Gunung Irau #1 - Up The Highest Road In Malaysia.

This is my climb up Gunung Irau. Together with one of my working colleague, we joined a group of 18 young adults to scale up this mountain which rose 2110 meters or 6923 feet above sea level and is the ninth highest hill in peninsula Malaysia. I document the whole journey is an photo essay form and all the pictures have been uploaded to my flick site http://www.flickr.com/photos/11517445@N08/

8.24 a.m. – I drove with Andrew to Heritage Hotel in Tanah Rata to meet up with the rest of the team who drove up from KL through the night. There were a total of 20 in the group including the two of us.

8.56 a.m. – We checked into this apartment where the group will be staying for the night.

9.32 a.m. – After checking in and packing for the climb, the group were raring to go despite the lack of sleep.

9.36 a.m. – Everyone put their best foot forward in a show of faith. We may be different but our shoes are all the same. And these RM5.00 shoes are the best money can buy for trekking in tropical jungle.

9.36 a.m. – My shoes are cleaner than your shoes. But not for long. Clean shoes and clean legs. Both will be very dirty before the day is done.

9.56 a.m. – Two vans drove us up the highest road in Malaysia. So narrow that it is a really tight squeeze. You have to horn at every sharp turn not to end up in a nasty crash.

9.59 a.m. – We passed by the Boh Sungei Palas plantation on our way up. The rolls of light green tea plants are a sight to behold.

10.01 a.m. – Rolling hills of green tea leaves in irregular undulating rolls following the contours of the hill – lovely.

10.01 a.m. – The tea plants reaching up to the sky. Not an inch of ground are wasted. They are grown right to the road's edges and up to the top of hills.

10.03 a.m. – We drove up to the cloud line and above. The driver wonder if there is more road ahead. We told him he will know the end when he reached it. Actually, we were not so sure but we had to say something to keep him going.

10.16 a.m. – Soon enough, we did reach the end. A locked gate with a “trespasser will be shot” greeted us. Not someplace we wanted so go so we parked by the side and alighted from the vehicles.

10.17 a.m. – Just beyond the locked gate is a blast of inviting bright yellow blooms that contrasted greatly with the forbidding barrier. One is man-made and the other is nature after all. The irony is not lost to us.

10.17 a.m. – We stretched our legs and took photos…


Of this imposing telecommunication tower.

10.17 a.m. – Last minute preparation before we tackle the unknown. Unlike the lowland jungle, there are no leeches or mosquitoes, just mud and mud everywhere.

10.18 a.m. – Before we did that, we were going to scale this watch tower to view the world from above. We are now on top of Gunung Brinchang and up in the tower, the world are spread below our feet.

To be continued...