Saga Hill 7 Dec 2008

We decided to hike up Saga Hill after experiencing the steep descent from Ah Pak San via Saga Hill on 23.11.2008, We took about 50 minutes to climb up the shortest and steepest Route A to reach the top clearing and 45 minutes to return by the longer and less steep Route C. Route C passes through a Survey Point, likely the highest point of Saga Hill at 415m elevation. This Saga trail appeared less congested compared to APS but equally muddy especially the popular Route A.

The Saga trail is good for a short vigorous workout. The vast clearing at the Saga top and the mini waterfall at the trailhead are pleasant and shady for R&R.

For access to the trail head of Saga Hill at Jalan Saga 28, one must pass through Taman Melur in order to get to Taman Saga. Please refer to road map at: http://wikimapia.org/#lat=3.1112914&lon=101.7754555&z=14&l=0&m=m&v=2.

For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/4736.

Prior Saga hikes see http://happyotrekker.blogspot.com/2008/11/saga-hill-23112008.html.

Saga Hill 23 Nov 2008

Starting from trail head at end of Jalan Awana 23, we headed directly to Station 6 of Ah Pak San. Instead of trekking back to the base, we decided took a 30 minutes trek to Saga Hill and to find our way down from Saga Hill. The downhill trek from Saga Hill took about 30 minutes and the trail is very much steeper than APS trail. Ropes lined the steep trail to assist hikers. The downhill trail ended up in a flight of concrete staircase and a natural clear stream where one can sit back and relax. The place is neat and well maintained possibly due to less human
traffic. From here, there is a short trail leading to a metal staircase which ends at a T-junction of Jalan Saga 28 and Jalan Saga 22. Following Jalan Saga 22, we came to the main road, Jalan Taman Saga where took time to admire the fantastic KL skyline.

We only realize we were at Ampang, instead of Cheras, when we were told by a couple who coincidently stopped by to enquire where the Saga Trailhead is located. This solved the puzzle of our missing driver who was actually looking out for us at Taman Segar of Cheras. Noting that we were “lost”, the kind couple gave us a lift to Ampang Yong Tau Foo where we were eventually picked up.

For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/4703.

Our last trip to Saga Hill was on 29.6.08. See write-up at http://happyotrekker.blogspot.com/2008/07/saga-peak-29608_1.html.

Tanglir Waterfall 19 Oct 2008

My group assembled at the Shell & Petronas Petrol Station before the Karak Toll as early as 7.15 a.m. for the trip to Tanglir waterfall near Selesa Hillhomes. After about more than 1 hour wait, our car plus 6 other vehicles started leaving for the waterfall around 8.30 a.m.

The narrow access road from the Karak Highway which bypasses the Selasa Hillhomes to waterfall appears newly tarred. However, the recent rains have caused certain sections of the road to cave in, thereby making the road uneven and slippery for saloon cars to negotiate over. Given the state of the road, it would be recommendable to use a 4WD. Seasoned trekkers could park their cars near the Selasa Hillhomes and trek about 4-5 km along the tar road to the Tanglir waterfall.

The trail head to the Tanglir waterfall, which is situated on the left side of the tar road, was unmarked and vague. Given the huge crowd, we decided to skip the main fall and proceeded to trek up the tar road to explore the upper Tanglir river. The upper Tanglir river is more or less at road level and accessible at various spots for picnicking.

After trekking for 10 minutes from the trail head to the Tanglir waterfall, the tar road ended in 4 trails. We explored the far left trail nearest to the river. The trail circumvents a watercress garden plot and ends in the upper part of the Tanglir river with small cascades. The water was shallow and muddy. Unimpressed we decided to back track down the tar road and headed for the Tanglir waterfall.

It took us about 5 minutes to scramble down the trail (from the tar road) to the waterfall. The Tanglir waterfall was indeed impressive but the pool water was murky brown probably due to soil erosion caused by the daily rain. It has a nice rest area for a small group of 10-20 pax.

At 12 noon, we started to trek out. After about 45 minutes of trekking, we were met by a kind member who fetched us out in a vehicle.

For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/4638.

Taman Subang Ria 15 Oct 2008

With 2 hours free time at Subang Jaya one morning, I decided to visit Taman Subang Ria. It is quite a clean park but a tad run down and unkempt. The obvious landscape, apart from the three lakes, are two rows of transmission towers and wires sandwiching the park. The tranquility of the place is occasionally broken by the noisy vehicles tearing down the Federal Highway located at the fringe of the Park.


For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/5638.

Ah Pak San (White Hill) 12 Oct 2008

This new trail to APS is located at the end of Jalan Awana 23. For the location, please refer to http://www.wikimapia.org/#lat=3.0854298&lon=101.7651987&z=16&l=0&m=h&v=2.

This new trail head is not far from the old trail head at Jalan Wangsa Cheras. The new trail cuts through the rubber estate and will lead to Station 3 or Station 6. Clear trail signboards have been put up to guide trekkers. There is ample place for parking cars along Persiaran Awana which precedes Jalan Awana 23.

We started the hike at 9.30 a.m. and finished at 12.30 p.m. with long stopover at Stations 3 and 6. The trail was extremely muddy and slippery given the recent rainy spell.

For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/4587.

Bukit Larut 3 Oct 2008

Bukit Larut is Malaysia's oldest hill station and is founded in 1884. It is located just ten kilometres from quiet Taiping in Perak. Formerly it was called Maxwell Hill. Bukit Larut is approximately 1250m above sea level.

We started walking up the Bukit Larut tar road at 9.50 a.m. after we were advised that the next available 4WD service would be at 3 p.m. Apparently, all the 4WDs had been fully booked that morning.

The walk was rather uneventful except for several occassions when we took shortcuts by scrambling up steep slopes. Along the way, we met locals having their regular walks and spotted colourful birds and noisy monkeys.

We reached Bukit Larut early at 12.30 p.m. because we managed to hitch a total of 30 minutes ride from 2 kind souls.

Heavy rain came while we were having our packed lunch. When the rain abated, we had a quick look around and made our way downhill at 2.30 p.m. and reached the base 2 hours later at around 4.30 p.m.

I must add that the air quality at Bukit Larut must be very good in view of the existence of lichen beard (Usnea lichen) at such low attitude of 1000m. This sounds logical because Bukit Larut experiences the highest rainfall ("air cleansing") in the country.


For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/4525.

Bukit Engku Busu 1 Oct 2008

Bukit Engu Busu standing 331.4m, is the highest hill around Lumut. It is named after a Selangor royalty, Raja Engku Busu who was invited by the Sultan of Perak to eliminate the rampant sea piracy during the 1800’s. Unfortunately, he failed his mission and was killed.

The access road to the trail head is positioned opposite Lumut Polis Station which is easily located along the same road as Orient Star Hotel.

Starting at 4.30 p.m. at an elevation of 70m, we took about 40 minutes to scale to the viewpoint at 320m which offers a fantastic aerial angle view of the Lumut Naval Dockyard and the sea. The trail is steep and challenging to climb. Occasionally, we have to go on fours and clamber over huge and mossy boulders. Fortunately, there were strong cable ropes along difficult sections of the trail. Descending was equally tough given the wet condition of the heavily eroded trail crisscrossed with exposed roots.

En route to Lumut we did several pit stops to sample the local fares. The first stop was at Sekinchan Wins Restaurant to sample the popular pan mee followed by Sitiawan Restoran Bei King for the red wine chicken mee sua and sweet sour fish maw. Nearer Lumut, we tasted the famous ice cendol in front of an Indian temple along Jalan Lumut.

For the photographs, please refer to http://happytrekker.shutterfly.com/pictures/4433.