A great night, a lot of rain, a lazy morning with a long breakfast... but then, yes, we hiked up Gunung Jerai as planned! It's not so easy to find information about the possible tracks to go up, but we found out there is a way via Titi Hayun, a recreation area at the river with some good swimming spots. From there, the start of the trail up is a stairway of 1,146 steps! Very feasible, but despite the (again, yey!) cool weather a very sweaty affair...
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| This is the start of the 1,146 steps stairway (to heaven), the start of the trail |
After climbing the stairs the actual trail starts, initially quite muddy (well yes, it rained all night!) but better after a while. We were warned that there are a lot of leeches on the trail, we did see some, Ellen "caught" one, yet all in all it was not too bad. We didn't know whether the trail would be clear, and so I switched on Runtastic just to be sure we always had a track of our trail and if needed, could back-track. This was not necessary at all, the trail was very clear all the way.
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| Magic jungle mist, making the scenery even more fascinating |
It is really beautiful jungle out there, pure, fresh, totally unpoluted, even no noise pollution. The clouds were present again today, which meant that there was mist on the trail in the forest at times, which made it even more beautiful and magic! Triple WOW, premium nature, totally absorbed!
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| The trail was clear at all times, climbing steadily, mostly gently, not too technical most of the time |
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| Wonderful view from the resort, just below 1,000 meters high, with the sea (Strait of Malacca) and the rice paddies all the way below |
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| We were there |
After about 2 hours of good hiking, we arrived dripping wet (nope, not because of rain) at the Regency resort, not quite at the top of the mountain (slightly below 1,000m asl), a really nice place. Amazing that this place is so unknown, it is at least as pretty as other hill resorts, more peaceful and quiet, and the views... incredible as you look over the paddies down below at sea level, the sea, and in our case, clouds hanging below. We were lucky, 15 minutes after we arrived, the clouds rolled in, and the view was gone!
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| Ellen, the Happy Hiker |
We had lunch, relaxed for a while and then hiked down to Titi Hayun again, this time in 1,5 hours. A truly marvellous hike, totally satisfying the outdoor hunger, very recommended (for reference: our
Runtastic track from the end of the stairway until the resort) - and I would certyainly look at staying at the resort at some point, it looks very attractive!
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| Wim the Sweaty Swimmer |
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| The End (of the day, with a beautiful sunset) |