Proof that God answers prayers and praying works!
No RAIN!
(This is despite the flooding in many areas, traffic snarls and light rain as we left for Pedas Linggi).

And here come the photos… (click the collage below to view the photos…)

For a short trip report, see the extended entry…
Trip journal: The flying monkeys are gonna get you! And your little dog too!

First off, it was a horrifying day with heavy rain during the evening. I left at 5:35pm and by the time I got home, it was 8pm. Nevertheless, we packed and got ready for the trip. by 9:15pm, everyone was ready and we left after a brief fuel stop at the nearby BP station. We headed for the Seremban R&R where we would be making a stop to call Michael who is driving up from the South and would be waiting for us at the Ayer Keroh Overhead bridge rest stop.

We sync’ed up successfully and continued on and once after the Pedas/Linggi toll, the roads progressively got darker and darker and switching off your headlights just caused the darkness to envelope everything.

We arrived at about 11:30pm at the prep point where nature’s call was answered and we prepared our packs and flashlights. We drove into the parking lot and signed in our names with the ranger on duty and off we went. Although we forgot to pray at the start of the trail, we had Michael commit our trip (between gasps for oxygen) about 15 minutes into the hike as we stopped for a short breather.

Despite our lack of fitness, we persevered on. The first third was a rather steep gradient but once after the first check point, the trail got easier. In terms of wildlife, there were only ants, millipedes, a lone black and white striped forest gecko and did I mention ants? Giant ants almost 2 inches long!

We reached the top around 2am. Since there isn’t much room at the peak, we decided to have our dinner at a spot just below the peak where some huts were built and there’s a bit of flat ground. We left most of the packs here, taking just the essentials up to the peak, another hundred feet up. At the peak, we bedded down, and tried to sleep, no thanks to the a noisy flag!

Soon it was sunrise and complains about who took over whose mat or who snored so loudly during the night. After a bit of stretching, photography, shapes and packing, we headed down at 7am for breakfast… and the quick hike down.

And pretty soon, we were met by a raucous bunch of school kids going up and we “inspired them” by saying it’s only 5 more minutes to the top and nasi lemak with chicken awaited them! Some however were utterly defeated by the initial incline and we had to lead one of them back down. At the car park, it was cleaning-up, 100-plus and then, the short drive to the Seremban R&R for lunch. It was about 10:45am when we departed the car park. Soon, it will back home and pains in places you didn’t think you had muscles or could experience pain… but to quote Calvin’s dad (from Calvin and Hobbes)… It builds character!