approx 4 half hours
Time Out: Approx 3 hours (to the trail entrance) Another 1 and a half hours to carpark
Recommendation: You'll need to have at least some stamina/ hiking experience, else you'll be crazy tired. If you are a fit bunny, this trail will be easy for you ;) Bring Mosi-guard (or your favourite 'leech repellant' ; people told me that pesticide like Baygon works really well and the all famous remedy: salt, of course when you could see the leech) if you are REALLY afraid/ allergic to leeches because you'll bound to find some inside. 
Beautiful scenery from where we peaked out.

One of the tag when we reached the peak.

Life's without a doubt one that we must live to the fullest! :) Here we go again for another mini adventure to Gunung Bunga Buah at Genting Highland, Pahang. Maxine invited us over about 3 weeks ago when I was preparing for my exams and I couldn't resist a no to this trip. Plus, Bryan said that the scenery there is going to be scenic and so I said yes although I actually still have one more paper left to go. Plus, its an excuse to let myself loose from all those studying and cramping in my room.

Ashley's trying to take herself hiking :P 

On the 31st of May, we left from KL for Gohtong Jaya at about 6 am in the morning. I woke up at around 6 am, made egg ham and cheese sandwich for lunch later and then waited for both Bryan and Ashley to arrive. We departed from KL as soon as Bryan came and at about 7 ish, we arrived Gohtong Jaya. Thankfully we were not late! :) We were suppose to meet up with Maxine's group at this nasi kandar shop situated opposite hotel Seri Malaysia. It wasn't that hard to find as the hotel was pretty obvious and also, Bryan knew where were we and so, we decided to park our car at the parking lot. We introduced ourselves, have a lil chat and then had breakfast before heading out for our lil adventure!

*walks* *snap*

Pretty flowers along the way :) 

Where everyone stopped. Behind the lady with the mineral bottle 
is where you are suppose to turn in. Don't miss this! 
(This is also where, everyone waited for me while I 'watered the plants')

We started our journey on the road and as we walk, on our left was Mr. Lim Goh Tong's mansion entrance. There was a guard house on our left but there wasn't anyone inside. Ahead of us, there was a barricade that blocked people/cars (I couldn't remember exactly the intention they had the barricade) from entering but it seems like to go up to Bunga Buah, this is the only way. The route in was pretty flat and we kept walking for about 30 minutes before I needed to stop for a short 'grass watering session' (basically I needed a pee) and coincidentally where I stopped, it was also the junction to enter the trail. The 'forked road' wasn't really obvious. It's a small little path that deviate away from the main path. You would easily miss it if you didn't know. If I'm not wrong, the main path actually leads to a water reservoir (Please correct me if I'm wrong! :) ).

The valley's wall is at our right.

The 'G.B.B' trail entrance starts here!

Part of the trail :) 

*grins and thumbs up*

All the way in was pretty easy, nothing difficult and there're parts where the lalangs (Wild grass) grew tall above your knee. As we walked, there was a clearing in front of us and we could see the walls of the valley at our right. Then, Bryan said : "Do you want to take a picture?" I was a little baffled and thought to myself "picture? where? here????" and then I realised there's a "lookout point on our left. It was really scenic and beautiful. We could see the lush green mountains and the clear blue sky merging perfectly together to form a pretty scene.We kept walking until we reached a sign that says "G B.B". This is where the "actual real entrance of the trail" is.



Thankfully Bryan labelled those hills else, I wouldn't
have known as I guess I'll still have a lot to learn 
from Mother Nature like 'hill recognising' 

If you don't know already, this is Ashley Chee

And, thanks to my pro photographer (Ashley Chee) who took
these double shot of me and making me look alright :P 

'Butt shot' because about half of the group fell at one 
of the muddy section of the trail *laughs* and you,
stop staring at 'em butt already. Move along~ 

I couldn't remember exactly how long did we take but as we reached one of the 'false peak', I said : "Hey, this looks familiar! This looks like Tabur!" And Bryan said : "yah, this is 'fake Tabur'." I giggled gleefully and uttered softly: "fake!"We loitered around for awhile before we continued our journey to the peak.

My personal most favourite macro shot from this trip

This as well!



(nothing relevant to the post over here but pretty flowers to fill this space..! We didn't take much photos after that because we started walking faster after 'Fake Tabur' so, I hope you like these shots by me using Ashley's Camera..!)

As we walked, we realised that we were not the only ones in this part of the forest. As we hike up, we saw a group of students coming down. Not only that, we also saw another group of hikers going up the same path that we are going to go up. As we made our way up, one of the lady from our group (I uh.. well forgotten her name... I beg your pardon lady...!) stopped and started talking to one of the student hikers. I decided to wait for her as I realise she is the last person behind. When she finished, our group was not to been seen already. But it's alright! they know I'm behind with this lady. And so, for the next 2 hours or so until we reach the peak, she suddenly became my non-appointed hiking buddy.  *smiles*

The couple that is not 'Gorilla-fied' yet. Still perfectly normal.

This was behind the Gunung Buah peak where, the 
couple (picture above) wanted to do 'Gorilla in the Mist'.

Aw Maxine, one of Malaysia's Queen's Guide, and the 
girl who invited me over :) 

Everyone's Resting at the peak!

After about at least an hour, we finally reached the peak! I asked them how long have they arrived and they replied : "30 minutes ago." I exchanged conversation with our other members before taking out my sandwiched I made earlier in the morning for lunch. Suddenly someone said : "We want to do Gorilla in the Mist!!" I gave a puzzled look, looked behind and laughed. I don't know what that means but well, they were waiting for some mist to form at the back of the trail so they could make gorilla poses.



This shot was actually taken much earlier at the front part of 
the trail but, well, I thought it's relevant to the 
paragraph below soI placed it in.

We hiked down after an hour of rest and this time, we quickened our pace so we could reach back to the starting point in time. Also, before we left, we made sure we kept our own rubbish so that we could dispose them later (Do Mother Nature a favour please? "Take only memories, leave nothing but footprints”)


More pretty flowers!

Another pretty scenery before we leave the place as we hike down.

One of the 'Gorrila in the Mist' at the far left :P

After an approximate 3 hours, we reached the "actual real entrance of the trail", the one with the "G B.B" signboard. All of us were happy as we're nearing the exit! :) We took about another 1 and a half hours to reach to where we parked. So, our total journey out to the parking lot is about 4 and a half hours. When we arrived, we had tea with Vadeh at a Mamak stall before we had dinner with Bryan.

'kong-ed' pose before we left the trail. 

By the time we finished dinner, all of us were pretty tired. Although it was a day hike, still, we felt kinda burned out. Well, we (Ashley and me) were lucky we didn't had to drive...!

Till the next jungle expedition,


P.s: Hope you've enjoyed today's entry! :) And also, from this post onwards, I'm going to include, at the very beginning of the post some short data/summary of the trail's rating, in my opinion. I hope it would be helpful for others! :)

For more pictures you can have a look at: Scouting in the clouds - Gunung Bunga Buah, Genting Highlands and macro pictures at: Nature,Camera,Action! :)
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