Category Archives: Waterfalls

Ampang Pecah, July 2025

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A few weeks ago, I came across a report: Cherandong Dam Via Ampang Pecah, KKB, about an old dam in the KKB region. During a recent visit to Fraser’s Hill, I spent some time in Kuala Kubu Baru and wanted to come back because there was a lot to see. I asked my friends Paul and Fahmi if they would be interested in joining me on a day trip to KKB, Ampang Pecah, and the Cherandong dam. They were, and I made a list of all the interesting places we could visit. Fahmi warned me that it was too much for a day trip, and he was right. We could only visit Ampang Pecah and must come back another time for KKB.

Here is a map of the region. I have marked the Selangor River in blue.

It was a one hour drive to the trail head. When we arrived Fahmi said that he had been camping there, a few years ago. And that we could drive further to a campsite.

There was a difficult stretch in the road where we decided to park the car and continue on foot.

It was a pleasant walk in a palm oil plantation.

We passed the campsite and soon came to a shed where we paid 3 x RM 3 to continue. A friendly Malay guy told us that we could go to the waterfall, but that the dam was in a Forest Reserve land and access was not permitted. Heavy fines for trespassers. That was a disappointment.

It was not far to the waterfall, the trail became steeper and a bit slippery.

Almost near the waterfall. The Selangor River is quite impressive, there were a few more visitors.

The Cherandong waterfall is not a spectacular one, but scenic. Two warga emas are proudly posing.

No pool, and the rocks were quite slippery; we had to be very careful. The dam is only a short distance away, but you have to scramble up the rocks (behind me in the picture). We decided not to take the risk.

Fahmi took a shower and a few years ago I would have followed him, but nowadays I have lost confidence and I am afraid of falling and breaking something.

We were just in time, the Selangor river is famous for white water rafting and soon several boats arrived and stopped at the waterfall. We didn’t stay long. I asked the guy in the shed if Rangers sometimes checked. He said that sometimes they were wearing casual clothes and only later showed their badge. I understand that they protect the forest, but they should allow access to the dam, and create a short trail up to the dam.

It was already 1 pm, time for lunch. Fahmi had found an interesting coffee shop on the Internet. A bit complicated to reach because you have to cross the Selangor River on a hanging bridge.

Quite an amazing place, this Kopi Kisar Kebun !. Only open during weekends, 9am to 5pm.. A large variety of food and drinks. Really worth a visit when you are in the region. We had lontong, asam laksa and pisang goreng.

Ampang Pecah (Broken Dam) has an interesting history. Long ago it was Kuala Kubu, located at the confluence of the Selangor and Kubu rivers. But the region was prone to flooding. In February 1883, a dam broke and the whole village was destroyed. There is a legend that it happened because Cyril Ranking, a British officer had shot a white crocodile, the guardian of the Selangor River.

The town was rebuilt and flourished during the tin era. In December 1926 there was a second disastrous flood, destroying the town again. The colonial powers decided to rebuild Kuala Kubu on higher ground and named it Kuala Kubu Baru. It is said that only two buildings survived this flood, a mosque and a Chinese temple.

First we visited the Guan Yin Kok temple. The history goes back to 1904. During the Emergency devotees were not allowed to enter the temple, so they moved the deities to another temple in KKB. Only in the 1980s, this temple was rediscovered and rebuilt.

An impressive Laughing Buddha, and a nice location, next to a pretty small lake.

The other building that survived the 1926 flood is the Al-Hidayah mosque

It is recognised as a heritage site. The signboard at the entrance says that the mosque was built in 1926, the same year as the second flood. That’s a bit strange.

There are still questions to be answered. What was the exact location of the dam that broke in 1883. Does the grave of Cyril Ranking still exist? And was the 1926 flood caused by a heavy downpour or by another broken dam?

KKB has a a historical gallery, I will have to go again 😉 .

Fraser’s Hill

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It has been quite a long time since I last visited Fraser’s Hill, and with the hot weather in the Klang Valley, it seemed a good idea to go again for an overnight trip. We stopped for lunch in Kuala Kubu Bahru at the Xin Yen Kee restaurant. Delicious udang galah.

I like the quiet town of KKB very much, and this time there was an unexpected surprise. As usual in Malaysia’s eateries, the toilets are at the back of the kitchen near the exit to a back lane (lorong). This lorong was decorated with mural art from beginning to end!

Followers of my blog know that I am skeptical about the mushrooming of mural art in Malaysia. But this in KKB is very well done, with several artworks depicting historical scenes. The old Kuala Kubu was destroyed by flooding in 1883 and 1926. In the 1880s Frank Swettenham was the British Resident of Selangor. And not so many people know that Selangor had a civil war from 1867 to 1874, similar to the better-known Perak War.

I took many more pictures, but decided to keep them for a separate blog about Kuala Kubu Bharu, because there is a lot more to tell about it.

We continued to Fraser’s Hill where we had booked a room and a dinner in Ye OLde Smokehouse. Colonial style in everything, stiff upper lip included.

As we had spent much time in KKB, we checked in a bit late, but in time for a High Tea. Nice scones, but missing the sandwiches. First, we sat down on the terrace.

But after a drizzle started, we moved inside.

Nice interior.

The drizzle soon stopped, we walked in the garden a bit, enjoying the evening breeze and the nice flowers.

We had ordered dinner late, around 8 pm. Not many customers.

From the colonial-style menu, we chose two English classics. I had Roast Beef with Yorkshire Pudding and Aric had Boeuf Wellington. Both were delicious.

Aric wanted to have a Bombe Alaska as dessert. although both of us had no idea what is was. Surprise! After the waiter had placed the bombe on our table, he switched off the lights, poured a glass of liquor over the bombe, and lit it! A nice mixture of ice cream, whipped egg white, fruits and more.Enough for 3-4 people, but we managed to finish it.

The next morning we had an English breakfast on the terrace. “Beef bacon”, not real bacon, the restaurant is halal.

Before leaving, Aric used his drone to take an aerial view of the Smokehouse and its beautiful green surroundings.

Although I have given up exploring remote, difficult waterfalls, I am still interested in visiting “easy” ones. The Jeriau waterfall is such an easy one, a half-hour walk, with only some stairs at the end. It is one of the few waterfalls where you start upstream of the fall and walk down.

Aric discovered a frog.

I needed to wet my feet before I climbed up the stairs, back to the entrance.

We drove back to the village. Fraser’s Hill is a relatively new hill resort, younger than the Cameron Highlands and Maxwell Hill, developed in the 1920s. It is located on the border between the states of Selangor and Pahang. Next to an old telephone booth, two border lines are marked, Left Selangor, right Pahang.

Here we try to stand with our feet in two different states 😉

The iconic clock tower is not really old (1989) but a popular spot for pictures. We had a simple lunch with roti canai and teh tarik.

On our way down, we passed a spot that was new to me, the Paddock.

Although there was an (unused) ticket booth , we could just walk in. There is a copy of a hobbit house, a windmill, you can ride a horse, and there is an archery range. Not really worth a visit. The sculpture is not modern art, just look at it with your head tilted 90 degrees clockwise.

Driving back, we passed a group of pig-tailed macaques. We took some pictures, but kept the car windows closed, because these macaques can be quite aggressive. An impressive alpha-male kept watching us.

On our way back, we stopped at what is left of the Gap Rest House. About 20 years ago I stayed overnight there. In those days, there was only a very narrow access road to Fraser’s Hill. There was a one-way traffic system, odd hours going up, even hours coming down. The Gap Rest House was a perfect stop for a drink or a meal. Actually, the Rest House is older than Fraser’s Hill, it was already mentioned in a travel guide from 1913. After a second access road was constructed, it lost its importance, was abandoned and is a ruin now. A pity.

Nowadays, the Rest House is almost invisible from the road, overgrown by jungle. Aric used his drone to take an aerial view.

The stairs leading to the building are still there, with a clear warning: Watch out for snakes. I wanted to have a look at the ruin, Aric reluctantly came with me, using my walking stick to tap everywhere. We didn’t see any snake.

The building is structurally intact and in good condition.

There have been renovation attempts, I have visited the building several times in the past 20 years and taken pictures of the decay. Maybe I should write a separate blog about it.

In 2011 I could still walk on the suspension bridge in front of the Rest House. Finally, another drone picture of the building. Notice the suspension bridge.

A few hundred meters further down the road, there is an Indian temple. Still maintained, the authorities should do the same with the Rest House.

One more waterfall on our way back to KKB, the Air terjun Semangkok .

As usual, a trip full of variety!

A waterfall Puzzle (and more)

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On my 80th birthday, 17 April 2024 , a few of my waterfall friends surprised me with a present.

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A Waterfall Puzzle!


“How did you know that I like doing jigsaw puzzles?”. I asked. They didn’t, it was the waterfall that made them decide to give it to me as a present.

Actually, not only me, but all my siblings have been avid jigsaw puzzlers. In Amsterdam I had dozens of jigsaw puzzles and even here in Malaysia I still have a few, They are big, 2000 and 3000 pieces, the huge one has even 5000 pieces. Too big for me nowadays, if anybody is interested, he can get them for free, just contact me.

But I still like doing jigsaws. In 2020 I received (by post!) a present from my brother Arie and his wife Ineke, after I had visited with them the heritage building shown in the puzzle. Not an easy one but doable 😉 .

We even have puzzles made for us from one of our own photos, by a specialised company. Here is an example, a photo of my siblings and their partners at a reunion meeting, a couple of years ago.

And here’s another one. The photo was taken by my youngest brother Otto, and we asked him to make a puzzle of it. This puzzle still needs to be done.

All this to show that I come from a jigsaw family 😉

As I was going back to the Netherlands a few weeks after my birthday, I decided to take the puzzle with me to Amsterdam. There I started with optimism, a puzzle of 1000 pieces should be no problem.

The usual approach is to collect the border pieces first. The puzzle is of Japanese origin, high quality and the puzzle pieces fit accurately.

The next step is to select an “easy” part” of the puzzle. I chose the white region of the waterfall and discovered soon that even that part was not easy at all.

I used a few tricks, one is to spread out all the puzzle pieces, just doable for a 1000-piece jigsaw. The next step is to sort the pieces according to colour.

As I had many other commitments, it became clear that it would be impossible to complete the puzzle during my stay. At a reunion meeting with my siblings, I asked if anyone would like to give it a try. My brother Ruud showed interest, so I put the puzzle back in its box, the various colors in separate plastic bags.

When my brother Pim brought me to the airport, in June last year, I gave him the puzzle and he passed it on to Ruud when he visited him in Groningen a few months later.

Unfortunately it was getting clear that Ruud’s health, both mental and physical, was deteriorating. When I asked about the puzzle in February, his partner Jur replied that Ruud would not be able to do it. My sister Lous was willing to take over.

Then things went fast. On 9 April Ruud passed away, only 76 year old. The funeral took place on 15 April. I could attend it digitally via life-streaming. On a condolence visit Lous received the puzzle..

It was a hectic time. Two days after the funeral I turned 81 and the weekend after that was Easter.

That weekend Lous sent me this photo. She had started the puzzle on 18 April and finished it three days later. Amazing.

“What shall I do with it now”, she asked. These Japanese puzzles always have a tube of glue included, so the puzzle can be glued on a piece of cardboard and hung on a wall as a kind of painting. “Can you split in separate pieces and put them back in the box?”, I asked. Then I will take it back to Malaysia, put it together, glue it and hang it in my home as a kind of in memoriam for our brother.

She managed to do it. Here is the result. The puzzle is now waiting for me to be taken back to Malaysia.

What started as a post about a puzzle, given to me by my waterfall friends, became more personal. Although Ruud probably never touched it, it will become a memorial for him.

A new waterfall

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My last “new waterfall” was two years ago, in 2023. In my blog post CNY 2023 Waterfall Trip, I explain why I no longer explore (new) waterfalls. This year I didn’t join the traditional CNY waterfall trip. Here is a photo where a few of my waterfall gang visit the Katoh Upper Fall. Would have been too much for me 😉 .

Joshua Tee, who is now the active webmaster of Waterfalls of Malaysia, suggested to organise a trip to an “easy” waterfall, only a 15 minute hike, an easy trail and a pristine fall. That sounded attractive, although I wondered how a waterfall with easy access could still be pristine. I joined.

One day before Chap Goh Meh, Joshua picked me up from home and we drove to Tanjung Malim where we had breakfast and met the rest of the group. Many of them I had met before. First photo, from left to right Joshua and his partner Eve, Pooi Yee, and my “waterfall godson” Nick. In the other picture JT Ong, Sam, Iwen and Kendrick.

After breakfast, we continued to Behrang Station, where it became clear how a waterfall with easy access can still be pristine: to reach the trail head you have to follow plantation roads where a 4WD is needed. So all nine of us moved into Joshua’s Ford Ranger. Here we have arrived at the trailhead.

And indeed, from here it there was an easy trail to the fall, about 600 meter. To cross a small stream, I preferred to walk through the water and get my feet wet 😉 .

Here is the Gersay waterfall, my waterfall sifu Khong would call it a baby fall. A nice wading pool, and attractive surroundings.

Joshua had suggested that we all bring some snacks and drinks, he had brought two foldable picnic tables !

My contribution was a bottle of wine, here Ong is tasting it.

It was a nice leisure trip, of course many photos were taken. The last photo shows Joshua and me, the present webmaster of WoM and the former one 😉 .

An official group photo.

We didn’t stay long, as the plan was to have lunch in Tanjung Malim. Here Eve and Ong are bringing back the tables.

A few more pictures of our walk back to the car.

In Tanjung Malim we went to restaurant Fu Man.

Nice food, I wanted to be the host and pay the bill, but the others didn’t allow me. Malaysian hospitality at its best.

Here is the location of the Gersay fall on Google Earth. Tanjung Malim bottom right, Behrang Station top left. The plantation road in red, the short walk in green.

I didn’t expect to visit new waterfalls anymore, this was a pleasant surprise.

My first waterfall in 2024

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There have been years when I visited more than twenty waterfalls, but that is over for various reasons. In 2023 I visited one waterfall only, during Chinese New Year, the Lata Juang.

As an octogenarian I have decided to visit only waterfalls with easy access “grandfather falls haha), so I was interested when my friend Edwin recently updated me about Lata Khong. When Khong and I “discovered” this waterfall, almost 20 years ago, access was already quite easy. Now the local Orang Asli community has made a cemented footpath for the last 100 meter to the fall , making access even easier. It makes sense they charge a small fee for parking and entry.

When we arrived in the kampung , we were shocked that access to the fall was impossible. An OA boy explained that a few days earlier the police had inspected the access road and decided that it was damaged/dangerous. Not really clear what kind of damage. Closure until January!. Read the hand-written notice.

That was disappointing, we had been driving from KL for about one hour, so what to do? The solution was to visit the Chamang waterfall near Bentong, another grandfather fall in the same region. I first visited this popular fall in 2004. The recent heavy rainfall made it even more impressive now.

Also here “development” has taken place, it is now called Taman Eko Rimba (Ecological Jungle Park) Chamang, with opening times and an entrance fee (RM 10 for me, a bit steep). There were a few tourists only, they stayed for a while at the huge signboard, then left.

Workers were constructing something new, we could not go down to the waterfall.

Which photo would you prefer?

Even with all the development the Chamang waterfall is still a very attractive one, but you must look for a suitable view point.

On our way back we had lunch at the Fantasy Valley restaurant in Kampung Bukit Tinggi. Very scenic location along the Tanglir river.

Aric ordered Claypot Prawn Glass Noodles and veggies. Big Udang Gala (Freshwater Prawns), not cheap, but so delicious!

Although we couldn’t visit Lata Khong, it was a very pleasant outing.

CNY 2023 Waterfall Trip

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On 22 January the Chinese Year of the Rabbit started and on day 3 I went on a waterfall trip with my waterfall gang. A revival of an older tradition, more about this at the end of this blog. Destination was the Lata Juang waterfall, recently discovered by Joshua Tee and added to WoM. He is the new webmaster of the site and suggested that this waterfall might be suitable for a senior like me, easy access and only a short hike.

It was quite a big group, my two waterfall godsons, Siang Hui and Nick (with wife Ping and niece Yin) came from Teluk Intan. Joshua, his partner Eve and fellow hiker Ong came from Kajang. They were wiling to pick me and my Dutch friend Paul up from my condo. My other godson Teoh also wanted to join, but had to cancel last minute because he got Covid.

We met in Gopeng and managed to find a Chinese restaurant that was open (not easy just after CNY!). .We had noodles with Yong Tau Foo, not bad.

From Gopeng we took the Simpang Pulai road to the Cameron Highlands. Soon we reached a minor side road, quite rocky, not suitable for a sedan car, but no problem for Joshua’s Ford Ranger. After about 1 km he parked his car and we prepared to hike. From left to right: Yin, Ping, Nick, Paul, Siang Hui, Eve and Joshua.

After a stream crossing we followed a clear trail.

Soon we passed a house, surprisingly nicely designed. Nobody at home, but later, on our way back, we met the owner, a grumpy man who clearly was not happy that we had visited the waterfall.

It was easy going, here and there a fallen tree blocked the trail, but Ong had brought his parang.

In less than half an hour we reached the waterfall, the last few hundred meters following the river.

And a nice waterfall it was. Two tiers, with a huge pool.

Time to enjoy and relax.

When you have been following my blog posts, you know that I have slowed down considerably the last few years. The years are counting, I am getting clumsy, I have lost confidence in the jungle, also because I have an allergy for wasps and bees. So, when the idea came up for a waterfall trip on day 3 of the CNY, my first reaction was not to join. But when Joshua said it was an easy, short hike, and a nice pristine waterfall, I started to hesitate. When Nick added, please come with us, I decided to join. Very happy that I did, as you can see in these pictures. The right picture shows me with my two “godsons” Nick and Siang Hui,, really a pity that Teoh could not be present.

We didn’t stay long, about one hour, here we are preparing to hike back.

Walking back the same way.

Back to Simpang Pulai, we looked for a restaurant and found a nice one

Quite acceptable food. Pork knuckle, fish, sotong, taufu, two veggies and a few beers. As I was happy after a successful trip, I wanted to pay for the lunch. Not easy in Malaysia, but this time I managed haha.

We started our drive back to KL at 3 pm, expecting that there might be a traffic jam, as the next day would be a normal working day. But that the jam would be so bad, was still a bit of a shock. It also didn’t help that halfway heavy rain started. But Joshua was an experienced and relaxed driver. We reached my condo at 9 pm, after 6 hours.

Sungkai (left picture) was especially bad, it took us about one hour to pass the town. The right picture shows the queue for the ladies toilet at a petrol station. For the men’s toilet no queue of course. To be a male has its advantages 😉

A very rewarding CNY waterfall trip.

The tradition to organise a waterfall trip on day 3 of the CNY started in 2012. To give you an impression of the CNY trips we made, I give a list here, with a picture and a link.

2012: Lata Naga Air. With SIang Hui, Nick and Harry. Yes, that’s me in the picture

2013: Ulu Lecin, with Siang Hui, Nick and Faye

2014 Upper Damak, with Siang Hui and Nick

2015 Lata Enggang, with Siang Hui, Nick and Rani

2016 Trong with Siang Hui, Nick and Rani. The plan was to visit upper Nyior, but we found it was out of bounds because a military exercise took place in the region.So instead we revisited Trong.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is Trong-2016.jpg

2017 An unsuccessful waterfall trip With SIang Hui, Nick, Teoh and Rani. We wanted to visit Lata Jala but failed

The next few years we didn’t make a trip with CNY for various reasons, one of them being of course the Covid pandemic. Only last year a trip was organized, again to the Lata Jala fall, that we had failed to reach in 2017. But I decided not to join, as explained above. This time Siang Hui, Nick,Teoh and Joshua reached the fall.

I really hope this tradition will continue, although I probably will not join myself.

Family trip to Kanching

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For a long time there has been a plan to visit a waterfall with Aric’s family, but it was not easy to find a suitable date. As 10 October was a holiday, we decided to make a trip to the Kanching waterfall between Selayang and Rawang. When we arrived at the carpark, it became clear that we would not be the only visitors, it was full, we had to drive a bit further to an additional parking. Here we are ready to go, notice the many bags with food for the picnic 😉

There are 7 waterfalls (and 2 more far upstream). Here are the first and the second fall.

The third fall, the Kapor fall, is the most popular waterfall. Too crowded, so we walked further up.

Where the cemented steps end, a trail continues, we expected that less people would hike that far. And that was the case, but there were still many people at my favorite fall no 5. I managed to take a picture of the fall without people!

We found a suitable, more quiet place between fall 4 and 5, a big rock where we could enjoy our lunch.

There was a small cascade next to our rock, a perfect place to enjoy the cooling water.

A few of us went for a while to fall no 5 to take a shower.

During my waterfall hikes I always liked to leave a stone marker at the waterfall. Here there was no need to do that because another visitor had already built two ones. In the right picture Zhi Le is blowing bubbles..

Ready to walk back.

Two views from the bridge. Left the rock where we had our picnic ( of course we left no rubbish) and the small cascade . Right looking down to fall number 4.

The Kapor fall was even more crowded now. Near the entrance we met an ice cream seller, I could not resist the temptation to have a roti ice cream 😉

We were still hungry and decided to go to Restoran Tom Yam Serendah, where we had enjoyed nice food several times in the past. Then it was a small basic restaurant near the main road, but now it had moved to a new location, very clean but less atmosphere.

The food was ok, although the tom yam not as nice as before. Still cheap, RM 180 for 11 pax!

After our lunch we were in the mood for coffee, we decided to visit the World of Phalaenopsis , which not only has orchids, but also a nice café. However, here there was again a massive crowd, so we only walked around and bought an orchid to take home.

Driving back we looked for a kopi tiam, but we were not lucky. Finally we ended, almost home, in the DIB restaurant in Damansara Perdana. DIB stands for Deaf In Business, it is a relaxed, very friendly place, where we come regularly.

We had coffee, I was not yet hungry, had only a waffle with ice cream

it was a very nice outing, worth repeating (but preferably on a weekday)

Batang Kali again

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Half a year ago I published a blog My Waterfalls in which I described 48 waterfalls visited by me (with my friends) since 2007, but never included in my website Waterfalls of Malaysia. When you look at the list, you will notice that there has not been much waterfall activity during the last few years. After 2017 only two “new” waterfalls in 2021, the Batang Kali fall and the Pencheras fall. The reason for my lack of activity was partly the COVID-19 pandemic, limiting traveling possibilities, but mainly my growing lack of confidence.

In 2015, during a rewarding “expedition” , Sg Siput Waterfall Recce, we had to cross a river to reach the intimidating Lata Kaku.

In my blog I wrote: I don’t know why, but I felt uneasy, stumbling often, maybe the years are counting…. In the following years that feeling got stronger. I have decided not to visit remote waterfalls anymore. And also only hike in the jungle when accompanied by at least two “strong” “young” friends ;-). My visit to the Batang Kali waterfall in March 2021 is a good example. I went there with Edwin and Teoh, the hike took about one hour and the waterfall, though not spectacular, was nice with a big pool.

When I told my Dutch friend Paul about this waterfall, he was interested, so we needed two young men to join us. Fahmi was willing, but Aric was too busy with his laundry shop. Fortunately Rani was available. On 23 July we met at the Kedongdong recreational park, from where it was a 800 meter walk along. the tar road to the trailhead.

Right after the start we had to cross the Pencheras river. Last year we had to wade through the river or cross on a fallen tree, now a simple bamboo bridge had been built.

There was a trail, although not always clear. Locals collect bamboo here, there were remains of sheds and several side trails, but with the help of Rani we found our way.

Many bamboo groves.

Here and there fallen trees blocked the trail.

Halfway we had to cross the Batang Kali river to the other side. No bridge here, so we got our shoes wet.

There was still a trail and of course there were numerous leeches. Tiger leeches mainly.

After about one hour we arrived at the waterfall. More water than last year.

Enjoying a bath.

Of course we took many pictures.

Upstream there are more waterfalls, but they require river trekking. A few years ago I would have continued to explore them. Now this waterfall was enough for me. After playing around for a while we hiked back. Time enough to look around and enjoy nature.

Almost back, we came across a few spectacular ginger plants. Left a torch ginger, right a beehive ginger.

After the hike it was time for lunch. Rani had to hurry back for a birthday party, Paul, Fahmi and I went to the World of Phalaenopsis café in Ulu Yam. Pleasant surroundings, nice food.

Nasi Lemak
Mee Siam

In the future I hope to have more waterfall hikes, similar to this one.

In one of my blogs I mentioned the Australian collection of Malaysian topo maps. I was interested to use one of these maps and add my waterfall trips. Left the map, published in the 1940s, notice how few roads existed in those days. Estates everywhere. Right the same map, with my trips indicated. The Batang Kali waterfall is at the right .

My waterfalls

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During the past 20 years I have visited over 200 waterfalls in Malaysia. Most of them have been included in my Waterfalls of Malaysia website. But not all of them, for various reasons. Here is a list of those waterfalls. When you click on a picture or on the caption below it, a page will open about that waterfall with more details, with whom I visited the fall, on which date(s), etc.

About the counting of waterfalls, there are 48 pages, but the actual number of waterfalls is larger. When rivers have more than one waterfall, I have in general combined them in one page.

About the title of this blog, of course the waterfalls are not mine, I have not even discovered them. But as MY also stands for Malaysia, I like this playful title.

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2007

Ulu Yam fall (Selangor)

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2008

Kerling fall (Selangor)

Secret fall (Pahang)

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2009

Sg Dipang falls (Perak)

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2010

Lata Jala (Perak)

Jeram Pelangi (Kelantan)

Chenor Cascades (Kelantan

Air Terjun Renyok (Kelantan)

Lata Pinang (S-fall) (Pahang)

Bojong fall (RIP) (Sarawak)

Pain and Susung falls (Sarawak)

Sg Liam falls (Selangor)’

Pangsun Falls (Selangor)

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2011

Sg Weh falls (Pahang)

Wong Geruntum (Sarawak)

Belihoi fall (Negeri Sembilan)

Pantai fall (Negeri Sembilan)

Mantin fall (Negeri Sembilan)

Sg Mahang fall (Negeri Sembilan)

Nyior fall (Perak)

Jeram Berembun (Perak)

Tiga Lapis & Jeram Enggang (Negeri Sembilan)

Serai falls (Perak)

Jeram Batu Bertengkek (Selangor)

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2012

Sg Mertar falls (Pahang)

Gerehang falls (Perak)

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2013

Secret fall (Sekiau) (Selangor)

Lubuk Tupai (Selangor)

Jeram Berdebu (Terengganu)

Gumut fall (Selangor)

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2014

Sg Rinting falls (Selangor)

Jeram Berungut (Negeri Sembilan)

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2015

Bukit Kiara falls (Wilayah Persekutuan)

Lata Bubu (Perak)

Sg Buloh fall (Perak)

Sereiyang fall (Perak)

Lata Enggang (Perak)

Lata Berangin (Selangor)

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2016

Bukit Ayer fall (Perlis)

Lata Ulu Damak (Perak)

Lata Debu (Perak)

Air Hitam falls (Selangor)

Rumput fall (Selangor)

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2017

Sri Kampar fall (Perak)

Changkat Tembaga fall (Pulau Pinang)

Lata Guan (Pahang)

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2021

Batang Kali fall (Selangor)

Lata Pencheras (Pahang)

Batang Kali waterfall

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Since the beginning of the lockdown in Malaysia (March 2020), I have visited only two waterfalls, Templer Park and Lata Iskandar. When you know about my fascination with Malaysian waterfalls, you will understand how excited I was when my friend Edwin suggested a trip to waterfalls in the Batang Kali-Ulu Yam region. Interstate travel was still prohibited, but these waterfalls are in the state of Selangor.

There were two options, either the Kedondong fall or waterfalls in the Batang Kali river, recently explored by him. As I had visited the Kedondong fall already, I was interested in the Batang Kali waterfalls. Interested but also a bit anxious. I am getting older and have lost my self-confidence in the jungle. I discussed my concern with Edwin and we decided to limit ourself to an “easy” waterfall in the Batang Kali River. Teoh, one of my waterfall “godsons” was eager to join as well.

Edwin picked me up from my condo at 7:30 am and took me for breakfast to the 333 Kopitiam in Ulu Yam Baharu, where Teoh was already waiting for us. We had bitter gourd pork noodles and yam pork noodles, especially the second one was delicious and a reason to come back.

  • 333 Kopitiam
  • Yam and Bitter Gourd noodles

We parked our cars at the Kedondong Recreation Park, for safety, although it meant that we first had to walk along the road about 800 m to the trailhead. We started hiking around 10 am

  • Ready to go
  • The trailhead

From the trailhead we hiked down to a tributary of the Batang Kali river, which we had to cross.

Crossing was easy. For the first time in two(!) years I was wearing my kampung Adidas.

There was a clear trail with beautiful bamboo groves. Locals probably come here to harvest bamboo, even a temporary shed was built.

Here and there bamboo had fallen across the trail, but still easy to pass.

It was a real pleasure to be back in the jungle. Only a few leeches.

  • Nice fungus
  • Almost looks like mangrove

We had to cross the Batang Kali river once. Easy.

After about 30 minutes we reached the waterfall. Not a tall one, but a lot of water and a huge pool.

Of course we took a refreshing bath.

Edwin is an experienced swimmer and managed to swim behind the water curtain. I took a video, you can hardly see his face behind the water, until he dives through it :-).

Here I am relaxing near the fall. A happy man. I am always a bit worried about bees and wasps as I am allergic to their stings, but there were hardly any in this pristine location.

After frolicking around, we took the same trail back to the main road. Two ways of crossing the river, using the fallen tree (Edwin) or just getting wet feet (Teoh and I).

Around 1 pm we were back at our cars, getting hungry. Teoh had to go back to work (!), Edwin suggested that we could visit an orchid farm in Ulu Yam, where they also had a nice café. This World of Phalaenopsis was a pleasant surprise. Large collection of orchids, friendly atmosphere

Well maintained place with not only orchids.

Although it was a weekday, there were many visitors both in the farm and in the café. I had a waffle with strawberries and ice cream for lunch. A place to visit again.

I wanted to buy an orchid to bring home, the red one I carry in the left picture. A friendly sales guy advised me to choose the one with larger flowers, they would last longer. Three orchids for RM 30 only.

A very rewarding outing. Thanks to Edwin for taking the initiative and to Teoh for his company. Real fellowship, good for boosting my self-confidence.

Here is a Google Earth of the Batang Kali region. The red part is along the road, the green one the trail. I have also marked the locations of the 333 Kopitiam and the orchid farm.