Honestly speaking, the trip didn’t start well. As 3 persons backed out last minute, the final count was 8 (4 guys, 4 girls) which is quite a balanced ratio. However at the Woodlands checkpoint, I ended up in a queue that was super long due to some mishap and for once I realized how packed the checkpoint could be.
We finally reached JB …
… only to find out that all the buses to Kuantan are full. Panic! Then someone advised my friend to go KL then take the morning bus (estimated earliest 7 a.m. bus) from KL to Kuantan. So we took the last bus to KL.. the 1 a.m. bus. Except that it got delayed and by the time we reached KL…
It was after 7 a.m. But there was no loss in a sense because in that terminal, the earliest bus to Kuantan was 11.30 a.m. Sighz! From this trip, I also learnt that KL has many terminals. Because my friend decided to find another terminal to see if got more options. Quite a messy morning as we ended up almost making a police report to complain about a taxi driver.. then decided to take MRT as it should be a safer option. But weirdly we still ended up the wrong place despite telling the person we wished to go to a particular terminal. Sigh the consequence of not understanding Malayu. Ended up taking a cab to that terminal, only to realize that it was actually just another MRT stop…
Really not a smooth morning.. Luckily all that changes though after we took this nice bus from
plusliner.
Initially we balked at the price which is 30RM. But they provided drinks (coffee, packet drink, water), refreshment (bread), movies (was playing Ah Long Pte Ltd and another show) and the seats were so comfy that I managed to sleep (the night before I was unable to sleep because some guys were playing song marathon the whole night).
Then we took a cab to the foot of the hill…
And finally immersed ourselves in the greenery
And the waterfall… This is the first waterfall we see, the so-called twin waterfall
Oh and by the way that was taken by my friend because I was too lazy to “climb” to a particular stone to get a better view. Is the only photo that is not taken by me in this post…
This dam area is the focus for the entire trip because we ended up setting our camp somewhere near the dam. Like I said, our luck turned good after taking the nice bus (although in Kuantan, we were unable to get any noon bus back to JB and the earliest was a 10pm bus but that I will blog later…). On the way up, we might have taken some wrong turns but someone will always “show us the way” or dispense some useful information. This dam area is the place where another kind soul helped us too. She was at the opposite side of the river and had seen us heading up so she shouted for us to stop to inform us that camp site 3 was crowded and there was no space for us to camp there too. Two persons decided to go check up the status while the rest of us stay here and wait.
While waiting, I took a picture of an ant…
and the leaves against the sky…
and a little flower
Haha it was quite a wait. Oh and the kind soul actually thought we couldn’t hear her and had crossed the river to our side to repeat what she just said. So kind!
Anyway the two came back and concluded we shall camp here. So we pitch 3 tents and started preparing our food. Cooked quite a lot of food amazingly. My friend even brought a stove to cook pasta. Yummy! Oh and the water in the dam was real cold but it was quite a nice experience to soak in the water and watch the stars. Gosh the stars in Malaysia were plentiful and beautiful. It was so breathtaking that I forgot I was in Malaysia for a moment. How I miss the stars now...
The next morning we proceeded with the ascent this time without our bags luckily as the trek is trickier. On the way, caught sight of this unknown fruit…
And lots of pitcher plants…
Another picture on the way up
And pretty flowers…
Before we finally arrived at Berkelah waterfall
We spent some time swimming and trying to “survive” below the waterfall and its strong currents haha…
We headed back for lunch before we packed up and made our descent. Oh my friend caught a little shrimp and crab (which escaped on its own, twice) but released it before we left.
While waiting at the bus stop for the bus, caught sight of a rambutan tree…
We were waiting for the 6pm bus since 5.30pm. The kind lady in the coffeeshop opposite the bus stop had told us it was the last bus so we should not miss it. But we waited as the sun was setting
till the sun has set and there were still no sight of the bus
Haha kinda panicked especially when we will try to wave at every bus we see. Luckily one of the buses finally stopped to pick us. Reached Kuantan and had our dinner at A&W
Coincidentally there was a weekend festival in Kuantan that week and we decided to roam around before heading for the 10.30 pm bus back to JB. Luckily this time the bus left promptly and we reached JB about 4 am. We were contemplating if we should wait for the first bus at 5 am back to SG or to take the cab all the way back. As I still hoped to reach office in time since the car was available to drive, thus I was quite in favour of taking the cab. Besides the whole gang, only one had taken leave and the other opted to work from home, the rest were also hoping to report to work. So we finally decided to take the cab and my friends let me alight first as I started work earliest. Luckily!
Overall, it had been an eye-opening trip. Just that I am still having some mild version
subungual hematoma (no pain) and bruises… and I did admit to my mum that I went into the water after the trip.. how else to “bath” haha…
