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| Sunrise at G. Hantu Besar summit at 7ish am, taken by CK |
Location: Titi, Negeri Sembilan
Level of difficulty: Level 3.5/5, suitable for beginner's backpack hike & camp trip
Terrain: 1st one 1/2 hour gradual steep on open, wide sandy trail like Lolo-Pacat, next 2 hours jungle trail (some parts have several paths) to reach Kem Orkid. Kem Orkid to peak, 1- 1.5 hours monkey climb to Summit (daypack).
Team: 14 of us- Wai Kong, Shelly's family of 4, Ben, Tan So Meng, Li Ling, CK, TH, Cat, Soon Tiang, Vijey and I; 4 Malay hikers, 4 guides + a makwe = 23 pax all in 2 trucks.
Guide: Jazmin, Tuan & team (also arranges 4WD)
Cost: RM90 for guide & 4WD ride, add another RM20 for tent and stove rental (optional), petrol& toll shared cost by a dinner treat to driver,
Why I choose G. Hantu Besar: It was quoted by a friend, Selon that it has nice view, but other's album does not show anything interesting except orchids. I missed this trip several times, and this time not to be missed and see for myself what is so special.
Why I choose G. Hantu Besar: It was quoted by a friend, Selon that it has nice view, but other's album does not show anything interesting except orchids. I missed this trip several times, and this time not to be missed and see for myself what is so special.
Remarks: Weather is good during sunrise, not cloudy as expected by the guides. It rained heavy at 430pm each day.
My stamina wasn't good, having not exercised for 2 weeks. Overall, the trip was fun with funny & friendly guides, caring teammates helping to set up tents and carry some loads.
Our actual intinery:
19 Mar 2011
11.00 4WDs depart from the Police Station (after we registered there)
12.00 arrived at starting point, briefing & warm up exercise
12.10 Start hike up along muddy, steep trail
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| Found at Summit, also found at the Kem Orkid |
14.30 start hike through deep jungle
16.30 arrived at Kem Orkid,
rain drizzled 15 mins ago
16.45 heavy rain! Mosquitoes everywhere after heavy rain stopped.
17.00 (Est Time) Last person arrived, set up tent, collect water from waterfall, cook.
22.00 Sleep zzz...
through the nite, probably rain again 2x. there were loud insect noises..
20 Mar 2011
03.30 I woke up, followed by Thien & Ben
04.00 Vijey woke up. We were about to go to the waterfall when Wai Kong just woke up
and came with us. Ben scared to go to waterfall..
04.30 Wake up call for all
06.00 Started summit hike
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| This flower specie are plenty at Summit trail |
The faster ones reached at 7 something
09.00 Descend from summit
10.00 Arrived at Kem Orkid, packing
11.30 Departed Kem Orkid
12.30 Arrived at river junction
01.00 Departed river junction for Lata Kinjang
01.30 Arrived at junction with empty signboard,
turn right and descend 100m to
waterfall. The trail is quite slippery. followed
by steel staircase probably 380 feet
(the height of Lata Kijang)
02.00 Arrived at foothill of Lata Kijang
(sadly the place were in bad condition for swimming and recreation due to flash flood.)
03.00 Last person arrived at Lata Kijang, drizzling
03.40 Arrived at 4wd pick up point
04.20 Departed from starting point junction after the family arrived from other side of
direction (starting point)
05.35 Arrived at Police Station Kg Chennah, rain still heavy. Wash up, clean up and head home.
The adventure:
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| Black ash road |
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| Kem Ponak, good for fishing & camping |
Day One:
It was cloudy when we started our journey on a black ash road in cramped truck of 10 persons and 10 bags. Journey started smoothly with a rare sight of tractors in operation, that were unoblivious to our presence. This road were under construction and expected to complete in two years time, opening the door to eco-tourism. This is a piece of good news as this long road can only accessible by 4WD for 1 hour, otherwise hikers need to walk on 4WD tracks for minimum 2 hours. Orang Asli and locals in motorbikes vroomed as they passed by our trucks, and Rumah Indonesia stood boldly with its tenants watching our trucks "intruding into" the quiet valley. We came upon a cave, according to the guide, has many sleeping bags left inside and if we happen to forget to bring ours, we can go into the cave for it! Then there is Kem Ponak, a fishing and campsite - ain't it look lovely place after a sight of burnt black area, haha! Good thing the weather wasn't hot during the open journey.
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| Wading through puddles |
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| Bamboo hands getting ready to whack u! |
After we passed Hutan Lipur Negeri Sembilan office -quoted to be a study centre for biodiversity in Gunung Hantu Besar - rows of bamboo trees and shady trees greeted us. Those standing in the trucks were alerted to bend down to avoid being hit by the leaves, branches and bamboos. Sometimes they hit those not standing too. The phase from bright, open trail to dark jungle reminded me of the Jumanji adventure, and we are confronted with exciting, dangerous thrills...<hehe> I did not realise that the driver of the truck that transported me, wore a helmet, when he came 
to check his truck's tyres. And the next thing, we came upon a big hole on the 4WD trail. Our truck sped fast past the hole, and my truck driver came down to another truck to take over driving through the narrow trail. One of the guide told me that the side of the hole is "melecet" so it was difficult to drive through it, so some woods were placed over it.
We started the actual hike by warm up session from Tuan who started the friendly introduction. This was followed by 1.5 hours hike on clear trail that obviously steep all the way, with no trees to grasp. Jazmin was riding on his mountain bike, but it broke down halfway in first 30 mins hike. Tuan and Jazmin was handling the bike problem while the rest of us continued trekking on the trail that gradually turns flat until we reached a river. We waited for an hour or more for the last persons Jazmin and Tuan to arrive (without bike) before we made a push through the thick jungle trail. We past through thick lalangs and bushes after an hour hike, and I was exhausted by then although it was 30 minutes away to campsite. Vijey and I had 2-3 leech bites, while Soon Tiang had none. It was about to rain when we started to set the tents. There were others still behind, who arrived 1.5 hours later and took shelter under the flysheet (it was still raining cats and dogs). Due to heavy rain, the waterfall nearby was flooding heavy and gave muddy colour.
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| Photo by Soon Tiang, taken few minutes before Kem Orkid |
Our tent was close to the landslide, but it had no potential for a landslide but good for faeces dumping! We were hungry and cold, and sandflies flying around. The mountain view was beautiful when we came back from collecting water (sunset time). After dinner, we chatted and hoped for a full moon night view but there was downpour instead! The night was filled with cacophony of insect sounds, probably cicadas and frogs.
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| Kem Orkid is flat, open space that fits 30 pax |
I woke up at 3.30am but there was no water left for cooking. I packed and waited so I could collect water in the darkness with anyone wide awake. Wai Kong accompanied Vijey and I to collect water from the waterfalls about 5 mins away from campsite. By 5.30am, almost everyone were up and getting ready. We started hike at 6am, and the climb was steep all the way. Nevertheless it was clear trail as we grabbed tree trunks, roots and rock under our head lamps. The Summit trail took us slow, steady trek of 1.5 hours, but the faster hikers could reach within an hour. The Summit was expected to be misty, so I did not push up fast enough for sunrise. But one of my friend CK made to the summit in time to catch the sunrise. Some of us still dazed from exhausting climb, yet anticipated with bright, lovely Summit view. Upon reaching summit, I was so elated to see a lovely creation that God painted over.We could see 360 degree view, and that includes a view of Gunung Nuang at Hulu Langat.
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| Highlands N. Sanguinea (photo taken by Yusry) |
The journey down the trail wasn't difficult, but it was dangerous trek down to Lata Kijang waterfall as it was very slippery that my Kg. Adidas shoes could slide down. I had to hold to trees and walking stick to balance myself for 30 minutes, and the next thing is long steel staircase that turned run down due to being hit by fallen tree. We took refresher at Lata Kijang waterfall, the tallest waterfall in N9 at 380 feet while waiting for the rest. We made another climb over steps and tar road trek for 20 minutes where our truck arrived. A family of 4 with two kids aged 10 and 7 used the other exit that we originally used. It rained again at 4.30pm when the family trekkers arrived, and we were once again under the downpour for another 1 hour cramped truck ride!
We arrived at Police Station Chennah where our cars were parked. One of the guide's home opposite Police Station offered his home for toilet, change and shower (apart from parking place). The house owner also rents guest-room for those came from far before attempting G.Hantu Besar.
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