Gunung Datuk (Y2016 Intro Trek)

BASIC INFORMATION

Trek: Y2016 Intro Trek

Date: 15 - 16 January 2016

Location: Gunung Datuk, Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia

Elevation: 884m

Duration: 2D1N

Time taken to ascend: 2h

Time taken to descend: 2h

Difficulty: Beginner Friendly

BRIEF ITINERARY

Day 1

2130 Depart from SMU

Day 2

0000 Supper at JB

0300 Arrive at base of Gunung Datuk

0400 Start climb!

0600 REACHED PEAK!! ~Enjoyed the sunrise~

0800 Start descend

1000 End of trek

1300 Lunch @ Tampin town

1500 R&R @ KSL Mall

1900 Home sweet home :)

To kick start the new year, the SMUX trekking team set out to catch the sunrise from atop Gunung Datuk.

The team gathered outside the SMUX room at 2130hrs for the trip briefing and distribution of logistics. We also shot out first group photo to officially mark the start of the trip. Special shout out to Mackenzie, Felix and Jun (exchange students who decided to join our trip).

At 2130hrs, the 20 of us comfortably hopped into 2 vans which brought us through the checkpoint and onwards to supper. We encountered a slight jam along the way, but fortunately, we had included buffer time in our planning to negate it.

At midnight, we reached our supper place, a Mamak, which served typical supper fare in the form of prata, magi goreng, teh tarik…etc. Of note, we were very eager to let Jun, Felix and Mackenzie try out our favorite foods. The favorite of which was apparently the banana prata! Having satisfied our tummies, we got back into our vans for a 2hr ride to the base of Gunung Datuk.

We arrived at the base at 3.15am where we had a safety briefing and did our warm ups. The base was already filled with other trekkers who we would be sharing the ascent with. Apparently, great minds think alike. Shortly after at 0350hrs, we met up with our 3 guides and commenced our trek.

The first 30 minutes of the trek was slightly challenging as the slope was steep and our team had not caught much rest on our journey. Within a few minutes, we were covered in perspiration as we pushed through the the humid environment. Moreover, the path seemed to go on forever as the only thing we could see were the spots of lights emitting from fellow trekkers’ head lamps who were climbing ahead of us. Nonetheless, our team made good progress and reached the first checkpoint at 0430hrs. There, we took a break to catch our breath, drink up and reenergize. During this break, our guides engaged us in conversation, sharing their own trekking experiences and gave us ideas for future treks. They even gave me tips on making trek logs (hope I do them proud here!).

The trek became slightly easier thereafter, as we had gotten use to the pace and the terrain. At some point, our guides stopped us and requested us to switch off our headlamps. With no lights, we were supposed to be able to see glow worms. Unfortunately, I did not see any of them. Nonetheless, those few moments in the dark were nice as it gave us the opportunity to soak in the surroundings.

At 0511hrs, we decide to a take a short break. At this point, the air has gotten much cooler. As we sit on logs and stones, Mackenzie proclaims that is is sandwich time, before pulling out a cheese sandwich, which truthfully looked declicious. Unfortunately, as she reached the last third of it, the flies decided to crash the party. As such she had to keep it back in her bag.

The next part of the trek passes by pretty fast as the team had momentum and was in good spirits. I caught several glimpses of tree sap which glowed when my headlamp light reached it, giving me a pretty sight. At 0542hrs, we reach Gunung Datuk’s boulders. This signified that the summit was within reach. We began our climb up the ladders which was a pretty scary task, fortunately the guides were experienced and helped to stabilize the ladders, making our climb much easier.

0600hrs, the team summited Gunung Datuk. We were greeted with the great night time scenery. We happily find a spot on the peak and settle down to have breakfast while waiting for sunrise. As we pass around bread, energy bars and cherry tomatoes (genius decision to buy), our guides pulled out their mess tin to have tea.

At 0700hrs, the sun began to rise. Unfortunately, it chose to hide behind its cloud pals, leading to a less than spectacular sunrise. Nonetheless, we enjoyed the beautiful view of the surroundings. At this point, we also started our photo craze. Noel in particular had his hands full, helping the team take amazing photos. I myself whipped out my GoPro to film as much of the scene as possible (good times!).

Annoyingly, the sunrise also told the flies that it was the start of the day. A large number of flies began to irritate the crowd at the summit, slightly souring the experience.

At 0750hrs, we began the descent. The descent was arguably tougher as we had to dragged our tired bodies down steep territory. In fact, I was tempted to write off the night climb as a dream as I failed to recognize much of the path. At very least, the descent gave us an idea of how much we had actually done in the night (a great effort!). Certain parts of the path were challenging and some members of the team resorted to sliding down short portions.

Of particular note, Gunung Datuk attracts plenty of locals on the weekend. We encounter many more groups on their weekend climb as we descend. Yingling enthusiastically greets each and everyone of them; for her effort, she receives equally warm greetings, thus proving that the culture and spirit of trekking is well and alive.

Finally at 1000hrs, we reached the end of the trek and made our way back to the vans. We thanked our guides, conducted cool down before proceeding to wash up. Unfortunately, the bathing facilities at Gunung Datuk was extremely limited. Desperate, the guys on the team resort to an open shower (it is technically just a pipe that sticks out of the ground). Well at very least, it was an interesting experience.

Having just completed the trek, the team was starving, and our drivers answered our needs by brining us to have good chicken rice. At very affordable price, the restaurant served a generous serving. After lunch, we proceeded to KSL city for a little R&R. While half of the team went off in search for a massage, the rest of us went in search of food. We also brought Jun, who is from Korea, to try durian! After our R&R, we made our journey back across the checkpoint and back to SMU for a debrief.

Thank you Gunung Datuk for playing host to the opening trek of 2016 for the SMUX trekking team! For now, Home Sweet home.