Sri Mahkota Falls (Y2009 Summer XP)
BASIC INFORMATION
Trek: Y2009 Summer XP
Date: 5 - 6 September 2009
Location: Sri Mahkota Falls, JB, Malaysia
Elevation: (Waterfall)
Duration: 2D1N
BRIEF ITINERARY
Day 1
Transport to Selendang
Trek toward Sri Mahkota falls
Day 2
Trek ended at Endau Rompin Resort
Transport back to SG
Day 1
Kranji MRT-Causeway-JB City Square-Endau Town-Endau Rompin State Park-Sri Mahkota Falls-Campsite
0730 was the stipulated meeting time at Kranji MRT; however, it was only at 0830 that the last group manages to depart from the MRT as a result of people coming late. As the group consists of many new trekkers, many of them did not know how to pack or adjust their bags properly. I see a lot of bags in weird looking shapes. This is especially so for people who are carrying the tents. Many of the tents ended up being placed horizontally across outside the trek bags which would cause a huge problem if we are going to more difficult terrain.
We took a long time to cross the causeway due to the heavy traffic. Hence, we were not able to make up for the lost time due to the late departure from Kranji MRT and the bus left only at 0930, 1 hour late. The traffic was bad on the way to the Park, we were travelling behind a slow moving lorry most of the time but were not able to overtake it due to the narrow and winding road. We stopped for lunch at a Chinese restaurant in Endau Town.
After lunch, the bus continued in the direction towards Rompin and turns left towards Selendang. Watch out for the signboard indicating the turn. The final stretch of road into the Park was undulating and I almost thought that the bus would not be able to make it to the park.
We finally reached the park at 1600. Mastura and the guides were waiting for us at the entrance. After settling the fees and warm ups, we started the trek to Sri Mahkota Falls along the tarred road. We trekked for 30 minutes and reached the entrance of the waterfalls-a flight of steps leading down to the falls.
It was weird and anti climax reaching the waterfall before we even enter the forest and start our trek proper. As it was getting late, we did not splash around for long and have to proceed to the campsite.
There were two campsites. The trek to the first campsite was relatively easy consisting of mostly flat ground and some fallen logs. The only major challenge was the overwhelming number of leeches. The new trekkers were literally screaming their lungs off every five minutes. The condition of the first campsite was really bad, which consists of a broken pavilion and a leech infested surrounding.
Hence, we proceed to the second campsite. This involved us crossing the same river twice. We took 1h 30 minutes in total to travel from the waterfalls to the campsite. The second campsite was on a sandy piece of land (floodplain?) beside a river. One needs to be aware and be ready to evacuate to higher grounds in case of rain. There is also sandflies buzzing around at the campsite. The campsite, however, is quite big and can easily fit up to 50 people quite comfortably.
Day 2
Campsite-Endau Rompin Resort-Orang Asli Seafood Village-JB City Square-Causeway-Home
After waking up, we started our Trek at about 0800 and took about 2 hours to trek out of the forest to Endau Rompin Resort. The starting part of the trail was rather muddy. There was a certain part which was rather steep and the new trekkers had a lot of problems climbing down and up. Before reaching the resort, there was a large river which we had to cross. The rocks on the riverbed were rather slippery and many have problems trying to cross.
So we finally reached the resort. We went for some rafting and kayaking around a small area in front of the resort. There was a simple place to wash up before we board the bus.
We have seafood dinner at the orang asli village in Johor before heading home.
Written by: Keng Phang, Trek IC
