Gunung Brinchang (Y2014 MTT)

BASIC INFORMATION

Trek: Y2014 MTT

Date: 26 - 28 February 2014

Location: Gunung Lendang, Johor, Malaysia

Elevation: 1,276m

Duration: 1D

BRIEF ITINERARY

Day 1

Overnight transport to base of Gunung Brinchang

Day 2

Day Trek up Gunung Ledang

Overnight at base camp

Day 3

RnR

Transport back to SG

Good food. Great Scenery. Awesome Company. These probably sum up the entire Mid Term Trek: Gunung Brinchang Experience!

On 26 February 2015, the mid term trek enthusiasts gathered at SMUX room at 9.30pm. Prior to the meeting time, some groups had dinner and did some grocery shopping together to choose the food they want to fill their tummies later during the trek, not to forget the smelly fungi/mushroom that one group decided to buy.

Next, we had the distribution of logistics such as trek bags, tents, mess tin etc. After some packing to fit the newly received logistics and food into our bags, we had our briefing to give everyone an idea of what to expect and what to look out for. Before making our way to the vans(which has been waiting for us since 9pm as the vendor was early), we took our first group picture in the room, followed by a mini surprise birthday celebration for our dearest participant who decided to join us on his SPECIAL DAY.

That marks the beginning of our long dreadful 9h van ride.

By the time we finally reached Cameron Highlands, it was about 7.30am, just in time for breakfast. We decided to settle our breakfast at a Hong Kong restaurant (the irony), very much to our TM’s disappointment which explains our breakfast choice the next day.

After breakfast, we proceeded to the campsite to meet our guides. By then, it was already 8.30am. Much to our excitement, our guides came with these cool-looking 4WD, which we felt like hopping on the minute we see it (or at least I did).

Thanks to the suggestion and arrangement made by our guides, we could leave our bags in the 4WD and trek up with our essentials (lunch, water and valuables). This proved to be very helpful later on during the trek itself. And as usual, before trekking, we had our warm up exercises to get our body ready for the challenge ahead.

The warm up exercises marked the start of our trek. Not too long into the trek, we met with really steep inclines and started using our hands for support. At that moment, we were so thankful we could leave some of our belongings at the 4WD and not have to trek up with the load. The whole trail was rather scenic so many of us took many insta-worthy pictures. Our guide shared with us some interesting facts about how the visible sights of little campfires along the way are signs of existence of (tribes?) and they primarily live on eating the birds or (squirrels?) they catch and how the markers along the trail act as boundaries of the 2 states –Pahang and Perak-that Gunung Brinchang is spread over(so that means we can be in 2 states at one time by placing one feet on each side, hahahaha). We had a long break at the 50% mark before chiong-ing all the way up.

By 12pm, we reached the summit and proceeded on to the watchtower for a bird’s eye view of the whole area.

Afterwhich, we had our lunch. Most group had tuna and bread/biscuits while one creative group brought some canned sausages and wrap(much to the jealousy of some) but we still shared our food with one another. That’s what friends are for right!

As rain seemed to be approaching in our direction, we quickly finished our lunch before trekking down. The trek down proved to be much more difficult and dangerous but we still took a shorter time to get down. Probably because of the fear that the trail is going to get really muddy if it rains, adding on to the challenge we are already facing.

After some struggles, we finally reach the end point, back to our 4WD. We took the ride back to the Sungai Pauh Campsite where we started setting up our tents, wash up and get ready to engage in our culinary battle. Some interesting (not too sure about taste) “delicacies” we had included sautéed mushroom (inspite of the terrible smell it gave off and put us off during the entire journey, it was unexpectedly really platable), scrambled eggs, agio olio, curry rendang and french toast etc. We all had much fun going around to “steal” each other’s food and poking fun at one group’s pasta which sent their members to the toilet not too long after eating them.

As we were clearing up our dinner, we were told by the park ranger to move to another part of the campsite (with not as good facilities) as there was another bigger group coming in and they had made reservations for the place since a month ago. As a result, we had to relocate.

After spending some time relocating, we made plans to visit the night market while a group of us chose to stay back to look after the belongings and to chill.

At the bustling night market, we visited food stall after food stall and ate the most marvellous street food. As Cameron Highland is famous for their fresh vegetables, we ate countless corbs of corn and cups of deep fried sweet potato balls. Also, we filled our tummies with delicious strawberries covered in chocolate fondue and other amazing food goodies. Best of all, all these food were priced at 2-3 ringgit!

The group of us who stayed back ended up spending the entire duration playing cards, setting up the campfire and sustaining the campfire which died just before the main group returned.

Our caring friends brought much night market treats back for us. We gathered in a circle while we shared the corn, the pancake and all the other food. The night didn’t end just there. We had a mini campfire get together where our awesome MCs hosted some interaction session for us to get to know one another and to play “sometimes in life…..”

The next morning, we begin our rnr adventures at 8am. Our first stop was for breakfast at a prata stall where most of us overestimated the amount we could eat that we ended up having to cut off our order and to stuff ourselves with what we ordered.

Our next stop was for BOH tea plantation. Even along the ride into the tea plantation, we were met with awesome greeneries and much insta-worthy pictures.

The last rnr stop was the strawberry farm. Some of us had fun plucking the overpriced strawberries while trying to make the best out of the price we paid but conducting some strawberry testing along the way.

That concluded the end of our rnr and we were back on the long journey back to Singapore. On the way, we stopped over at taman sentosa for some feasting before heading back to SMU at 11pm.