Hiking Gunung Tahan (Part 1 of 3)

It's been 10 years since I hiked up Mt. Kinabalu, the tallest mountain in Malaysia. Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to join a group of hikers for Gunung Tahan (Mt. Endurance), the tallest in Peninsular Malaysia. 

Gunung Tahan has a reputation of being one of the toughest and most challenging in the country (I rate it twice as tough as Mt. Kinabalu). Since the 70's, the only way up was via Kuala Tahan, a scenic but long trek that takes 7 days round-trip, with views of tigers and elephants along the way. It's about a 80km round-trip. 

In the 90's a new route was founded, via the sleepy village of Merapoh, Pahang, a kampung between Gua Musang and Kuala Lipis. The Merapoh (also known as Sungai Relau) route halves the hike duration, with a one-way distance of 32km. Most hikers who would attempt Gunung Tahan (mostly having sufficient hiking experience) require 4D3N. A more relax 5D4N is possible, but you 'waste' valuable time doing nothing on the 2nd half of Day 2, where you camp at Kem Kubang. 

Needless to say, Gunung Tahan was always on my mind. 

My training and preparation wasn't fantastic. I hiked up Gunung Pulai, a relatively 'easy' mountain near Kulai, Johor during the weekends. The night before I left, I actually joined my weekly badminton session, but was extra-cautious. Nevertheless, I was excited. I prepared my haversack weeks in advance, though I brought the bare minimum. Gunung Tahan, almost somewhat mysterious to me, commands respect to any Malaysian nature-lover and hiking-enthusiast.  

I tried doing research online regarding Gunung Tahan, but couldn't find much. I would later realize the reason - hiking was already tiring enough, not many would take photos, let along have extra energy to write about it. 

Entrance into the woods - Ready to go

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Day 0

We boarded the 7pm train from JB Sentral, and reached Merapoh station at, well, 7.30am the next morning. It was my first time taking the Malayan inter-state Railway. The last time I took a sleeper train, was from Hanoi to Sapa Valley on the Vietnam Railway, more than a decade ago. The Malayan Railways or Keretapi Tanah Melayu is a colonial-era dinosaur, used to ship tin and rubber from the interiors to, most notably the port of Singapore. 

It still had a sense of elegance and class. Buying the train tickets though, was not too elegant. You have to basically 'walk-in' to the ticket counter at JB Sentral. Tickets start selling one month before the travel dates, but you could always try your luck 1.5 months before, like I did. Single ticket costs RM 51 from JB to Gua Musang (For Sleeper train to Merapoh, you need to buy a ticket to Gua Musang). KTM is definitely not the up and booming railway company of the 21st century. You could tell it's happy running on it's own pace, which in a way is an attraction by its own.

Bed for the night

Making yourself at home

I must say the train ride was pretty comfortable, at least for me. As usual, after hours at work, a quick shower and a heavy dinner, plus the oscillating (and rocking) movement of the train, I took a 1.5-hour nap upon boarding. It wasn't until Kluang (famous for its coffee), when I realized the sheer number of people alighting and coming aboard the train, that I woke up. I had a nice chat with a strong-looking uncle who had just got up at Kluang Station. He stays in Layang-Layang, and was heading to Gua Musang. He manages an oil palm estate there. We spoke at lengths from Oil Palm, Durian plantations, job opportunities, Singapore, and etc. Uncle who is in his late 50s, was very sharp, and able to identify the economic trends. He'd traveled extensively during his career, clearing land and managing oil palm estates for Genting for 3 decades. He also stayed in Sabah for a decade, but reiterates the fact that Malaysia is still home, and no matter how far we go, there's still no place like home. 

We would reach Merapoh station on time, at 7.15am. The train would only stop for 1 min, and we jumped off the train, into a misty village. We were back in the wilderness! 

The train would only stop for a minute, we scrambled for the exit

Morning breeze, not haze

~~~

Day 1

Just opposite the train station, we met with the rest of our teammates, who were based in KL. 

Breakfast was very nice Nasi Kerabu at a Malay stall outside the train station. With a friend just trying to source for Kampung Adidas, we had time to get to know out teammates, who'd arrive from KL. 

We would start hiking around 10.30am, after getting our bags checked at Perhilitan (Department of Wildlife and National Parks Peninsular Malaysia) Office. A pleasant but unstable 25 min jeep ride into the jungle to Kuala Juram kick-started our journey. It was a fantastic feeling heading back into the forest. I can't even remember when I last ventured into a primary forest. We met Pak Uda and our cook/porter Abang Man, who were amazing. 

A practice where everyone unpacks and counts all beloging

We were conservative in our approach, and signed up for 5D4N, and the target was simple - Get ourselves to Kem Kor, which is 16KM from Kuala Juram. After crossing no less than 5 rivers, we we were able to reach Kuala Luis (a very Western sounding river bank) at around 2pm. Apparently, some Mr. Luis discovered this place some ages ago. 

Kem Luis, with the team and guides - German-couple setting-up camp on the far right. They were on a 2D1N camp

Thankfully, it hadn't been raining for a few days, and the rivers were calm.

I would reach Kem Kor at around 5pm, knackered. Some of my ultra-friends were well ahead, while Abang Man was already setting up the kitchen.

Dinner preparation

My haversack was definitely slightly heavy, besides my own things, I carried a pack of (1kg) rice, cooking oil, 2 canister of gas, coconut milk (santan), a can of sardine. Thank goodness most of the food could be kept at Kem Kor, while we continue our surge upwards. Kem Kor was strategic and situated by the river. There were only 2 groups hiking from Merapoh on the 5th of September -- the 7 of us with Pak Uda, and another team of 10 from KL. 

My load of the day, but worth it - A huge difference with extra weight, something I didn't train for

Oh the dinner was superb

Kem Kor at 750m elevation

Everyone felt good, and we were quietly confident that we could cut down our trek from 5 days to 4 days.

To be continued...

Check out Part 2 at: https://weesertan.blogspot.com/2019/09/hiking-gunung-tahan-part-2-of-3.html