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Deep in the rainforest....the silent watchfulness of a thousand creatures surrounded us and we felt as one with the earth's essence. And here I was.... somewhere in the jungles of Ulu Cheh, Perak, amongst one of the last strongholds of diversity against " Mob Tourism " , still relatively unknown to the outside world on a long Labour Day holiday weekend where thousands thronged the roads to Cameron Highlands, Fraser's Hills, Genting Highlands, Pangkor Island, Port Dickson, Taman Negara and probably the islands off the east coast...hoping to see nature at it's best(and it's worst with all the man-made noises and litter)
Reasoning with the songs of the primates, birds and insects up high on the " Meranti ", " Kempas ", " Merbau " and " Keruing " trees, all living giants of mother earth, at dawn and early hours of the morning, the magnificent rainforest is quiet in the heat of the day, its stillness punctuated by the insect-like calls of the frog, the rasping of the cicadas, the whistled notes of the antbirds and hornbills and also to UBAT's TeamLeader's enquiry to his men...." Hari ini masak apa? " or " what are we cooking today? "
This was my second visit to the rainforest of Ulu Cheh which lies within the relatively unknown district of Larut Matang with 4 other trekkers - namely fellow trekker, Woo Sai Wah of Penang, UBAT's educators Halim and Joe and our guru, Mohamad Razali , TeamLeader of Utan Bara Adventure Team(UBAT) otherwise known as BanditLeader. My first visit was last November during a 4 day's Practical Jungle Survival Course Trek where we learned to treat the surrounding vegetation(the secondary forests, wild palms forests and lowland primary jungles) as a friend - identifying what was edible, medicinal, poisonous plus the other necessary essentials of jungle survival skills. Today's Labour Day trip was for a new UBAT product called the Jungle Waterfalls Trek where we were soon to see some giant wild "Palas " leaves and absolutely litter-free, tourist-free, all-green and all-naturally lovely jungle waterfalls locations!
The Rainforest has become a Mecca for travellers seeking to escape the stress and tedium of modern world and monotony of more conventional vacation destinations. Here, they can slow down, immerse themselves in beauty and establish a link with nature. Here, the rainforest is the beauty and if allowed...we humans will be the beast by leaving litter, unnecessary cutting and shouting. For Woo and me, well.. we just wanted to get away from it all and we found paradise in the green paradise of Ulu Cheh.
We left for Kg Ulu Cheh on Friday nite and quickly tucked into bed upon arriving at UBAT's base camp and for the first time in several months, we could sleep without the air conditioning as the air that filled Kg Ulu Cheh was simply cooling and refreshing and not a single mosquito was present to spoil our much deserved rest from driving on the crowded PLUS North-South Highway!
The next day was probably the most difficult part of the journey as it took a very grand effort to wake up from the very comfortable weaved " Mengkuang " sleeping mat - very much more comfortable than a 5-star bed hotel room! Armed with pocketfuls of the delicious " Kuih Apam Jawa " made by Halim's mother, we left for Kilo Camp.. about 5 hour's slow journey passing quaint Malay houses, men and women on bicycles and motorcycles providing us genuine smiles, rubber plantations, a few freshwater fish farms and wide expanses of fruit orchards before challenging the first obstacle... a 30 degrees gradient hill that probably took ages for us to climb! It took us about almost 1 hour before we hit the lowland primary rainforest which provided us shade and protection from the sun. This terrain was unmarked save paths used by hunters and rattan gatherers where you can see huge 40m Meranti and Merbau trees. The dark, cool interior of the lowland primary rainforest is surprisingly free of entangling vegetation. Only when light manages to filter through the interlocking canopy to the forest floor does vegetation proliferate. Walking in the rainforest is like taking a step back in time. The modern world and all its stress fade into significance.
For the most fulfilling experience in the rainforest, it is highly important to go in with experienced and knowledgeable guides. The rainforest does not give its secret easily. Indeed the uninitiated can be overwhelmed by such all greatness. For that... we had our jungle survival skills to depend on and for that.. we had BanditLeader to thank for!
We reached Kilo Camp at about 4pm with many rest stops along the way and it was nice to see familiar places again... including the leeches. But they were dead by the time they climbed onto our shoes and socks, thanks to the ever dependent Baygon Insect Spray repellent! Everyone was sweating profusely which was a good sign that we were 5 living and healthy men determined to reach Kilo Camp and jump into the cool and refreshing waters of the Ulu Kangsar waterfalls! Even fallen logs across the trails were no match to a group of UBAT handmade-parang armed men in their magnificent trekking attires! Kilo Camp is a paradise.... flanked by 2 streams, the campsite was surrounded by lofty trees and lush foliage and we were welcomed almost immediately by the calls of the unseen primates! Sandy and well drained, it was also leech-free and rests alongside a beautiful, clear, clean jungle pool made for swimming. Otherwise, you may sample one of the natural jacuzzis set a few feet away amongst the rocks. The hardest part to it was counting the numbers before you made your first dip into the already icy cool late evening waters! Ahhhh...this was the life!
After setting up the campsite, we plunged into the freezing waters of Kilo Camp's natural swimming pool for a refreshing swim and as usual.. the small fish fries were there to nibble your feet!! This was followed by some delicious " Bubur Kacang " and a few hours later sumptuous dinner in the form of plain rice wrapped in wild Palas leaves and cooked in bamboo with Brinjal curry, Fried " Kangkung " vegetables and ' Ikan Duri ' and ' Bulu Ayam ' salted fish as the main dishes and served with the all-Malaysian favourite " teh tarik "! Perfect! That was what we all agreed on... Halim's cooking skills..... no wonder a Dutch tourist once said to Halim.." if you were a woman.. I'd marry you! " And naturally, we all slept very comfortably after dinner! It was great to be able to listen again to the melodies of the insects, crickets, cicadas and frogs. This was mother nature at its best in the still of the night and I thought to myself..." I wonder, what are they doing in Cameron Highlands, Taman Negara and all those other crowd pulling attractions? ". And I smiled to myself in the dark. Thank god... I am here and they are there!
At about 6-30 in the morning next day, we were awakened up by the primates...howling across the wide expanse of the rainforest, The trees and bushes around us reverberated with the calls of the wild gibbons shrieking their delight at the birth of a new day. The jungle around here is possibly the noisiest and liveliest that I have been to! It was simply amazing.... It is no wonder that a Portugese Travel Operator preferred to send their customers here rather than to the other touristic adventure locations! To Goncalo Velez, owner of the Lisbon-based Rotas Do Vanto, the jungles of Ulu Cheh, deserved the same status to his other adventure trips in Nepal, Africa, Australia, South America , Yosemite and the Great Alaskan Wilderness.
After an early breakfast of fried Bihun with lemon tea and a world record breaking one- minute swim in the icy cold swimming pool, we changed into our trekking attire for a day's journey in search of waterfalls upstream of the Ulu Kangsar river. This was to be the highlight of the trip.
For all my experience of trekking in the rainforest, I wasn't prepared to face some of the most beautiful river sceneries I have ever seen..... we saw waterfalls after waterfalls and plenty of huge 6 ft high and 3 ft wide wide Palas leaves across the terrain and there was even an island full of these stange giants flanked on either sides by running mountain waterfalls. And the noises from the gibbons, insects and crickets never failed to stop... this was the heart of the rainforest . Albeit for an old hunting party campsite, we were the only two legged beings on the ground, cutting through and making our way to about a dozen waterfalls and in the process, found a lovely twin waterfalls with a deep pool for swimming and a small patch of flat ground enough for a small 10-person camping party. This according to UBAT's TeamLeader, Razali, was to be a new non-survival course campsite and called Tango Whisky Camp while Kilo Camp will remain as the base camp for survival courses and teamspirit building adventure camps.
I was informed by Razali that in Spain, trekking through waterfalls and rivers are known as canyoning and what we were doing was also canyoning with a difference, we had nature classes along the way, we ocame across old snake skins, ate the pith of the wild palm Bayas, saw a huge centipede, and we even painted our faces with camouflage cream for fun and for the camera! There were many plants that we saw along the way which only a botanist would probably recognise unless if these were plants with edible, medicinal and poisonous properties of which only the UBAT members would quickly point out. We returned back to Kilo Camp at about 5 in the evening and had Halim serving up " Bubur Keledek " with local coffee and condensed milk and of course, a nice longer swim in the swimming pool. UBAT's trainee educator, Joe, climbed onto a fallen log across the swimming pool and showed a typical kampung boy skill of somersaulting into the refreshing waters! I know I could have done that...but that was about 10 lbs ago!
That night, with the rainforest swallowing all 5 of us, we had glutinous rice wrapped in banana shoots and cooked in bamboo for a dinner of " Lemang ", eaten with sardines fried with chillies, earth cooked potatos and just plain local coffee or " kopi-o ". This also.. was the life of being far away from the maddening crowd on a long weekend holiday! I wouldn't trade this for any resort of any class!! The rainforest was MY retreat resort for the weekend! An excellent retreat for families, too.... as I was informed that quite a number of expatriate families have been here before with kids as young as 5 years old!
We live in a world filled with material goods ; we are protected from the elements in our safe cocoon of concrete, glass and steel but, somehow, something is missing. Only when we escape this artificial environment do we recognise how strong is our human need for contact with the natural world. There, we find our roots, our place in the scheme of things. There we find energy....for the soul. Each year, the rainforest of Ulu Cheh welcome a limited number of visitors(tourist are not welcomed!) to share its secret, beauty and natural treasure.
Here, tropical nature has reached its greatest expressions. As Razali emphasises " if you wish to be a tourist in our treks, forget it. But if you wish to trek, learn, practise, understand and respect the rainforest better.. then... by all means join us. This is a working holiday where at the end of the trek... you will earn your holiday! " This aptly reminds me of UBAT's motto...The Jungle is Neutral and Too big to be left Unexplored. Yes.. there is so much to see, learn, understand and feel..before it all dissapears to the beast called mankind. Next stop....... I'm off with UBAT into another tourist-free trail of the much trodden and visited Taman Negara - home of mob tourism!
For those interested in UBAT's treks and trails, visit their homepage at
Website:
www.ubat.com.my
E-mail:
info@ubat.com.my
Tel/Fax:
03-4022 5124
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