Two Senior Gentlemen in the Jungle

Here is a nostalgic report about two waterfall trips, made  with my friend George Tan, in 2009 and 2011. During a recent visit to Taiping I talked with Jenny, a mutual friend, about these trips, she thought it had been irresponsible for two senior citizens to venture so deep into the jungle on their own. And although everything went well, in retrospect I think she was right.

The first trip took place in 2009 when I was 65 year old and George 63. My waterfall friends had told me about a waterfall, north of Taiping in the Batu Kurau region. From Kampung Jelai a small road  leads to a water catchment area, where we parked the car and started walking. Here is the Google Earth map (click to enlarge)

We followed a clear trail high above the river, but to reach the waterfall we had to scramble down a steep slope. A parang came in handy and George knew how to use it.

Not surprisingly this was leech country. There are several cascades and smaller waterfalls, we did quite a bit of esploration

Here we are, two senior citizens in the jungle.

And this is the impressive Air Hitam waterfall

The hike took us about three hours, during which we did not meet a single soul, although we saw signs of life along the trail, a shelter here, a motorbike there. But ok, when something would have happened during our scrambling down, we would have had a problem.

The situation has changed, after I published the Air Hitam waterfall on my website. I have revisited the fall several times and there is now a clear trail leading down directly to the main fall. Fortunately the fall is still relatively unknown and pristine.

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Two year later we went to the Nyior waterfall in the Bubu mountain range. A much more serious adventure.

Ladang Allagar is a plantation between Terong and Beruas. Crossing the plantation you enter a Forest Reserve. The road ends at a water catchment, where the trail starts.

At first there is still a trail but soon you reach the river and from there you have to river trek

River trekking is fun, but not always easy. You have to be careful with slippery rocks

And you will get wet…:-)

Finally we reached the main Nyior waterfall. Far from civilisation, worth the effort

We stayed at the fall about one hour, enjoying ourselves. Pity there was no pool.

Walking back the same way, we had a look at a few smaller falls

Altogether the hike took us almost 5 hours, it was not a difficult one, again we met nobody but this time there were also no signs of human activity. If one of us would have had an accident, we would have been in serious trouble.

That was six years ago. For George this trip was a reason to say, enough is enough, no more remote waterfall hikes. And I decided only to go to remote waterfalls in the company of 2, preferably 3, strong, (young) men… 🙂

So, yes, it was a bit irresponsible what we did  🙁  🙁

1 thought on “Two Senior Gentlemen in the Jungle

  1. Jan..I must have lost my mind when I agreed to go with you then. But in retrospect thanks for the memories. The sight of those majestic falls in their natural remote seclusion was just awe inspiring. Such power and beauty yet unseen and unknown by most people.

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