We had thought about travelling across Malaysia on the famous ‘jungle train’ for a long time but never got round to it. The train goes from Singapore or KL right up to the Thai border on the east coast of Malaysia. However, most of the trains travel at night, so you don’t get to see the jungle scenery. We had a week off work (yeah, I know it has been ages since the last holiday) recently and decided to spent it in our adopted country for once. We managed to prise out of the very uninformative KTM (Malaysia Railways) staff that there is in fact a day time train. Problem was the train didn’t start from KL. So we could either travel south to Gemas or north to Kuala Lipis to jump on board. Even though we would miss out on some of the jungle views, we opted for heading in the right direction and took a bus to Kuala Lipis. The plan was to stop off in Taman Negara Sungai Relau and climb Gunung Stong on the way, before relaxing on the Perhentian Islands at the end of the trip.
Kuala Lipis
The journey to ‘little KL’ only took 2.5 hours and once we were off the main highway it was a very pleasant journey. KL is a lovely small town on the banks of a river, which we had been to before years ago trying to get to Kinong Rimba National Park, we failed miserably that time as we couldn’t find a guide due to it being Chinese New Year. We were hopeful that we would have better luck getting to the less popular entrance to Tamana Negara at Sungai Relau. Mind you, with the monsoon season only weeks away, we were pushing our luck.
We bobbed into the train station to double check that there was in fact a train to Merapoh, a small town near Taman Negara. Indeed there was and we had enough time to grab some lunch. We found a very friendly Chinese hawker stall and enjoyed a plate of noodles and a couple of beers (the last for a few days!).
The train actually started in Kuala Lipis, so it was ready and waiting for us. We thought we would have the train to ourselves, but think again. All the kids from all the surrounding kampongs had been into the ‘big city’ shopping for the day! So our tranquil ride through the jungle was accompanied by squawking children and crap music on mobile phones. The train did pass by a lot of trees, so I guess it lived up to its name. The train was a local one so it stopped at all the stations, sorry huts along the way and lots of people got off. We were soon pulling into Merapoh to start our Taman Negara adventure.
Taman Negara Sungai Relau
Most people visit Taman Negara via the Kuala Tahan entrance, and we have been there a couple of times so we were looking forward to seeing a different part of the park. I’d read that fewer visitors come here and there is a greater chance of spotting wildlife. I’d also found out that the HQ and camp site was 7km from Merapoh. I was sure we could get a taxi, normally we would walk but it was getting late and we had our rucksacks, tent and a bag full of food to carry. As soon as the train pulled away and we looked around, it was blindingly obvious that we would have to have a rethink. I searched for the horse, but I guess Merapoh hasn’t achieved the status of a one-horse town even! Gonna have to walk then, we soon located the road and off we set. We had been trudging along for quite a while and only motorbikes had passed us, except for one truck who didn’t give us a lift! We were disheartened to see a sign saying 5km to go! We can’t be that slow, can we? On we plodded until a jeep went by in the opposite direction. This kind soul turned round and we jumped in the back. In a few minutes we were dropped at the HQ and our faith in the kindness of Malaysians was restored.
We signed in and told the chief that we wanted to camp. We had just bought a new tent to use on our trip to Australia in December, as we reckoned that our 5 quid job from Tesco’s in Bangkok might not be up for the job. The guy in the office kept saying that he had chalets free, but we were insistent about camping as we wanted this to be a ‘dry run’ for Oz. We convinced him and paid our fees, RM12 for 2 nights camping and RM7 for entrance and camera fees – exorbitant or what! On arriving at the camp site we realised that Sungai Relau is indeed a bit less busy than Kuala Tahan. There was not another tent or person in sight so we had the pick of the best spots, amazing really considering that it was a Saturday! The site is in a lovely setting next to the river and Emma soon had the tent up, due mainly to the expert guidance and thoughtful comments of my good self. Looks like it will do the job. The facilities were excellent, really clean toilets and showers (a rare find anywhere in Malaysia, never mind in the jungle) and we were able to plug our travel kettle in to make brews and noodle soup, luxury camping really. We were told that there was a canteen, but the chances of getting any grub looked slim, so we were glad to be self sufficient.
We had managed to book a night safari (RM40 pp) for 9pm and a jeep and guide duly turned up. We had hoped to go into the park to do the night spotting but it seems that you are only able to go into the palm oil plantations which border the park (this is the same at Kuala Tahan). Never mind, you still have a good chance to see wildlife. Emma and I were perched in the back armed with a spot light each. It was great to be in charge of the spotting and we soon managed to spy a few civet cats and we were lucky to get a great view of a leopard cat. Back by 11pm to snuggle down in our new tent and listen to the jungle noises, amongst others.
Up early and enjoying our brekky of cereal bars, bread and fruit. We had asked about trekking in the park and got very limited information from the office staff. We managed to hire a guide (RM100) for the day and he said he would take us to Gua Gajah (Elephant Cave), a trail of about 5km each way. We walked down the jeep track for about a kilometre before heading off into the jungle. We were hot on the heels of the pachyderms, with fresh elephant dung and huge footprints all along the trail. After about half an hour we heard an almighty crash in the jungle, the elephants were only about 20m away, how exciting! Unfortunately, we couldn’t see them as the foliage was so dense, but it was a great experience to be so close to a Malaysian elephant. We have seen them in Sri Lanka, Thailand and Africa, but never Malaysia, maybe next time. We arrived at the cave after about 2 hours of trudging along the muddy track. We had brought our headlamps and climbed up and into the cave to explore. Elephants come here to shelter and to sleep and you could see where their enormous bodies had smoothed the rocks as they entered the cave. We didn’t expect to bump into then but we had high hopes for snakes and of course bats. The cave was quite a size and the guide pointed out several rocks which apparently look like animals – why does this scenario have to happen every time you set foot in a cave? We couldn’t find any snakes but as we entered a smaller chamber the stench hit us, no Emma hadn’t dropped one, it was bat poo! Or, more technically, guano. Bats were flying at us from every angle and literally flying into us, time to bid a hasty retreat.
We retraced our steps back to the jeep track and as it was still early, decided to go for a wander down the track. We paid the guide and waved him off and we walked down the road for a couple of hours. We spotted a wild boar and heard lots of monkeys crashing about in the canopy. Along the way we bumped into the only other tourist in the park, he was twitching his was along the track looking for pheasants apparently. Back at the camp we found dusky langurs frolicking in the trees above our tent and hornbills gliding high in the sky, why bother going trekking hey! We enjoyed watching them and drinking brews while the sun set.
Another night under the stars and again no rain to test our tent’s weather-proof claim. Our next leg of the jungle train ride wasn’t until the afternoon, so we had time to explore some of the shorter trails near the HQ. Despite the poor info given by the park ranger, we found a few sign boards with information giving details of trails – Rentis Negeram 4 km, Rentis Palas 1.6 km, Rentis Interpretif 500m and Rentis Gua Penningah 10km. You could also walk the jeep track 14 km to Kuala Jeram which is the trail head for attempts on Peninsular Malaysia’s highest peak, Gunung Tahan. A pleasant breakfast watching macaque monkeys was disturbed by 2 people strimming the grass in the camp site! Along the jeep track we heard loads of gibbons making a racket calling to each other. Sadly, again we couldn’t see them. We completed a couple of the tracks, Palas and Interpretif, in search of the gibbons, but I wished we hadn’t, as when we got back I realised that I had several fat leeches dining out on me! Got them off but the blood flowed for ages, not a pretty sight but I was a brave soldier and didn’t make too much of a fuss. After lunch, Emma packed the tent, of course I would have helped but by this time I was in need of a blood transfusion, and we headed back towards Merapoh. We had plenty of time and less baggage so wanted to walk this time. A few cars stopped to offer lifts, even people who had turned round specially, but we said we were ‘jalan jalan’ and continued on our way. We had a drink at a stall in Merapoh and we still had 2 hours before the local train was due. A quick look at the timetable and we saw there was an express train due in an hour but only stopping at Gua Musang. This would mean getting to our next stop in day light so we decided to hitch to the next town. This plan wasn’t looking good until a coach pulled up. It was completely empty, so we had a private tour bus. We felt bad that we were missing out on the jungle train, but it was only a short leg and the scenery along the road was great too. The driver dropped us at the train station and we only had to wait 15 minutes before the train pulled in and we were riding the jungle train once again.
Gunung Stong State Forest Park
Gunung Stong is one of many peaks in this area of Kelantan, and I’d fancied climbing some of them for a while. The main jump-off point is a small town called Dabong and soon our express train was pulling into the station. The scenery on this leg of the jungle train journey was pretty stunning as it weaved its way along the edge of Taman Negara – lots of trees of course! We disembarked and wandered around the town looking for the Dabong Rest House. The wander round didn’t take long as it is a small place, consisting of a padang (village green), a school, mosque and a few houses. It is all very traditional and very Malay. No sign of the guesthouse so we headed back towards the station. Spotted a man getting roti canai ready – things were looking up, and he managed to direct us to the lodgings. Our hopes for luxury accommodation were pretty low and not raised by seeing a pest control van in the car park! Turns out the place is run by the local mosque and indeed has a great location within praying distance of the place. The owner eventually decided that there was a room free, unbelievably, there were some other backpackers staying there. We moved in. Not as bad as it could be, very basic, but at least the sheets passed Emma’s inspection.
Headed back downtown to the roti shop and had a decent roti and brew. It was doing a roaring trade with all the blokes popping in for a chat, think Emma was their first female patron. After this snack we decided to check out the other dining options. We’d seen a small place with tables overlooking the green so we headed there. Now my Bahasa is a bit shaky to say the least, but this lot round here speak something that does not resemble normal Bahasa at all! The Kelantanese dialect is a bit like going to Glasgow, it’s just noise. Luckily we didn’t get a deep-fried mars bar but a very delicious plate of nasi goreng. The village people were friendly and kept coming up to us to ask where we were staying. Our reply of “The Dabong Hilton” got rather strange looks, but when we pointed in the direction of the rest house they seemed satisfied. Where did they think we were staying? Or had we overlooked Dabong’s range of boutique hotels in favour of our flea-pit?
Our next task was to secure a guide for a trek up Gunung Stong. The guy at the rest house said his friend would come to talk to us at 7-7.30pm, by 8 bells there was no sign so we were told to go to the other side of the tracks and ask for Adam, a long-haired guy with glasses. Sounded dodgy but we were brave enough to cross to the other side of the tracks in Dabong in search of our guide. Well, there aint much on either side of the tracks in Dabong, but the other side could be called the quiet side. No sign of long-haired guides in the murky gloom so we asked at a food stall and they seemed to know what we were on about and dispatched a boy to get Adam. He soon appeared and we negotiated a deal. It took a while for it to sink in that we wanted to climb to the summit and not just a trip to the waterfall which is what most tourists do. Indeed he was proud to point out that he had taken the other tourists at our guest house to the waterfall that very day. We agreed on a fee of RM150 and a 7.00am start. Thought about hitting the Dabong night spots but the roti stall had ‘tutup’ for the night! Early bath in our luxury abode, dreaming of the tent in Taman Negara.
Adam was waiting for us at the restaurant in the morning which was a good start; however, the transport to take us to base of the mountain was nowhere to be seen. A couple of brews and half an hour later our chariot arrived. No worries, as we were still able to start trekking before 8 as the trail head was only a short ride from town. Indeed you could see the mountain range and the waterfall clearly from Dabong bridge. Adam set off at a pretty sharp pace and as always we started with a steep climb. We were immediately deep in the forest and winding our way up. We soon came to the base of Jelawang waterfall, now we have seen many a fall but this really is an impressive one. It is one of the longest in Malaysia with a 300m drop. We crossed the base of the falls and up along-side it through the jungle. After about an hour the guide headed off the main trail that leads to Baha Camp and onto the Gunung Stong trail. Most people only make it as far as the camp and the waterfall but we had loftier ambitions. Not long after that Adam stopped and told us that we were doing well, he laid out our options for the day’s trek by drawing a map with a stick in the dirt. We were at a junction and could carry on straight to G. Stong or take another trail to G. Baha, then go down the ridge and up to Stong from a different side before heading down the main trail back to Baha Camp. Well we don’t like to do ‘come and go’ so opted for the longer trek and the chance to bag a couple of gunungs. Adam reckoned we had enough time and he assured us that it would provide the best variety of mountain habitat, views and scenery. Who were we to argue with our experienced guide? Well 10 minutes later I was actually, as we descended vertically down a few hundred metres before we even started to ascend Baha. Didn’t mention that little part of the plan hey Adam? We crossed a stream and headed up and up and up through the trees. We were following elephants again, lots of recent footprints and dung, I know my fresh poo but Adam confirmed that he had been on this trail 3 days ago and had not seen any signs of them. After about 3 hours of this I hit the jungle tree wall and had a bit of a rant about not being able to see anything but trees and that is wasn’t exactly the Himalayas, view wise. Have we been trekking in the jungle once too often? We finally started to see some daylight as we neared the top and the vegetation changed to montane forest. 4 hours after setting off from around 100m asl we were at the summit of Gunung Baha, 1465m asl. There were some nice views to the other peaks in the range such as G. Tera and Ayam. In the park there are 9 summits and you can bag them all if you fancy a 5 day stint up here, we decided to settle for 2 in 1 day.
The next bit of the trek was the most beautiful as we walked through the montane forest with mossy trees and pitcher plants, the sun was shining and all the hard slog up through the never ending tress was forgotten. The trek down the valley and up to the summit of G. Stong wasn’t too tough and it gave us a chance to chat to Adam. He turned out to be a great guy who is truly passionate about the flora and fauna of the area. He was very excited about seeing the tell tale signs of the elephants as he hadn’t see any signs for 8 months. He was pleased that they were surviving and back in the area. He reckoned we had seen signs of 2 herds of about 4 in each. Apparently 70% of the hiking trails in the park are actually tracks made by elephants, but in all the years he has been guiding he has never seen one. Not much chance for us then. We were soon climbing up the huge rock at the summit of G. Stone, the British explorers who first climbed the hill called it Stone Mountain due to the huge boulder at the top and Stong is the locals slant on it. We arrived at the top (1400m asl) at 1.20, so time for lunch. Again the weather was clear and we had some nice views through the trees of the other peaks but it was soon time to head down. Going down was quite a slog however, we arrived back at the junction in good time so Adam asked if we wanted to take the waterfall trail back instead. He promised it was ‘same same’ as the other trail, so even though we were tired we agreed.
Another mistake? The waterfall trail actually did what it said on the tin, we literally walked down the falls, hopping from rock to rock criss-crossing the water. Now as you may know, Emma’s legs are not of giraffe proportions and she struggled to get over some of the big gaps between the stepping stones, but she managed and Adam helped by making temporary bridges. It was getting a bit like Man v Wild and at one point I thought I would have to do a ‘Bear Grylls’ and just jump right down the waterfall, luckily Adam found a trail through the forest and we arrived at Baha Camp in one piece. I can understand why people just come to the camp as it is in a fantastic location right at the top of a huge drop and there are expansive views across the valley in which we could see a storm brewing, time to head down. Adam took us on yet another different trail back to the HQ and we staggered back 10 hours after setting off. Now we couldn’t complain that there wasn’t much walking on this trip. Adam just loves the place and he really isn’t doing it to make a load of money, so if you fancy going to GSSFP, hook up with Adam; ask for him at the restaurant on the other side of the tracks.
Not much happened that night in Dabong, big surprise hey, went back to our favourite food spot in town and rang the changes with mee goreng. Answered all inquiries about which of the multitude of hotels we were staying in and had an early night.
Pulau Perhentian
No need for an alarm clock as the mosque duly did its job and woke us up at 5.30 am, plenty of time to catch the 6.19 train. Bought tickets and waited in the chilly dawn for the train to appear. The caretaker of the guest house and most of the other inhabitants of the town came down to the station to see us off. I don’t think they get too many visitors in these parts or they were just glad to get rid of us! The Singapore express arrived only 45 minutes late which is not bad considering the distance that it had travelled, and we were on the final leg of our jungle train journey. The train was packed so we headed with our bags to the buffet car, always my favourite place on a train. We snagged seats and ordered a brew. The scenery along this section was the best yet as the train chugged along side a river and you had views out to the mountains too, so not just trees. 4 brews later and all for 50p (try doing that on Virgin!) we were pulling into Tanah Merah. I always thought the song ‘One Tanamera’ was Mexican, but no, it is about a sleepy town in Malaysia! Tanah Merah is an alternative place to get to Kuala Besut so you can take the ferry for the Perhentian Islands. We were quickly jumped on by a tout but soon found a real taxi driver and haggled a fare of RM50. When we were dropped off in KB we were told a boat was leaving now so we found ourselves jumping off the boat onto white sand of Pulau Perhentian Besar (Big Island) at 10 in the morning.
We headed for Reef Chalets and they had a great, clean, basic hut with a sea view available for RM70. Perfect for spending a few days relaxing . Some chance! We trekked through the jungle again (sure I swore only yesterday that I wasn’t setting foot in a jungle ever again) over to Flora Bay and then over the headland to Tuna Bay before negotiating the last bit of jungle to get back to Reef. We did see dusky langurs and colugos, so I guess it was worth it. We went snorkelling off the beach in front of Coral View and Perhentian Island resort and saw loads of fish and I came face to face with a pretty sizeable black-tipped reef shark. I was allowed some down time and managed to read some books lying on the beach or sitting on our pleasant balcony. Perhentian closes down at the end of October due to the arrival of the monsoon, but there were still plenty of tourists about and most places were still open. Reef doesn’t have a restaurant but there is a shop next door selling drinks (including cold beer – yippee) and snacks. Watercolours Resort has a popular beach side restaurant and it does good western food including baguette sandwiches and pizzas. Their Asian food was a bit too salty or sweet for us, but Mamas next door does great spicy food and cheap too (try the seafood Tom Yam). On the first night a huge storm rolled in and we thought that’s it, the monsoon is here. But no, we were really lucky and the weather was bright and sunny most of the time.
For our last night we thought we would have a change of scene and move over to the small island which is supposed to be for the ‘bright young things’. So, assuming we would fit right in, we checked out of Reef and asked his boatman to take us to Long Beach. Well. We weren’t too impressed, not happening and pretty dirty and grotty all round. We were beginning to think we had made a bad choice. After checking out a few places that were pretty minging, we walked 10 mins over to Coral Beach. We had actually stayed here 4 years ago so knew it would be better. It is much more appealing with a couple of nice beach restaurants and we found a pretty decent hut right on the beach at Sanja Bay for only RM40.
After lunch we chilled on our balcony watching people run by us on the beach. There was some sort of Perhentian Marathon going on and it looked like they were doing circuits of the island. Now years ago we stayed at the last place on the headland and you couldn’t go any further, but these runners were coming from somewhere. Of course we had to check it out. Turns out that there is a concrete path, so why not go for a stroll? We set off and all was fine and dandy, quite a nice little meander from bay to bay through the jungle with lots of monitor lizards to keep us company. Emma wondered when we might turn back but I’m not one for turning back and this path is so well made with railings and everything, it must go all round the island to Long Beach, mustn’t it? After about an hour we came to the small fishing village and we even managed to pick up the path on the other side, it must go all the way round. After about an hour and a half the path stopped and the thick jungle appeared. There was a small trail, it can’t be far to Long Beach now. Well that trail soon disintegrated, no worries we can head down to the rocks, Long Beach should just be round the corner. More hopping from rock to rock, sweating like a pig, some afternoon stroll this was. Man v Wild again, I was contemplating how to make a fire so we could grill up some monitor lizards for tea! After quite a bit of rock hopping, we came to a bit of coastline which would probably go down in the rock climbing category. Time to turn back. On the way we meet some Malaysians who were heading for Long Beach too, they insisted that it was an easy trail so we went with then for a while but it was clear they hadn’t got a clue. We made it back to the fishing village and wisely got a boat back.
Our last night was spent having a lovely BBQ fish on the beach while we looked back on another great trip. It was fantastic to get off the beaten track and explore some of the areas that have been on our ‘to visit’ list for a while.
Travel Information
Malaysian Railways – http://www.ktmb.com.my/
http://www.seat61.com/Malaysia.htm
Taman Negara Sungai Relau - http://www.wildlife.gov.my/index.php/en/our-services/recreational-facilities/344
Gunung Stong State Forest park - http://assets.wwfmalaysia.inga.bluegecko.net/downloads/stong_1_frm_cover_to_back_.pdf
Pulau Perhentian
http://www.perhentian.com.my/
http://www.pulauperhentian.com.my/
Reef Chalets – the reefpp@hotmail.com 0606911762
