| Kanching, Kanching, Kanching! |
The Kanching waterfalls between KL and Rawang must belong to the first waterfalls that I have visited in Malaysia, back in 2003. In those days I had not yet developed my waterfall addiction, I was more interested in geocaching. For those who are not familiar with the sport, Geocaching is a kind of treasure hunt game, where you use a GPS to hide and find a cache.
Kanching is a popular destination with numerous waterfalls. The first tiers can be reached by following cemented steps, for the upper falls there is a sometimes steep trail. During this first visit I put a geocache near the top fall. That was five years ago.
During that period the Kanching geocache has been found by eight geocachers only, it is not yet a popular sport in Malaysia. So I was pleasantly surprised when an American geocacher wrote to me about the condition of the Kanching cache and I offered to guide her to the waterfalls. My guidance was useful as the trail to the top fall is not really easy, but once arrived at the top fall, Barbara was able to find the geocache without any problem. No wonder, as she had already logged more than 700 geocaches all over the world..:-)
She was impressed by the beauty of the waterfalls buth both of us were shocked by the incredible amount of rubbish along the trail.
On the way down we met a friendly guy, who told us that he came to Kanching every week to relax and to fill his water bottles with the very clear water from the stream. He had been told that there were more waterfalls upstream! With my present waterfall addiction, of course I immediately suggested that we should try to find those upper falls..:-)
So a few weeks later I was at Kanching again, this time with Leong. From the top fall we went on, mainly river trekking, but sometimes following wild boar trails (we spooked one family). After about 1.5 hour of (easy) trekking we found indeed two new Kanching waterfalls!
In the meantime I had discussed the deplorable rubbish situation at Kanching with WoM team member Joe Yap, and that it might be a good idea for her Waterfall Survivors group to organise a gotong royong cleaning operation. As I expected, this suggestion did not fell on deaf ears...:-)
A gotong royong will be organised in April and it will become a major event. On Joe's request I took a lot of rubbish pictures. Really a shame that Malaysians make such a mess of their natural treasures.
My third visit to Kanching was with the Save Our Waterfalls (SOW) organising committee. On a Saturday. What a crowd! And what a rubbish.
Hopefully the gotong royong will make the visitors aware that they must change their behavior.
So that was three times Kanching in less than three weeks..:-)
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 Barbara on the bridge
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 Just an ordinary weekday
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 Barbara with her admirers
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 Can he hear his own music?
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 One of the upper falls
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 The main Kanching cascade
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 A steep scramblu up
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 The top of the falls
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 Found the geocache!
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 Going down again
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 Rubbish all over the place
1 comment |
 River trekking
1 comment |
 A new tier!
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 Leong at the top of this tier
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 And another one
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 Jan was here.
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 Refreshing bath at the top fall
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 Light-bulb shaped Petai bloom
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 Rubbish
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 More rubbish
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 Rubbish everywhere
2 comments |
 Disgusting
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 Back from the trip
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 The SOW organising committee
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 Weekend crowd
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 Weekend rubbish
1 comment |
 Discussing the plan of action
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 The beauty of nature
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 Another example
1 comment |
 SOW ready for action!
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wrote on Feb 22, 2009:
Hope the question of who is suppose to keep the whole place clean is raised! I understand the Forestry Dept has demarcated certain boundry as to where they are responsible for! Beyond that -the deplorable state, they live in the neighbour and their profession to keep the place is not concern? They don't want to shout out? What type of standard do they keep? |
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Dan wrote on Feb 23, 2009:
When can Malaysians learn to not litter? Sigh !!! |
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Dan wrote on Feb 23, 2009:
Polyforms ... plastics ..... |
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Dan wrote on Feb 23, 2009:
Sigh! and more polyforms... |
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wrote on Feb 23, 2009:
Beautiful. I didn't know they come in these colours. I'd always thought there were only white ones. |
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Liz wrote on Feb 24, 2009:
I first went to the Kanching falls in the 1990s and was shocked at the amount of rubbish, and have to admit I've never been back since! I just don't understand why people litter beautiful places. |
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wrote on Feb 24, 2009:
these nature parks MUST have a "Monkey-Proof" designed dustbins, there's no point of just getting from hardware shops and put them there for public to throw, as monkeys will ransacked them and they will paint a similar picture to the beautiful park like those above. IT IS STILL BEST, TO TAKE OUT WHATEVER YOU BRING IN. |
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wrote on Feb 24, 2009:
river trekking must be done bare footed. then you will also reap the benefits of reflexology. /stephen |
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wrote on Feb 24, 2009:
people must be told that they have to take out what they take in. leave nothing but footprints. and, as we are talking of malaysians, there must be a convenient place for them to dispose of the rubbish. people are not going to take their rubbish home! and there must be regular -- and proper -- disposal of the rubbish thrown into the bins, if any are provided. the rubbish bin near the entrance to chiling falls is NOT an example. not only do i see commerical disposal of rubbish into the bin there, but the rubbish from the bin is apparently dispossed of in the nearby jungle patch. just walk in and you will see what i mean. /stephen |
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wrote on Feb 24, 2009:
Most of malaysian still do not the important of protecting our nature.Come and left rubbish, then spoil it later on,ai.......... |
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