Reverie on a brook
Simply magnificent: The spectacular twin waterfalls at Level Two of Pisang Falls.
Who would have imagined that there are such lovely waterfalls and forests so close to Kuala Lumpur?
I LOVE living in Malaysia because it offers so much in terms of the outdoors and natural environment, especially for a nature-lover like me.
Recently, I had the opportunity to go on a river trekking adventure with some friends ... or rather, I got “conned” into going by my beloved husband. He told me the river would only be 10 minutes away after we parked our car.
In retrospect, had he not thus deceived me, I would still have been in bed, fast asleep and missing out on an exciting experience.
Sungai Pisang is located on km11 of the old Gombak road to Genting, near the Orang Asli Hospital. After parking the car near some old wooden buildings, we walked towards the river. The laughter of children playing in the water filled the air.
Sungai Pisang, which flows under the Karak Highway, connects to the larger Sungai Gombak. Twin culverts enable the river to flow below the highway. We hiked along the rocky banks of Sungai Gombak, and through an extremely narrow path between thick undergrowth to get to the two tunnels. This is where Sungai Gombak officially ends, and Sungai Pisang begins.
It turned out to be a roughly two-hour trek through the forest, not just along the riverbanks, but most of the time, through the water, using it as our path. After that, we had to do some minor rock-climbing along the narrow ledge of the reinforced concrete wall to reach the twin culverts, which we had to traverse to get to Sungai Pisang. (I was told later that it’s possible to trek 10 minutes if we had parked at the lay-by next to the highway and taken the steps down to Sungai Pisang directly. So, I guess my husband hadn’t really lied, after all.)
We walked through the briskly flowing cold water in one of the tunnels, going against the current. The water was, thankfully, just ankle-deep. Fortunately, nobody told me earlier that hikers sometimes encounter snakes in the water, otherwise I would never have made it through that tunnel!
It was a beautiful sight that greeted us as we came out at the other end of the tunnel. It was as if we had left civilisation far behind and entered a different world. All was silent except for the splashing of water as we trekked on the sandy riverbed, wading through ankle-deep water, and the enchanting sounds of the forest.
It was still early in the morning and the crystal-clear water was extremely cold. Along both banks of the river, jungle foliage formed a canopy overhead. The air was refreshing and a slight breeze blew. Soon, our “water course” got rockier and slightly deeper, but it was still less than knee-deep.
Our trail zig-zagged through the river as we chose the less rocky parts to trek on, not wanting to slip or risk getting our feet lodged between rocks.
Along the way, we came across myriad flora and fauna. There were strange insects skipping along the river surface, gigantic ants crawling along the trail next to us, and even tiny schools of curious fish swimming in the water.
An array of unusual jungle plants and fungi growing on decaying tree trunks greeted us. We even chanced upon huge trees that must have been hundreds of years old, judging from their size, and also beheld a gigantic boulder the size of a small cave.
In the distance, we could hear the roar of the Pisang falls. It sounded nearer than it actually was in the stillness of the forest, for it took another half-hour of trekking before a wondrous sight greeted us. It was the first of the Pisang waterfalls.
After taking a short breather, we decided to press on. At the second level, twin waterfalls greeted us. It was even more magnificent. We paused for a while to enjoy the sight and soak in the cool water.
To get to the third and highest waterfall, we had to scramble up a 6m-tall hill, and when we reached the plateau, we came upon a campsite. From here there were two trails leading to left and right, to different parts of the third level of the waterfalls.
We took the right trail, which led to the highest part of the Pisang falls. There were several huge waterfall pools, one of which was teeming with huge fish. Further up, the water gushed down majestically. We spread out a groundsheet on the rocky area and proceeded to unpack our food.
We had been trekking for two hours and were very hungry. Fried noodles, fruit and nuts were distributed.
We had even brought along a small pan and outdoor stove to boil water (which we collected from the “head” of the waterfall) to make coffee and tea.
The brave ventured into the waterfall pool. It was quite deep, at least 3m, so only the experienced swimmers dared explore it. After that, we checked out the fish in the rock pool. There were so many of them, snapping eagerly at the surface, as if waiting to be fed.
We waded into the thigh-deep water for a natural fish spa experience. The curious fish nipped and nuzzled gently at our bare legs and feet. It was extremely ticklish.
Fortunately, they were not piranhas!
The nice thing about this trek was that even though it was in the jungle, there were hardly any mosquitoes. My husband did have a leech jump on him, though! It was also very cooling in the jungle – the shady trees forming a canopy overhead, shielding us from the hot tropical sun.
In the late afternoon, we decided to make our way back after hearing thunder in the distance. We packed up all our belongings, as well as our trash which we put into a garbage bag we had brought along. What really impressed me most is that Sungai Pisang is relatively clean and unpolluted, unlike a lot of well-known rivers and waterfalls in Malaysia.
We found the environment around it to also be free from rubbish.
Someone once said: “Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photographs” whenever you go into the jungle. And this is one motto that I adhere to. After all, we want to preserve our rivers and other natural resources for future generations.
The way back seemed easier and faster, perhaps because we were already accustomed to the trail and just had to retrace our steps, minus all the breaks. It was also mainly downhill.
We were soon back at our car, heading on home, tired but satisfied with the enjoyable experience on our river trekking adventure. Our exit timing was perfect too, for the minute we got in the car, it started to pour!
~News courtesy of The Star~
Simply magnificent: The spectacular twin waterfalls at Level Two of Pisang Falls.
Who would have imagined that there are such lovely waterfalls and forests so close to Kuala Lumpur?
I LOVE living in Malaysia because it offers so much in terms of the outdoors and natural environment, especially for a nature-lover like me.
Recently, I had the opportunity to go on a river trekking adventure with some friends ... or rather, I got “conned” into going by my beloved husband. He told me the river would only be 10 minutes away after we parked our car.
In retrospect, had he not thus deceived me, I would still have been in bed, fast asleep and missing out on an exciting experience.
Sungai Pisang is located on km11 of the old Gombak road to Genting, near the Orang Asli Hospital. After parking the car near some old wooden buildings, we walked towards the river. The laughter of children playing in the water filled the air.
Sungai Pisang, which flows under the Karak Highway, connects to the larger Sungai Gombak. Twin culverts enable the river to flow below the highway. We hiked along the rocky banks of Sungai Gombak, and through an extremely narrow path between thick undergrowth to get to the two tunnels. This is where Sungai Gombak officially ends, and Sungai Pisang begins.
It turned out to be a roughly two-hour trek through the forest, not just along the riverbanks, but most of the time, through the water, using it as our path. After that, we had to do some minor rock-climbing along the narrow ledge of the reinforced concrete wall to reach the twin culverts, which we had to traverse to get to Sungai Pisang. (I was told later that it’s possible to trek 10 minutes if we had parked at the lay-by next to the highway and taken the steps down to Sungai Pisang directly. So, I guess my husband hadn’t really lied, after all.)
We walked through the briskly flowing cold water in one of the tunnels, going against the current. The water was, thankfully, just ankle-deep. Fortunately, nobody told me earlier that hikers sometimes encounter snakes in the water, otherwise I would never have made it through that tunnel!
It was a beautiful sight that greeted us as we came out at the other end of the tunnel. It was as if we had left civilisation far behind and entered a different world. All was silent except for the splashing of water as we trekked on the sandy riverbed, wading through ankle-deep water, and the enchanting sounds of the forest.
It was still early in the morning and the crystal-clear water was extremely cold. Along both banks of the river, jungle foliage formed a canopy overhead. The air was refreshing and a slight breeze blew. Soon, our “water course” got rockier and slightly deeper, but it was still less than knee-deep.
Our trail zig-zagged through the river as we chose the less rocky parts to trek on, not wanting to slip or risk getting our feet lodged between rocks.
Along the way, we came across myriad flora and fauna. There were strange insects skipping along the river surface, gigantic ants crawling along the trail next to us, and even tiny schools of curious fish swimming in the water.
An array of unusual jungle plants and fungi growing on decaying tree trunks greeted us. We even chanced upon huge trees that must have been hundreds of years old, judging from their size, and also beheld a gigantic boulder the size of a small cave.
In the distance, we could hear the roar of the Pisang falls. It sounded nearer than it actually was in the stillness of the forest, for it took another half-hour of trekking before a wondrous sight greeted us. It was the first of the Pisang waterfalls.
After taking a short breather, we decided to press on. At the second level, twin waterfalls greeted us. It was even more magnificent. We paused for a while to enjoy the sight and soak in the cool water.
To get to the third and highest waterfall, we had to scramble up a 6m-tall hill, and when we reached the plateau, we came upon a campsite. From here there were two trails leading to left and right, to different parts of the third level of the waterfalls.
We took the right trail, which led to the highest part of the Pisang falls. There were several huge waterfall pools, one of which was teeming with huge fish. Further up, the water gushed down majestically. We spread out a groundsheet on the rocky area and proceeded to unpack our food.
We had been trekking for two hours and were very hungry. Fried noodles, fruit and nuts were distributed.
We had even brought along a small pan and outdoor stove to boil water (which we collected from the “head” of the waterfall) to make coffee and tea.
The brave ventured into the waterfall pool. It was quite deep, at least 3m, so only the experienced swimmers dared explore it. After that, we checked out the fish in the rock pool. There were so many of them, snapping eagerly at the surface, as if waiting to be fed.
We waded into the thigh-deep water for a natural fish spa experience. The curious fish nipped and nuzzled gently at our bare legs and feet. It was extremely ticklish.
Fortunately, they were not piranhas!
The nice thing about this trek was that even though it was in the jungle, there were hardly any mosquitoes. My husband did have a leech jump on him, though! It was also very cooling in the jungle – the shady trees forming a canopy overhead, shielding us from the hot tropical sun.
In the late afternoon, we decided to make our way back after hearing thunder in the distance. We packed up all our belongings, as well as our trash which we put into a garbage bag we had brought along. What really impressed me most is that Sungai Pisang is relatively clean and unpolluted, unlike a lot of well-known rivers and waterfalls in Malaysia.
We found the environment around it to also be free from rubbish.
Someone once said: “Leave nothing but footprints, take nothing but photographs” whenever you go into the jungle. And this is one motto that I adhere to. After all, we want to preserve our rivers and other natural resources for future generations.
The way back seemed easier and faster, perhaps because we were already accustomed to the trail and just had to retrace our steps, minus all the breaks. It was also mainly downhill.
We were soon back at our car, heading on home, tired but satisfied with the enjoyable experience on our river trekking adventure. Our exit timing was perfect too, for the minute we got in the car, it started to pour!
~News courtesy of The Star~
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