Berkelah Waterfall

I had a pleasant trip to Bekelah Waterfall. There were so many things to talk about- the challenges of the trail, the fun interaction, the endless supply of crystal clear water, the slippery rocks. Here are some highlights, the most interesting one being the near-death encounter. I know we came back telling bits and pieces of the story. So here it is, come share in our adventure.

On 2nd Sep 2008, 3 of my trekking kakis met up at Woodlands MRT at 2200hrs, our bus departed from Larkin (JB) to Kuantan was scheduled at 2359hrs. Getting across the custom on a weekday night was a breeze, by 2300hrs we were having supper at Mcdonald in Larkin bus terminal.

Traveling hours by bus in Malaysia is quite a mystery. Figure this out: Singapore to KL=5.5hrs. Singapore to Malacca=4.5hrs, Singapore to Kuantan=5.5hrs. North-south Highway service mostly the western coast of peninsula Malaysia. The east coast city/town like Mersing, Kuantan, Kuala Trengganu, Kota Bahru are not accessible by NS highway and hence you'll take a longer travellng time.

0500hrs, we've arrive at the bus terminal in Kuantan. Don't know the name of the terminal because it doesn't matter, there is only one here. I was half awake and groggy. We look around the terminal for a place to continue sleeping. In the end we found a seat at the foodcourt. I did contemplate on sleeping with my head resting on the table.

Realising that it's the Ramandan (fasting) month for the muslim and being in a mostly muslim-community town, I know the chances of finding a place for breakfast after sunrise is near impossible. And so we had our breakfast at the bus terminal food court and besides, there was nothing else to do at this time.

We found a taxi driver who is willing to bring us to the Bekelah Waterfall trail head for RM50. The ride took 45mins before the taxi turn into a narrow unpaved road leading to the trail head. Another 15mins to reach our destination.

Bekelah Waterfall, originally uploaded by Jerry Tok.

Traditionally, all Malaysia trek starts by crossing a bridge, any kind of bridge, it could be cement, wood, metal or suspended bridge. The point is to cross the bridge. Once I was trekking (cannot reveal mountain name) and at the beginning of the trail, there were 2 routes-one leads you to cross a bridge and the other one doesn't. We chose the route without the bridge. Our 2 hours hike ended up in 4.5 hrs, and many other incidents also... it's another story all together, I should tell you another time.

Back to Bekelah. Besides bridges, no trip is complete without make-up. Our beautiful sisters whipped out their lipstick and lip balm just before we put on our backpack to begin out 2.5 hrs hike up the waterfall.

Bekelah Waterfall, originally uploaded by Jerry Tok.

Fastforward 2.5hrs. 1130hrs. we reached out campsite. It's Ramadan month and in the middle of a school term, we found ourselves alone in this paradise. Right before our eyes is a 10storey cascaded waterfall which flows into a pool almost 3/4 the size of a olympic-sized pool. 10 years ago when I was brought here by my friends, I remember the pool was clear and the water level extremely deep. I suppose it's been raining the day before, causing the pool to be milky.

IMG_0077, originally uploaded by Jerry Tok.

IMG_0085, originally uploaded by Jerry Tok.

After lunch, we spend the time exploring the area. David and I went for a spa session. We were amazed by the formation of this waterfall, the huge rocks and the never ending continuous supply of water. Will it ever stop flowing? Does the waterfall turn off at certain timing just like the water theme park? David and I put together all our knowledge and intellect, though we didn't quite figure out all the questions, we did come to a conclusion- God is awesome and almighty. He created all things. Amen. And so David and I had a prayer and praise God.

Bekelah Waterfall, originally uploaded by Jerry Tok.

Rock climbing skill comes in handy here.

IMG_0087, originally uploaded by Jerry Tok.

It's 1530hrs. Anna exclaimed,:"huh so early ah!! What shall we do!!" Play mahjong loh. Not the tiles version but the card version. I did suggest to DN to bring the card portable mahjong tile complete with table, on 2nd thoughts I know I would be the one carrying it. So we settle for the cards.

1700hrs. David is so awesome, he did everything from carrying tents, food and other communal items, to setting of tents, to dinner preparation, out of his own initiatives and totally without complains. I on the other hand would have done the above mentioned task but most likely with much complain. Since David is so awesome, we crown him as King David. How about the girls? what did they contribute? See the video.

MVI_0092, originally uploaded by Jerry Tok.

1800hrs. Signs of weather coming in. From broken clouds, the sky is now covered with cumulus stratus AKA heavy showery clouds. Then it started raining. It was too late to start building shelter and so David continue to cook in the rain after putting on his poncho. I am pretty impressed with my MSR Dragonfly stove. It survive cooking in 1 hrs of rain. Later on, I torture it further by leaving it outside as the perfect storm rage on.

1900hrs. Finally, the cabbage is cooked and dinner is ready. Roasted meat (bought from Singapore, cannot reveal what meat), Mei Cai (preserved veg), stirred-fried pumpkin with meat and lastly cabbage soup. Alamak, except for the cabbage, the rest of the dish are hardly food I fancy. When it comes to camping food, I deny myself to show my appreciation to the person who prepare the meal. While I was eating dinner, I try to cast the scary thought of having pumpkin and roast meat for breakfast tomorrow (left over food from dinner preparation). God help me to deny myself!!!


Near death encounter

We were done with dinner. The rain persisted and we had no other option but to stay in the tent. By this time, the interior of our tent were wet too. Some water sipped in thru the seams. Our camping ground were flooded with water and the ground are uneven and water got into the tent as a result. Under such condition, I thought what would be more apt than to discuss the topic of near death accident.

At this moment, it dawn on us that we're camping near the pool and the waterfall. Rain usually means raising water-level and increase water volume flow from the waterfall. Then I unzipped the tent to check on the waterfall and water-level.

LO and Behold!!! My goodness!!! It was such a scary sight!!! The waterfall is no longer flowing with water but ROARING with water. Just like the merlion multiply by 20 times the water volume and power.

"What shall we do now?" "Should we move our tent?" "will the waterfall eventually get so strong and engulf us?"

With the powerful waterfall comes strong wind. David was concerned that the wind might blow the tent away and so suggested for us to sit at the 4 corners of the tent. DN makes speculation how the waterfall might gain power and hit our tent. I look at Anna and saw the red alert look in her face.

"Are we going to die?"

I was concerned too but kept my worries to myself. What if the rain persist thruout the night. If it does, we need to move our tent as the waterfall might hit our tent. We might get hypothermia if we get caught in the rain. It would also mean that we'll be trap at this campsite for days if water flow is too strong for us to cross. (we need to cross several times en route to the base.) Do we have enough food supply if we're trap here for days?

Human exhibit unusual behavior in dire straits. If you were on a plane making an emergency and the steward hand you a piece of paper to write a will? Would you panic? would you behave unusually? She did. She started pouring chili sauce( that were leftover from dinner) out of the tent. I suspect she would have throw more things in the tent, break some eggs, got rid of all her vitamins. Lucky for us, she did not.

There was really not much we could do but to waited for the rain to stop and pray for the waterfall to ease. Some of us dozed off.

2230hrs. The rain has stopped but not the fury of the waterfall. We got out of the tent for pee break and take closer look at the powerful waterfall that threatened to engulf us, as though it was angry with us for being there.

The waterfall causes a lot of fog. I stood near the water bank and looked at the monster waterfall and check the water level. The sky is clear and we can see the stars and moon. The fog, the powerful waterfall and the stillness of the night coupled with the fact that we are the only campers here feels like a scene taken out from a movie. It's like Armageddon. Thank God for sparing our lives.

We crawled back to our tent and make preparation to sleep. I am so grateful that the rain stop...

So much for our misadventure. The morning things were back to normal. David, like always, was the first to get up and start preparing breakfast and boiling water for hot coffee. Yes, breakfast is fried rice with pumpkin and roast meat. "Dear lord help me to finish up my share of the breakfast."

We also found out that we had a visitor last night. It bit thru out tent and ate 1/3 of a loaf of bread. There goes our planned lunch.

Did we really goes thru a near death accident? Yes and no. If the rain persisted last night, it could manifested into a wet and restless nite. We might have to move our tent to a safer spot and in the process get caught in the rain and potentially develop hypothermia. The water level could have rise to a uncrossable level and we have to spend the next few days on the mountain. Thanks God for his protection, all this did not happened.