Gunung Datuk (Y2010 Intro Trek)
BASIC INFORMATION
Trek: Y2010 Intro Trek
Date: 16 - 17 January 2010
Location: Gunung Datuk, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
Elevation: 884m
Duration: 2D1N
BRIEF ITINERARY
Day 1
Transport to base of Gunung Datuk
Trek to summit of Gunung Datuk
Day 2
Descend to Base Camp
Transport back to SG
Introduction
This trek log is written by a trekker who has never been to Datuk prior to this expedition. It is a personal reflection and a guide for future Gunung Datuk organizers or trekkers. An important thing to note is that although Gunung Datuk is a trek at the Introductory Level, one must never underestimate the difficulty of the trek. Be aware, be prepared and NEVER underestimate ANY trek, no matter how easy seniors / trek logs have said. Do read through this log with an open mind. (:
Day 1
Meeting time was 7am at Kranji MRT Station. Majority of the trekkers came around 7.15am. Thankfully, the late comers were not that late. By 0745hrs, all 37 trekkers were able to board the SBS 170 bus. Nothing much to say here, cleared customs, hit the causeway, reached Malaysian custom at around 0815hrs. Oh, one thing. Malaysia ran out of white immigration cards. >.< That aside, we had approximately 45mins to spare upon reaching City Square at around 0835hrs. There is probably only one place that would be opened at that time for breakfast – Macdonalds.
Macs breakfast was great but do note that that the service is extremely sllloooowww. You can have 4 Mac dudes watching one Mac dude make big breakfast. With that in mind, the extra time was wasted from waiting for our burgers and stuff. Furthermore, there were 37 of us ordering, thus 45mins may not be enough. Hence, do take note of the time and act accordingly. Some of us would naturally want to use the toilet before moving off to board the chartered bus. Hence there would definitely be some delay from waiting for them. Another thing to note is that some of the trekkers would want to buy bottled water in Malaysia instead. Therefore, if the extra time before boarding the chartered bus permits, the trekkers can get their water from 7-11 outlet near City Square.
For this trek, 45mins wasn’t enough for a Macs breakfast and water purchase. Thus, an arrangement with the bus driver via the guide was made for the bus to stop at any petrol kiosk to allow the trekkers to purchase their bottled water. It is definitely not easy to locate the bus. The bus was not at the usual pick up point behind city square due to the “no stopping” rule that the driver somehow abided to. After calling Mdm Tan (the bus company lady), we found the bus next to the railway station area. It is important to get the whole team of 36 people to stay put at a certain place first instead of bringing all of them around to look for the bus.
Reached the petrol kiosk in 15mins. Those who needed to buy their bottled water went ahead to purchase from the mart there. At around 1230hrs, the bus stopped at some hawker like place for 20mins. After much inference, we realized the drivers went to have lunch. =.= At that point of time, I was very afraid of not reaching the base of Gunung Datuk at the stipulated planned time of 1330hrs. Thankfully, we managed to reach the base of Gunung Datuk at around 1345hrs. The stretch of road which connects the main road to the base of Datuk is very narrow and small, but it IS possible for the bus to proceed on. But once the bus goes in, there is no turning back till it reaches the big carpark at the base of Datuk. There would be a 50 degrees slope and the bus driver may not want to attempt to drive the bus up, but it is still possible as we managed to do it.(The bus driver didn’t want to drive up initially. =.=)
Upon reaching the base of Gunung Datuk, warm-ups were conducted by the Safety I/C and the permits were settled with the park’s ranger. Besides the 3RM per trekker, there is a new rule that states that any camper must pay a deposit of 200 odd RM for trash collection. The ranger will return the deposit once he acknowledges that we have retained and brought our trash down from the summit. We set off at around 1415hrs.
The first 30mins of the climb is quite steep ~ 70-80 degrees. The terrain was very rocky. The trail is very obvious. We didn’t hire any guide for this trek but we made sure that at least one experienced trekker and someone who climbed Datuk before was in front of the whole team. Since this is an introductory trek, there were many first time trekkers. The initial phase of the climb proved to be quite tough from some people. Frequent short breaks were required to allow the new trekkers to catch their breath and to hydrate themselves.
With regards to hydration, one must remember that there is no water sourceat all at the summit of Datuk. Hence it is important to bring sufficient water to drink, cook and wash. Self-rationing of water is important. Bringing too much water may cause unnecessary weight. For this trek, a person should bring only about 4 litres of water. At around 1720hrs, I realized that there was not much time left till nightfall. We were at around 600m.(Datuk is 870m tall) Our pace was quite slow, thus I decided to allow the tent carriers to rush up to the summit first so that in case we were to hit night trek, by the time we reach the summit, there would already be shelter for everyone.
After much encouragement and motivation by everyone, the team managed to reach the summit at around 1815hrs. Thankfully, the weather was excellent and the sun only began to set. We set up the remaining of the tents and climbed the slightly rusty ladder up the “Bungalow-sized” rock to reach the actual summit of Gunung Datuk. The ladders must be climbed with caution. There should be people stationed at every point of the ladders to ensure that the trekkers are able to safely get to the summit. The thing about Datuk is that the true summit is a giant piece of rock. There is nothing blocking your view of the surroundings.
DO take note that it is EXTREMELY windy.
The area of the rock summit is very small, thus movement around the summit was with great caution. Having 37 people on top is no joke. By 1845hrs, before last light, the signal to go back to our campsite was given. By 1900hrs, everyone were preparing to cook for dinner. The campsite is not exactly very big. Cooking areas were quite constrained to limited spaces. It is important to cook away from where the tents are to prevent accidents like the burning of tents to occur. The wind at the campsite got stronger by the minute. Wind breaker/jacket is an absolutely compulsory item for this trek. The cold wind is freaking strong and uber cold. By 2200hrs, everyone finished their cooking came together for a debrief. The trekkers were allowed to sleep after the debrief.
Day 2
Some of the trekkers wanted to catch the sunrise the night before. Unfortunately, almost everyone could not wake up at 0515hrs. Many of them woke up around 0715hrs. The view at that time was still awesome. In the morning, we realized there were 2 new tents at the campsite. They belonged to other random trekkers who arrived late at night. The campsite became more limited in space. There was no space for cooking thus we decided to quickly strike the tents first before cooking.
By 0845hrs, everyone finished packing eating and cleaning up the campsite of thrash. The Safety I/C conducted a warm-up and we proceeded to descend Gunung Datuk. The first break was at the broken huts area which signifies approximately 40% of the climb up completed from base camp. The order of movement was Group 1-2-3-4-5. As only a minority of trekkers in the front few groups wanted to rest, the decision was made to reverse the order of movement to 5-4-3-2-1. The descent was not easy for some people as some are not used to it.
By 1230hrs, everyone safely made it to the base camp. Shower facilities are available. There is also a Ramly Burger store and a drinks store at the campsite. Since the bus will only arrive at around 1330hrs, washing up and a quick meal was made possible. Everyone boarded the bus at 1330hrs and made our way back to Johor. Along the way, negotiations were made with the driver via the guide to stop by this place near Melaka for A & W. After that, the bus also stopped by in Yong Peng (No, we did not ask to be stop by Yong Peng. Probably some tourist trap thingy). It is not compulsory for you to buy something from the shop they stopped at.
An arrangement was also made with the driver via the guide to stop us at Taman Sentosa so that we can have our seafood dinner. The bus did stopped us at Taman Sentosa, but it did not bring us to a proper seafood place. The guide didn’t know where was the famous open air seafood hawker. (I honestly feel that the driver told the guide that he doesn’t want to drive us there as the traffic in that area was bad and it would be very difficult for the bus to find any parking space) Thus the guide just acted blur and insist on us getting off at some weird place in Taman Sentosa. =.= (Somewhere near The Store shopping centre) As most of us are not very sure of the direction of the famous seafood hawker, we decided to split up to eat at nearby eateries. This caused a great deal of disappointment to everyone. In my opinion, in order to avoid such disappointment, it is important to have a map and a planned route / exact location of the seafood places to go to so that we can pinpoint and direct the bus to that place itself.
Overall, it was a good expedition. The weather was excellent. It did not rain and there were no leeches (Partly because it didn’t rain). If it were to rain, we may hit night trek on the way up and the way down would have been tougher and dirtier. The “seafood” dinner was a disappointment but I truly believe it is an awesome experience for everyone, be it for experienced or first-time trekkers. A great way to initiate the uninitiated.
Note: All photos in this post were taken by Toh Wee Kee! (Admin: Sorry!! There are some technical issues and photos disappeared! So sorry about it!!)
Written by: Kenneth Tan, Trek IC
