Tabur Extreme

I heard a lot about Tabur Extreme but somehow I really had no idea on how to get there until I met a hiking friend at the peak of Tabur East.  She was excited about the idea and had the trip arranged.  Unfortunately, she couldn't join us on that day.  The entrance is located deep inside after exiting at the entrance of Zoo Negara, I think it's about 5 km.

We started off at about 8am and completed the hiking about 4 hours later.  My verdict is the place is nothing to shout about, Tabur Extreme/Tabur 3 offers scenery that is similar to Tabur West and East.  There was nothing extreme about the except perhaps it's less hiked.  The treks were not clear as the place and someone in the group had to use 'parang' to clear the treks. 

Ar the peak, I could see the peaks of West Tabur and East Tabur.

Enjoy the pictures.

BUKIT TABUR - EAST SIDE (Mar 6)

بِسْــــــــــــــــــــــمِ اﷲِارَّحْمَنِ ارَّحِي

There were 9 of us climbing up Bukit Tabur East Side last week. At the last peak, we met several others and were informed about Tabur Extreme!

That sounds exciting! It means apart from West and East sides, there is another trail to explore in my favourite hiking place. The name itself conjures up something exciting and challenging. I'll definitely find the trail up there soon!

Tabur Extreme - next to the east side

The hill and its surroundings were very misty that day and we didn't get to see much of beautiful scenery of the lake and the jungle until on the way back. For some of us, including the first timers, they never bothered to look around too, they were too focused to reach back the foothill. I think they are missing the good point about hiking, it's always not the destination that matters, but the journey!

From now onwards, I'd follow the signature pose of John and upload it here as testimony that I have been to the places that I blog about. And the picture below was just next to the ravine,at the edge of the peak. Suddenly I got acrophobia, facing the ravine with my hands pointing to the sky, as though I was ready to jump off!

Next week, we are going to Gunung Hantu Besar, Kuala Kelawang. The climb is going to be a day's pack but we are going to camp at Camp Orchid for one night!

BUKIT TABUR - EAST SIDE

Small hiker and a friend went to Bukit Tabur - East Side last Saturday. Not many groups at all on that day. At most, there were 3 groups. At the parking area, there were so many cars, without a doubt that they were at West Side (the more popular side) instead.

What makes East Side less popular? Small Hiker can only think of a few reasons as below:
1. Climbing up East side is more challenging for the first 30 minutes. It's really like climbing Gunung Datuk (the first 1/3).
2. The presence of ants. There are a lot of ants on trees and ropes. Luckily the bite from the ants is not that stinging!
3. The last obstacle/trail where people need to hang on to ropes trying to climb an almost vertical 2 storey high rock surface is very challenging especially those who are scared of height.
4. Have to use the same trail to go up and down. Unlike West Tabur, people can choose to descend by going through the Dusun Buah!

As for a different route to go back, Small Hiker ventured out with his friend! He saw a trail going down the hill after the vertical climb. It's rather challenging as the surface was covered with dried leaves, therefore it was very slippery. He went ahead anyway! Half way down, he got to put on his knee guards as the trail was steep with no visible steps. As usual at this stage, strong knees were important to control his step so as not to fall down. He was pleasantly surprised that the trail led to a Dusun Buah. And finally he came out at construction site of three storey bungalow that was visible from the hill itself.

It was less challenging as compared to coming down using the same trail. However, he had fun! Most of the times, on the way down from a mountain/hill, people just want to reach the base as soon as possible minus the challenges! That's when accident happens as people are rushing and becoming less careful! Small hiker is no exception, he had his share of falling down on the way down!

Perhaps he will use this trail instead for his future trips to the East side!

BUKIT TABUR - EAST SIDE

I went hiking to East Side of Bukit Tabur with my son today. As usual, East side is less popluar as compared to the west side. There were only three other groups that we came across on the way up and down. One Malay group of 5 people, a Chinese group of 3 people and one mixed group (Malays and Chinese). As compared to the west side, there were a lot of people. Easily there could be around 40 people there today.

We completed the trail with the last one being the 4 storey high rock face assisted by ropes. It took us around 2 hours to complete it.

The guys in the Malay group were all carrying their DSLR Nikon cameras and they were busy snapping pictures. Didn't get to ask them how many time they have been to Bukit Tabur. One of the guys told me that he just got back from Rinjani on his solo trip (respect you lah!). And it reminded me at the same time that I must get my DSLR too. Insyaallah, I'd buy my D60 soon.

On the way down, we met the Chinese group and it's their first time in Bukit Tabur and we had a good chat. We promised to contact each other again and a guy named Albert said he'd invite me to Kuang. He'd normally go there with Orang Asli as guides.

Look forward to joining them there.

Next week: A retreat to Broga Hill.

Weekend Climbing With Colleagues

It was 6.40am, Saturday morning, July 4, 2009, I reached BHP Petrol Taman Melawati and while waiting for the rest of the group (9 of us including The Author) to arrive, I went for my roti canai breakfast nearby.

By 7.20am, we headed towards the foothill. We did our warm up and took group photo. Ascending started at around 7.40am after crossing the stream that flows from the Ulu Klang dam. There were smiles all over!

By the time we started the climb, the first 20 steps itself, the smiles were all gone. They put on the smiles just for the camera!

Those who had experienced hiking the west side agreed that the east side offers more challenges and more difficult. There were a lot of treks that need to be rope-assisted.

Two of the ladies decided not to hike up the last peak, a 2.5 storey high and you need to do rock climbing with no safety harness! The rope helped a lot. On the way down, there was fist-sized rock fell and missed us! From the last peak, we saw a two guys group that decided to make Peak 5 as the last and decided not to climb the last peak!

Alhamdulillah! We completed the climb 4 hours later, around 11.40am. It was a fun and enjoyable climb for all!

BUKIT TABUR - EAST SIDE

The east side of Bukit Tabur is just as interesting. I knew about the treks from fellow trekkers that I met after completing the climb of the more popular west side.

The treks are located behind Ulu Klang Gate dam. We need to cross small streams to get to the treks.

The fun began immediately after we crossed the streams. We thought of bathing in the streams after the climb but the place was dirty and smelly and the water was not deep enough either.

The treks are more challenging than the west side. It's not as rocky but we had to do a lot of rock climbing.

The first hurdle was going through the steep slope with rope. It was fun but we had to make sure that the rope was still in good condition. Otherwise, if it snaps half way,there you go! The slope below was neither steep nor high. We could still climb up without the rope (I think so!!).

We can see the dam clearly from from the east side hills.You can't see it from the west side though. The lake is closer to this side of the hill.

The slope below is 50 meters high and it's almost 90 degrees. It could be dangerous and we have to be very careful. And the this slope is the reason for me not to promote this place to my female colleagues. I don't want to be responsible for their safety And at the same time, I don't want to end up spending so much time looking after them. Sorry!!! And we had to use the rope. However, we were advised not to depend so much on the rope! Thanks to a group of trekkers, otherwise we would have stopped at Peak 5.

We had fun and this place is recommended to those who want to get away from the city on weekend. We spent 4 hours to complete the climb.

We were told that people would go up at around 6am, early enough to reach the peak to catch the sunrise. I am planing to do that one of these days. Perhaps, I'd take my son along.