It has become a nice tradition: to visit an “unknown” waterfall during CNY with a few of my waterfall friends. In 2012 we have explored Lata Naga Air and last year we hiked  to the Ulu Licin falls, near Beruas. This time Siang Hui, who probably knows dozen if not hundreds of unexplored waterfalls in Malaysia, suggested a waterfall in the Gopeng region, upstream of the Damak waterfall. He had done a recce to this fall a few years ago, could already hear the sound of falling water, but returned because there might be a “Big Cat” around!

The Ulu Geroh region is famous for the Rafflesia flowers that can be found in the region and for the large concentration of Rajah Brooke butterflies. Since a number of years the Semai Orang Asli community has been actively involved in the protection of these natural treasures. Guides will bring you to the Rafflesia and Rajah Brooke locations, or to the Damak waterfall. A good initiative to give the community some income and make them aware of the importance of preserving the natural habitat.

So, we did not mind taking a guide to this virtually unknown upper Damak fall. But we were shocked when they told us that we to had to pay per pax. That is very unusual for guides! Of course when your group is big, you may need more than one guide. We had a long discussion, they showed us the official price list (!). Finally we agreed to pay RM 75 for two guides. Very reasonable

It was very useful to have guides, as they took a better route to the fall, than explored by Siang Hui a few years ago. We followed more or less the river, only vague trails, a lot of chopping needed. It took us about 1.5 hour to reach the Upper Damak fall. The rock face is visible on Google Earth.

As it had not rained for quite a few days, the water flow was not very big. Halfway up there was a nice pool, where we took a rest. The guides explained that the name of the fall was Lata Seli, where Seli means Cobra in the Semai language. And that the Damak fall should be called Lata  Jemon, while the name of the river is actually Sg Kundur. Here are some pictures taken during our hike.

On our way back we took the logging road used by Siang Hui during his recce. Hot, no shade, so it was nice that we could take a refreshing bath in the river before going back to Gopeng. Here is a GPS track of our hike.

I also took a short video of the waterfall

Quite a few times, on my waterfall hikes, I have met Eddie Yap, a nature guide. We became friendly, exchanged emails and agreed that we should try to make a trip together. But it never happened, until last week. It was a nice meeting, although the actual reason was not a happy one. Recently a nature guide drowned at a remote waterfall near Bentong, after he had first saved the life of one of his clients.

We had both visited this waterfall and did not really understand why it could be dangerous. So we decided to make Lata Hammers the target of our trip. Aric joined, as I have made it a rule now, to have at least three people on jungle hikes. Here is the upper fall, where the tragic accident happened.

As you see, the water flow was huge, because there had been heavy rain the night before. At the trail head you have to cross the Perting Pandak river, and that was NOT easy. After that it is an easy, although muddy logging road, leading in about 45 minutes to the fall. Here you have to cross the river again, and it was good that a “bridge” consisting of trees had been constructed, otherwise crossing would have been very problematic. The waterfall was intimidating, turbulent waters, strong currents, we thought it wise not to swim. It is only a short walk to the upper fall, equally strong and turbulent. Here is a short video clip of the upper fall.

Although the target of this trip was a sad one, it was really a pleasure to finally make a trip with Eddie. We had a lot to talk about, and a lot in common, for example that we both like skinny dipping, haha. And good food, on our way back we stopped in Bukit Tinggi and had a delicious lunch at the 126 restaurant . Value for money too, we paid only RM 26 for the three of us!  Here are more pictures. Looking forward to a next meeting.

I took a few more videos at Lata Hammers. Here are the links: Crossing the tree bridge , The lower fall (notice the turbulence and the currents) and one more of the Upper fall

A few days later I went again to a waterfall. This time with my friends Richard and Gabriel, to the Chiling waterfall, near Kuala Kubu Baharu. This waterfall, the most popular in Malaysia, is only open to the public during weekends, you will not be the only visitor. As it is the rainy season now, I was expecting a large flow of water, so I had taken a rope for the (several) river crossings. But it had not been raining the night before, the crossings were passable, with some care. Here is the main fall , impressive, with a thunderous roar and a mist of water.

It takes about 45 minutes from the ranger station (Chiling is a fish sanctuary) to the main fall. But first we climbed up to the upper fall, where it was quiet. Here is a video of the upper fall.

As the weather looked good, we decided to go the top fall, which I had explored in 2010 , We found the trail, it looked good, but unfortunately  it petered out halfway and as we were not in the mood to chop our way, we returned and went down to the main fall. We were surprised to find no visitors there, which caused Richard and Gabriel to do a joyful little dance.

Later new hikers arrived, but still it was not the crowd I had expected…:-) We had our lunch before we hiked back. I have visited this waterfall numerous times, it never gets boring! Here are more pictures.

Let me end this blog the same way as the waterfall pages on my website end:

Waterfalls can be dangerous ! Always take care about your safety

When we arrived at the entrance of the Chiling Fish Sanctuary and saw the crazy number of parked cars, we wanted to turn back and go home!

It had been a last minute decision to visit the Chiling waterfall. My last waterfall was Berdebu, more than one month ago. I had hurt my knee on that trip and had been lying low for several weeks, only starting last week my regular Kiara walk. An easy waterfall trip would be a good test for the condition of my knee. I chose Chiling, although I realised that we would not be the only visitors, as this is the most popular waterfall in Malaysia, and only open during weekends.

After some discussion (shall we go to Fraser’s hill instead?), we decided to accept the crowd…:-). A good decision, as the crowd was still acceptable and the reward formidable. It was many years ago that I had visited Chiling for the last time, and I had forgotten how beautiful the falls are. Here they are, from left to right the lower (main) fall, the middle fall and the upper fall.

The access to the waterfalls is an adventure in itself, as you have to cross the river six times. After heavy rain, that can be a bit problematic, but this time it was very easy. We skipped the main fall first, a steep scramble brings you to the impressive but inaccessible middle fall and then to the upper fall, much less crowded, as expected.

A good place to relax and prepare coffee. You can go (carefully!) to the top of the middle fall, from where you can look down to the bottom of the lower fall. Not advisable when you have fear of height…:-)

Here are more pictures of the trip. We started at 11:30 and were out at 14:30, still in time for lunch in Ulu Yam, famous for its loh mee and fish cakes.

A nice trip. And my knee did not give any problems!

Here are two YouTube video clips of the Middle fall and the Upper fall