We started our trek up the 2031m Gunung Brinchang around 8.30am. The trail head was just beside the army quarters, alongside of the road leading away from town. The weather was cool and it really felt like Mount Biang (Kanachanaburi, Thailand).
It took a couple of hours for us to cover the 3km jungle trek to the top and while going was not that easy at certain sections, I thought it was simpler and in fact more comfortable than our Chiling Waterfall adventure. Perhaps it was the weather that made the difference! We were more wary of hornets than anything else as we had been warned it was the bee season. Thus we were not at all surprised that there was no one else on the trail that day.
Last night, after being home safely for more than a week, I came across an article on the jungle trails on Cameron Highlands! Apparently, the Gunung Brinchang trail is one of the toughest, has a history of hikers getting lost and is rarely used. Another piece of information intrigued me. Tigers and the tracks left behind by these predators have been spotted on Cameron Highlands in the past, and they are still being spotted today. That was a wonderful piece of information to learn about after our trek (the chance of encountering one is pretty low anyway).
The scenery from Gunung Brinchang was breathtaking. The summit was occupied by transmitter stations and satellites but there was a watchtower which visitors could access. That was the highest point on Cameron Highlands. We could see the Boh Tea plantation and surrounding towns. Incredibly beautiful.
We decided to take the road back to Brinchang which was 12km away. Lim Hwee wanted to scale Gunung Irau and we went into the trail to have a look but we soon realised that at the speed we were progressing, we were not going to make it back to Brinchang by nightfall. Fallen trees, thick mud and the steep ridge lines impeded our movement and our progress was agonizingly slow. In the end, we had to talk Lim Hwee out of it and we started route march back to town.
Alon the way, we passed a strawberry and animal farm where the guys enjoyed strawberry ice-cream. Lim Hwee found pleasure in making fun of the goats. The sight of the tea plantation and the incredible gradient on which the crops were growing amazed us. Plantation workers were busy harvesting tea leaves and we immediately comprehended the immense task they undertook - cutting tea leaves while standing on very steep slopes!
The distance back to town took hours to cover by foot and when we got down to the "foot", we were still 4km away from Brinchang. We visited the bees' farm, bought strawberries and tomatoes at a roadside "pasar"; and continued our way home. Of course, we stopped along several interesting shops on the way and I tasted kiwi ice-cream. =P
We were drained when we got back to our room. It was still a couple of hours from dinner, hence we just slacked about. Dinner was steamboat and it was enjoyable! The guys were having lots of fun, and we kept ordering vegetables because they were free-flow!
Total expenses over 18 days: S$535
Participants: LSH, Zi Kai, Jing Kai, Lim Hwee
It took a couple of hours for us to cover the 3km jungle trek to the top and while going was not that easy at certain sections, I thought it was simpler and in fact more comfortable than our Chiling Waterfall adventure. Perhaps it was the weather that made the difference! We were more wary of hornets than anything else as we had been warned it was the bee season. Thus we were not at all surprised that there was no one else on the trail that day.
Last night, after being home safely for more than a week, I came across an article on the jungle trails on Cameron Highlands! Apparently, the Gunung Brinchang trail is one of the toughest, has a history of hikers getting lost and is rarely used. Another piece of information intrigued me. Tigers and the tracks left behind by these predators have been spotted on Cameron Highlands in the past, and they are still being spotted today. That was a wonderful piece of information to learn about after our trek (the chance of encountering one is pretty low anyway).
The scenery from Gunung Brinchang was breathtaking. The summit was occupied by transmitter stations and satellites but there was a watchtower which visitors could access. That was the highest point on Cameron Highlands. We could see the Boh Tea plantation and surrounding towns. Incredibly beautiful.
We decided to take the road back to Brinchang which was 12km away. Lim Hwee wanted to scale Gunung Irau and we went into the trail to have a look but we soon realised that at the speed we were progressing, we were not going to make it back to Brinchang by nightfall. Fallen trees, thick mud and the steep ridge lines impeded our movement and our progress was agonizingly slow. In the end, we had to talk Lim Hwee out of it and we started route march back to town.
Alon the way, we passed a strawberry and animal farm where the guys enjoyed strawberry ice-cream. Lim Hwee found pleasure in making fun of the goats. The sight of the tea plantation and the incredible gradient on which the crops were growing amazed us. Plantation workers were busy harvesting tea leaves and we immediately comprehended the immense task they undertook - cutting tea leaves while standing on very steep slopes!
The distance back to town took hours to cover by foot and when we got down to the "foot", we were still 4km away from Brinchang. We visited the bees' farm, bought strawberries and tomatoes at a roadside "pasar"; and continued our way home. Of course, we stopped along several interesting shops on the way and I tasted kiwi ice-cream. =P
We were drained when we got back to our room. It was still a couple of hours from dinner, hence we just slacked about. Dinner was steamboat and it was enjoyable! The guys were having lots of fun, and we kept ordering vegetables because they were free-flow!
Total expenses over 18 days: S$535
Participants: LSH, Zi Kai, Jing Kai, Lim Hwee
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