Gunung Belumut - Run 2 (Y2015 MTT)
BASIC INFORMATION
Trek: Y2011 MTT Run 2
Date: 29 - 30 August 2015
Location: Gunung Belumut, Johor, Malaysia
Elevation: 1,010m
Duration: 2D1N
Difficulty: Unexpected Steep Inclines
BRIEF ITINERARY
0530 Depart from SMU
0800 Reach JB for breakfast
1000 Arrive at Gunung Belumut Base
1030 Start climb
1430 Reach summit and short lunch
1450 Start descend
1730 Arrive at base camp
In the wee hours of the morning on 29th August, we packed ourselves into 2 mini vans and set off for the adventure ahead! Excited faces were dimmed with tiredness because most of us didn’t manage to get much sleep the previous night. 25 of us students, not really knowing what to expect, had set off for our mini adventure!
Sleepyheads dozing off hehehe plus a Tisa at the back looking all glamorous in the light of the morning sun
The van rides to the foot of Gunung Berlumut had took about 3 hours of travel time, and most of us took the opportunity to catch up on some much needed sleep time. We were sleepy from waking up at 4am in the morning to set off. About halfway through the van ride at 7am, the drivers had stopped at a local Malaysian coffee shop where we had our breakfast. According to Gabriel Siow, our small yet feisty true-blue Malaysian, he told us that we were eating at the “real” Malaysian styled old coffee shop. We looked around us, and realized what he meant. Most of the stalls were cooking their food in old stone/ceramic pots over charcoal or firewook. Most of us had wanton mee/nasi lemak/fried bee hoon/fish soup. It was pretty interesting to watch all the old Malaysian aunties and uncles at work! And the food tasted pretty good too
*Cue music* The party don’t start till I walk in
After 3 hours sitting in the van, a good breakfast, and a round tummy, we reached the foot of Gunung Berlumut! Most of us tumbled out of the van like sleepy, half-awake puppies after our breakfast-food-comma nap we had in the van, and started to unload our bags. We carried our bags with us for a short distance to the central cemented grounds just in front of the entrance to the trek. For the next 10 odd minutes, there was 25 SMU students unloading, changing and packing their belongings on the grounds of Gunung Berlumut. We separated our belongings into the backpack that we would be carrying up with us on the trek, and into our duffel bag that we would leave and lock up in the Rangers Station. Also, it was the first time we had used the toilet! And I’m sure a few of us had left our mark there. We did our first warm-up as a group together, and had quickly set off for the trek! (The guide was chasing us because we are running behind time!)
The route was of pretty flat terrain at first, we were all chit chatting as we walked. But then…. Came the first challenge… (cue doomsday music)
“Hold on a second, we gotta walk through that?” “Wait what, no one told me I was going to get wet!”
Wondering what had happened? The bridge that had normally safely and dryly brought trekkers across the river was undergoing…. Some painting renovations. So the guide did what he thought was the next best option. Without uttering a word, he led us from the entrance of the bridge down the terrain to the entrance of the river. He crossed it without much difficulty, in y’know, a couple of seconds, and stood on the opposite end and beckoned us to move along. There was a small trail of rocks that could bring a person across the river safely and most importantly, dryly. However, there was a caveat. You had to have an excellent sense of balance. Which most of us… unfortunately lacked We’re happy to say that all 25 of us made it across the river! Albeit with soaked shoes and socks, but with joyful and excited expressions!
After the adventurous, bear grylls style river crossing (I mean, go muddy and wet or go home!), we commenced on the trek proper.
The trek up Gunung Berlumut was split into 5 sections, with 4 proper checkpoints and the sweet sweet summit point. The photo above(ft. the gung-ho Audrey)(will explain more about gung-ho later, so read on!) was taken before the 1st checkpoint. It took us about an hour of trekking, at average speed, to reach the 1st checkpoint. The terrain was relatively manageable, with a gentle upward slope. There were certain parts of the trek where it got pretty muddy, and our gung-ho Audrey exclaimed to us girls “Real girls like mud”, and it became pretty much the slogan for the girls in our group for the rest of the trek. Also, used by the guys against us whenever we came across mud and made some noise.
Our first break at the 1st checkpoint!
After about an hours walk, we took a short break at the 1st checkpoint. The guide reminded us that we were running slightly behind time, and cut short our break to 3 minutes. He also warned us that the difficulty level would be high from the 1st to the 2nd checkpoint, and from the 3rd to the 4th checkpoint. The terrain would be easier from 2nd to 3rd. Fingers began counting and heads looked up to the high trees as we registered what he said. “There’s going to be 4 checkpoints in total… 1, 2, 3 and 4…” “Wait, then what about the 1 hour of trekking that we just did?” It was then the truth dawned upon us. THE 1STHOUR OF WALKING WASN’T EVEN PART OF THE REAL TREK. WHUUUT? And if that wasn’t even considered… what would be considered difficult?
Like true trekkers, we learned through grit and experience! We began, on what was truly a difficult climb. It wasn’t technically difficult, but involved lots of upslope and steep climbing. The climb spanned for about an hour, and left us all exhausted at the end of it. At first, it was mostly upslope on steps(not actual steps, but nature’s steps!), but slowly the steps got bigger and more tricky. More attention had to be given to our footwork and breathing patterns. We were all soaked in perspiration by the time we had reached the 2nd checkpoint. Nearer to the 2nd checkpoint, the terrain got extremely steep, and there were certain points of time where we had to use our hands to pull ourselves up in order to reach the next step. Truly an experience for many first time trekkers!
We took a well-deserved break. Gummies were out, isotonic drinks were beginning to run short in supplies and people had even began on their lunches! Despite the undeniable tough climb, we were all smiling and happy that we had made it so far together.
We made it without much difficulty from the 2nd Checkpoint to the 3rdcheckpoint, as it was mostly flat if not downslope terrain. We were glad to be able to take a short break at the 3rd checkpoint, but were curious as to what laid ahead of us.
Our journey up from the 3rd to 4th checkpoint was similar if not of slightly greater difficulty as compared to what we had experienced from the 1st to 2ndcheckpoint. The terrain was steeper, and there was more use of hands as we pulled ourselves upwards and in the process desperately tried to avoid plants smacking right into our faces. The climb was a test of agility and perseverance. Yingshan, was clearly one of the most agile amongst our team, as she zoomed zoomed zoomed through the plants and made it through the trek without much difficulty. I remember Gabriel Lau and myself at the back thinking “Wow, she’s small but packs a punch!”
And….. we had reached the 4th checkpoint. Woohooo!!! But then we wondered… where was the summit? The guide, disappearing fast into the trek, beckoned for us to continue following him. The end was near but not that near. We still had a considerable upward journey to go!
The journey up from the 4th checkpoint to the summit took about half an hour, but was mostly filled with us trying to keep pokey plants away from our faces.
And we have reached the top of Gunung Berlumut! Ft. a paranoma photo taken on the summit!
Exhausted faces and tired bodies did not stop us from climbing on the top of the legendary (and only) rock on the summit to take photos!
Ft. Gerald, who has a story to tell (read on!), taking the selfie
WE WERE STARVED. Cans of tuna, wraps, raisin bread and of course Adam’s amazing corn biscuits were being passed around as we sat together and enjoyed a simple, yet fulfilling picnic lunch.
Despite running behind time(evidenced from the guide’s clearly unhappy face. On the right bottom), we couldn’t pass on the opportunity to take group photos! I mean, we had successfully conquered Gunung Berlumut!
We squashed our finished cans of tuna, tied up the remaining food, packed them into our bags and began to make our way down. It was the exact same way down as we had came up. But, we came to learn that going down doesn’t mean going faster or any easier. In fact, we experienced as much difficulty going down as coming up, if not more. Climbing up involved strength, skill, perseverance and agility. Climbing down had involved an even higher level of agility, but most importantly as we discovered, focus and good footwork. A few of us had experienced knee problems from the impact of trekking downhill for such a long time. Furthermore, the weather conditions were taking a turn for the worse. As we descended, we saw huge dark clouds looming above us. Our prospects really weren’t all that good… it was already difficult enough getting down in the slippery mud and terrain, what more with rain. Also, the prospect of trekking into nightfall was a very real one, in the words of Gabriel Siow, “the problem is real”. It was difficult to imagine a group of 25, with only 5 headlamps trekking in the dark and rain. Fortunately for us, lady luck was shining upon us that very day. The dark clouds headed in the direction away from us as the strong winds came. And the entire group made in back safe and sound in 25 whole pieces to base camp before nightfall! As from the famous words of Ed Viesturs, “Getting to the top is optional. Getting down is mandatory.” We had tasted what he meant when he wrote those words.
We made it down!! (in one piece) As we walked across the bridge (that they had stopped painting yayyy!) back to our campsite, we were singing and chatting to one another with joy in our hearts and perspiration on our foreheads. We made it!!
Group by group, we went to shower. What we had forgotten was that, the water would be flowing directly from the stream! Which means… it was going to be FRREEEZING. And it didn’t disappoint, it surely was.
As people were taking turns to shower, Gerald(refer to summit selfie photo above) told us that he couldn’t find his phone. Nicholas and Adam, who could both speak fluent Malay, followed Gerald to find the guides to ask if they could possibly search for the phone for us or allow us to make a police report. Our hopes were down as we realized that the possibility of finding the phone was pretty low
Just as the last group had finished showering, Gerald had approached us with a wide smile on his face. He had found his phone! It was actually kept in one of his fellow friend’s backpack on the way down to prevent it from getting wet! Thank goodness!
Fieeeeeeeeld Cooking!!
As usual, WE WERE STARVED. The thought of warm maggi curry noodles and marshmallows with warm Hershey chocolate sauce had us quickly getting our fires going. It was truly a feast! Unlike the usual field cooking experiences with plain maggi noodles and canned food, groups had brought curry prawn noodles, marshmallows with chocolate sauce, luncheon meat(that is extremely delicious deep-fried), meatballs in bbq sauce and so much more! And just when we least expect it, Chef Adam whipped out his frying pan and grill, yes I said frying pan and grill. Hands(Adam’s) and mouths(the rest of us) were at work as we began cooking our food in mess tins or the occasional frying pan over little portable gas stoves. Longxiang & Gabriel Siow(entertainers for the night) busied themselves more with running around as the rest of us continued our feasts. Good GLs they both were, they were extremely caught up with getting the best food for their groups, even if it meant that the food didn’t belong to them. The rest of us were pleasantly entertained as they jumped from group to group offering their food up for a barter trade. Most groups obliged, and we all had a share of one another’s food. As most groups were finishing up with their main courses, Eileen’s group had revealed their much sought after Hershey’s chocolate sauce and marshmallows. And soon, heads were turning in the direction of the smell of warm chocolate, and people(wearing hopeful smiles) began gathering in a circle around them. Over at the other side, Chef Adam was whipping up some…can you guess… APPLE CRUMBLE. It was truly amazing what one can do with such simple ingredients in the outdoors. It was deeeeeeliiiicious!
With happy faces and round tummies, we then proceeded to clean up the area and wash our mess tins. A word of advice: Don’t fry egg unless you’re willing to either 1)throw away your mess tin 2)spend a long time scrubbing or 3)have a willing friend.
The sky was already dark by then, and stars were beginning to show. After washing up, we gathered in a circle in the parade square, and waited for the show to begin. By show, we all meant Longxiang and Gabriel hehehe. We shared about our motivations to come for the trek and abit about ourselves, as the both of them interjected with all sorts of funny comments. And came the highlight of the night….Gabriel’s Pink Pingpong ball and Snow Monkey story. As he enthusiastically told the 15 minutes stories, everyone’s attention was fixed on him wanting to find out what laid at the end of the story, only to find out that it was an anti-climax -.- Hahahaha but it was funny nonetheless! Slowly, we retrieved our sleeping bags and gathering into little groups to chit chat. Some continued their chit chat, whilst others fell into a deep sleep under the cool of the night and light of the stars. I guess it is really these simplicities that the outdoors offer, that keep bringing us back.
(After some sweet dreams and some snores…)
Eyelids struggled to open in the light of the sunrise just above us, as dawn approached. A nice experience for many, who slept under the stars and woke up to the sunrise in the morning J Not long after, we packed up our belongings and boarded the vans which fetched us to have breakfast and do some shopping!
We stopped by a small local restaurant-type place where we had Roti Canai (in Singaporean words, Roti Prata), mee goring and teh tarik for breakfast! Quickly, we proceeded over to KSL shopping center for some shopping.
But before heading to shop(or to most of us, was even more walking), we couldn’t pass on the opportunity and good exchange rate! We paid a visit to the massage parlors at KSL. It was definitely cheaper than Singapore rates, about 70RM per pax for a 60 minutes massage. We were all really excited to go for the massage! We soon found out…after the first few presses, that Malaysians have immense finger and arm strength. As thin walls and curtains partitioned the rooms in the parlor, it wasn’t rare to hear a fellow friend squealing in pain and asking the masseuse to lighten their presses. It was actually pretty hilarious! Exiting the parlor slightly bruised and battered, we “divided and conquered” KSL shopping mall, taking the chance to eat our tummies worth!
“Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened”, our trip soon came to an end as we boarded the vans that brought us through the customs and back to school. It was an enjoyable and fulfilling trip for most of us, as new friendships were forged and bonds were made.
Written by: Lynette Chang, Trek IC
