Gunung Benum 2,107m

Date: 25 Dec 08 - 28 Dec 08 [3D/2N]
Location: Gunung Benum - Pahang
Altitude: 2,107m ASL
Difficulty: 8.3/10 (http://danlow.multiply.com/journal/item/50)
Trail length: 12.3km
Camera: Canon EOS 350D
Lens 1: Tokina AT-X 124 AF Pro DX 12-24mm f/4
Lens 2: Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II
Filter: none
Post editing: PS CS3
Organizer: Lucy
Members: Lucy, Uncle Yong, Dan, Ah Du(杜), Khor, Uncle Law, Doreen and Ang
Guide: Tengku Azlan from XplorerAdventure
Crews: MarkCheng and Zulfar (Chowfun) - also from XplorerAdventure

My reason to go there: 
- Because of the gigantic pitcher plants, I guess they are among the largest in the world. 
- Because Gunung Benum is at a different mountain range, not on the Titiwangsa
- Wanna see the waterfall Lata Berembun

Journey 
Day 1
7:30 a.m. Breakfast at Kuan Nam, Butterworth
8:30 a.m. Leaved Butterworth for Raub
1:00 p.m. Stopped for lunch at a small village near to Kuala Kubu Bharu
2:00 p.m. Reached Raub town, did last minute food shopping
3:30 p.m. 4WD from Sg. Klau town to Sg. Chalit (45 minutes ride)
4:30 p.m. Set up tent, prepare to overnight at Lata Berembun Waterfall (610m)
7:30 p.m. Dinner
11:00 p.m. ZZZZZ

Day 2
8:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:40 a.m. Started to hike from a trail before the Lata Berembun Waterfall (620m)
3:15 p.m. Reached Kem Dingin, 1670m
5:00 p.m. Celebrated Uncle Yong's birthday, 70th birthday! (Chinese 71)
9:30 p.m. Dinner
11:00 p.m. ZZZZZZ

Day 3
8:30 a.m. Breakfast
9:40 a.m. Started hike from Kem Dingin (1670m) to the summit
4:40 p.m. Reached the summit (2107m), after so many false peaks!

Day 4
6:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Started to descend from the summit (2107m)
5:30 p.m. Reached Lata Berembun Waterfall (610m)
6:00 p.m. Clean up, bathed and changed
7:00 p.m. 4WD leaved Lata Berembun to Sg. Klau
8:30 p.m. Dinner at Sg. Ruan 
10:00 p.m. Leaved Sg Ruan for Penang
4:00 a.m. Home Sweet Home
5:00 a.m. ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Rewards of this trip 
- Saw the largest pitcher plant I have ever seen, great !!
- Rhino hornbills encounters
- Good weather
- Beautiful view along the trail and from the summit
- Cold! Very cold … but it was damn nice man !!
- Celebrated Uncle Yong 70th B’day at the summit
- Lucy, Uncle Yong, Ah Du, Doreen and Uncle Lau completed their peninsular G10
- All good hikers and good teammates, everything went smooth and on time
- Good food, although slow Azlan cooked us some great meals
- Good guides, 3 of them were great..
- For the first time I can bring 2 lens and a lot of other stuffs to a big hike like this coz the guides carried all the food and flys
- The 4WD ride in and out of Lata Berembun was thrilling

Challenges of this trip 
- Day 2 hike to the summit was energy draining, there were so many false peaks it made the final hour felt like forever
- to make things worst it rained at the final 20 mins before I got to the summit, fortunately it stopped once we got up there
- Water points were scarce – only at Lata Berembun and Camp Dinging, none in between
- Day 1 we have to collect water from Lata Berembun and hike for 6 hours
- Day 2 we have to collect water from Camp Dinging for 2 days and cooking at the summit
- I carried 5.5 liters of water all the way from Lata Berembun to the summit, coz I tried not to drink the water at Camp Dingin, but I ran out of water on day 3 and have to drink the teh-o-ice water from Camp Dingin on my way down to Lata Berembun
- There are quite a lot of leeches between Lata Berembun to Camp Dingin
- There are some sandflies at Camp Dingin, especially at the water point
- Kena a painful sting from a Euclea stinging caterpillar, pain comparable to a bee or jellyfish sting, but I'm glad I got it so I now know how it felt like ...

Cost 
- Guides: 1 guide + 2 helpers 
- 4WD Fee: Included in package
- Entrance fee: Included in package
- Camp site fee: NIL
- Guide fee: RM175/person
- Food: Included in package
- Porters: Included in package

Summary 
- Day 1 - 6 hours hike was long, but ok
- Day 2 - 7 hours hike was energy draining
- Day 3 - 9.5 hours down was pretty ok
- Gigantic pitcher plants can be found rite after Camp Dingin and along the way
- Camp Dingin is pretty nice, large and flat, good for 20 hikers or more
- Summit is cold and nice, campsite fits 20 or more easily
- Water point at Camp Dingin is 2 mins down on the left. Water is yellow and not much even during raining season
- Water must be collected at the one and only river crossing 15 mins from Lata Berembun, next water point is Camp Dingin and no more water points after that.
- View from the summit is spectacular, Gunung Tahan, Genting and Rajah can be seen from there
- A certificate of completion was provided by XplorerAdventure, cool

SLIDESHOW

Gunung Tangga 2,014m

Date: 06 Dec 08 - 07 Dec 08 [2D/1N]
Location: Gunung Tangga - Cameron Highlands
Altitude: 2,014m ASL
Difficulty: 6.6/10 (http://danlow.multiply.com/journal/item/50)
Trail length: 11.3km
Camera: Canon EOS 350D
Lens: Tokina AT-X 124 AF Pro DX 12-24mm f/4
Filter: none
Post editing: PS CS3
Organizer: Taiping Goh
Members: Lucy, Uncle Yong, Dan, Ah Du(杜), OngLee, CS Law, Chiroro, James, Mickey, Kampar Ong(Moon), Uncle Yeoh, Mark, Jean Soh and Sean
My reason to go there: I have never been there, hope to see Raflesia and hope to see Gunung Brinchang/Irau/YY/YB/GY/KB/etc from the summit

Not many pictures this time due to the rain. 

SLIDESHOW

The Journey 
05 Dec 08
19:30 – Depart from B’worth - if was raining
22:30 – Sleep at performance hall near Guan-di temple, Kg. Rajah  - if was raining

06 Dec 08
09:00 – Hike starts from Pos Brooke - if was raining
15:00 – Arrive at Campsite, 1,800m ASL - if was raining

07 Dec 08
09:00 – Hike to summit - if was raining
10:00 – Arrive at summit, 2014m ASL - if was raining
13:00 – Leave campsite, trek down - if was raining
18:00 – Arrive at Pos Brooke - if was raining
20:00 – Dinner at Lai Fatt, Kg. Rajah - if was raining
24:00 – Home

Rewards of this trip 
- Saw Rafflesias
- Pretty nice trail, moderately easy
- Met new friends
- I know how to cook Bak Kut Teh … lol. Uncle Hooi thought me how to cook..

Challenges of this trip 
- It rained non-stop before the hike until after the hike, we were soaking wet + covered with mud for 34 hours, very the syok...
- Slippery trail because of the rain
- Restricted from moving around, thanks to the rain
- No view from the summit, again thanks to the rain...
- Some sandflies at LWP and campsite
- ......... and finally the washing, sigh!

Cost 
- Guide: 2 Orang Asli + Taiping Goh
- 4WD Fee: NIL
- Entrance fee: NIL
- Camp site fee: NIL
- Guide fee: RM75/=
- Food: RM13/=
- Transport: don’t know yet (Passengers AA share petrol + tol cost - Drivers don't pay)

Summary 
- It would be a moderately easy trail to hike if there was no rain.
- Rafflesia are not hard to find there
- Campsite can fit perhaps 15 or more
- Summit is small, would fit perhaps 2 tents
- LWP is 2mins off trail
- Met another group of 18 ascending lead by Forest Gan during our descend
- I saw fresh tiger tracks(it was raining throughout the night) near our campsite, we figure that a tiger must have been near to our campsite perhaps before sunrise.
- I also saw some other large animal tracks near to the tiger tracks, according to the other guys, it was a Tapir.
- Gunung Tangga is located somewhere between Gua Musang and Cameron Highland, accessible via Pos Brooke. Orang asli controls the access there, so get a hiking guide to arrange the necessary, they don't like intruders.
- Met team Good-Good hiking club(from KL) members at Guan-di, 40 of them going for a 3d/2n Yong Yap hike.