Perak

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GBB (CUS Connection) - Day 5

GBB-CUS Index

Millipedes

The Bongok Hill plateau where we had spent the previous night turned out to not be the summit of the hill. The actual summit lay more than a kilometre further up the trail, which took us another half an hour to climb up to. A ridge that made its way westward led to the summit, and as we were following it, I felt a sharp piercing sensation on my forearm. As I looked down, a large insect that looked like an Asian hornet (Vespa velutina) flew away. Read more

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GBB (CUS Connection) - Day 4

GBB-CUS Index

Camera Traps

The early part of the day's trail was confusing at best. The water-point from 'Kem Sarsi' was a small stream that could be reached with a five minute downhill walk via at least four left turnings just after the campsite. The trail that continued on from there was through a convoluted mixture of turns that went down the same path, but the 'combination' was left, left, right, then left, instead (see GPS track). Read more

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GBB (CUS Connection) - Day 3

GBB-CUS Index

Ubiquitous Moss

We packed up camp in a dense soupy mist that morning as siamang gibbons (Symphalangus syndactylus) howled and hooted off to the south. The others played music once again as they took their sweet time to get ready. All we could do was wait in exasperation as their music once again drowned out the tranquil sounds of the jungle. We finally set off a few hours later at 10:20, and by then the howls of the gibbons had already moved to the west of us. Read more

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GBB (CUS Connection) - Day 2

GBB-CUS Index

Rata Air to Huhuhu Camp

We finally began the day's hike after an agonising wait for the rest of the group, who spent the morning dilly-dallying as if they had all the time in the world. We left at 10:15, more than two hours later than had been planned, and made our way down to the river that flanked the 'Rata Air' campsite. The riverside was quite scenic in the daylight, and the sunlight glinted off the pools of water that were partially barricaded by large fallen logs. The trickling of water as it flowed over the cascades was very pleasant, and the entire area was shaded by the huge leaves of wild banana trees (Musa sp.) and the fanned leaves of towering ferns. Read more

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GBB (CUS Connection) - Day 1

GBB-CUS Index

Ascent from Pos Balar

The day began with an arduous five-hour long journey from Kuala Betis in the back of a 4WD vehicle. The destination was a small village called Dakoh that was located within the Temiar settlement known as Pos Balar. The journey first took us deep inside palm oil estates along deeply rutted mud roads, and then into overgrown areas of fern and bamboo. Low-lying vines and branches arched over the road and occasionally created tunnels of vegetation that the vehicle trundled through. Read more

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GBB (CUS Connection)

Titiwangsa Range

GBB (CUS Connection)

The hike to Mount Gerah (elevation : 2103m), the 13th or 17th highest mountain in Malaysia (based on prominence or sheer elevation respectively), almost always covers its sibling-peaks aswell: Mount Bilah (elevation : 2077m) and Mount Bieh (elevation : 2073m); and is always referred to as 'GBB'. While the GBB hike normally begins and ends at the Temiar settlement of Pos Kemar just south of Temengor Lake, our plan was to begin from the south of the GBB range at Pos Balar instead. Read more