Stuif's Adventures
| Endau Rompin (1-4)-5-2008 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| When ay friend told me that the MNS Nature Guides were organising a trip to Endau Rompin, and asked me if I liked to join, I did not hesitate. Sure, I was eager to come along! So, on Labour Day, a group of 24 people, from all walks of life...:-), met at Kahang in Johore to start the trip to Kampung Peta, the entry point to the Endau Rompin N.P, about 50 km on a dirt road. Easy driving, with only one unexpected obstacle. The bridge across the Sg Emas had been swept away in the latest flooding! A ramshackle pontoon bridge was the only way to cross the river. Suddenly I felt like being in a Camel Trophy adventure...:-) Slightly nervous I drove down the slope, across the bridge and up an even steeper slope. Done. Easy! Feeling exhilarated..:-) Our camp was situated along the Lemakoh river, about 10 km before Kg Peta. MNS has a friendly contact with a Jakun family, and they would be our host during our stay. The cars were parked on a small side road, from where we had to walk for about 20 minutes to the camp. What a beautiful place, next to the river at the bottom of a waterfall! God must have had a place like this in mind, when she created the world. Of course everybody first went to the falls to enjoy the nature and take a bath. Then it was time for dinner. The Buyin family were perfect hosts, the food was nice, free flow of coffee and tea. And Buyin could tell a lot about the local culture, a pity that I don't speak Malay..:-( The next day we walked back to the cars and proceeded to Kg Peta. From here we went by boat to Kuala Jasin. Main destination for the day was the Upeh Guling waterfall. About one and a half hour walking from Kuala Jasin. Several times we had to cross the river and the hanging bridges did not always look very reliable, so it was a matter of choice, river or bridge. The Upeh Guling waterfalls may not be as spectacular as big brother Buaya Sangkut, but they are still very interesting. During millions of years, many potholes have been eroded in the vulcanic rock. Now they form nice bathing pools. After lunch here, we walked back and visited another attraction of the park, the Tasik Biru. This "Blue Lake" (actually a quiet part of the Sg Marong) was a bit disappointing, because a tsunami of Rakan Muda youngsters had flooded the place. For the next day, the program was to climb Bukit Janing and look for the special flora on this hill. As I had sprained my ankle a few weeks earlier, I was not eager to do much climbing. Besides, there was supposed to be another waterfall upstream of the one near our camp. So I preferred to explore this fall and one of our guides was willing to bring me there. It was a nice, easy walk, along the river. After 45 minutes we reached the Takah Pumung. Takah is the Jakun word for waterfall. A pleasant fall, with a big pool. Later I heard that there is one more fall, but very far away. The rest of the day I spent in a lazy way near the first fall (Takah Chapa), swimming and getting sun-burnt. That evening, the last one already, the family had prepared a BBQ dinner. All the time we had perfect weather, no rain at all. It was reluctantly that we left this peaceful spot the next morning. We had decided to drive in convoy until the pontoon bridge, just in case. But the crossing was even easier now (less water). After a coffee stop at the original Kluang Station (roti bakar with kaya) it was time to go back home. Thanks to the Nature Guides for organising this trip and to the Buyin family for their hospitality. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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