In mid July 2010, a total of 33 comrades (19 from luarbiasafoto.com, 4 guide, 2 porter the rest is kaki pancing (angler) from various forum). This is the biggest outing i ever organized under luarbiasafoto.com umbrella (the rest if much more smaller scale outing such as the Bukit Tabur outing or Broga under JJCF)
Panorama of Ulu Kemapan stream, halfway toward Air Terjun Kemapan
The idea to Ulu Kemapan pop up during Buaya Sangkut expedition (you can read the blog entry here). During Buaya Sangkut expedition, we were enthralled to see various sizes of kelah fish. But since we were in a kelah sanctuary, we were not allowed to do any kind of fishing there. During the trip, we were told by Pahat, dRali & abg naim (our Ulu Kemapan guide) about Ulu Kemapan where they said the trail is a bit easier than the whole Buaya Sangkut trail and we were allowed to catch Kelah fish there. Well...yes , it is a bit easier compared to Buaya Sangkut trail but the trekking duration is much longer as we need to trek for a total of 12.9km for about 7 hours (including rest).
Air Terjun Genat
So from there we started to plan properly to go to Ulu Kemapan and finally total of 19 comrades from luarbiasafoto.com join this expedition. Few close angler friend and friend of friend of abg naim and his circle also join this expedition up to a total of 31 people. Add with another two porter the total is 33 people.
Initially we were scheduled to start trekking at 12:00am, but due to several circumstances we were only manage to start trek after subuh prayer. It is a blessing in disguise and the initial trail is very confusing even to seasoned guide as some large part of the trek has been disturbed by elephants. One main reason why we start late is one of our car from KL been sabotaged where the radiator lower hose has been cut (most probabily during our stop at R&R Seremban as the car were park a bit far from the cafetaria). After a 'mechanic' (which we suspect were part of the syndicate that sabotage the car) replace the hose for a RM125 (normally the hose should cost only around RM30 only), the car owner sent the car to a friend house in Senawang and we manage to continue our journey by polling with another few car which coincidently and luckily not far from behind us (friends of abg naim-abg din). Thank god finally everyone manage to continue to the destination safely.
Air Terjun Kemapan
In term of photography opportunity, there is a lot beautiful river stream after Bukit Taubat but most probabily when you reach there during the trekking you're already damn tired and has no appetite for any kind of photography and your only wish is to arrive to the camp site ASAP. There is two waterfall, one is Genat Waterfall which is exactly before the start of Bukit Taubat and another waterfall is Ulu Kemapan Waterfall which is around an hour from the camp site. There is another interesting place which is called Akuarium but most of us didnt manage to go there as it is about 2.5 hour from our camp site.
For some of us (including me) it is the first time we tasted kelah and the experience was amazing. Another interesting fact is even the scales of kelah fish is consumable and it tasted great!
About the trek, from the resort to sungai sekinchin (which take approximately 45-60 minutes), there is a lot of elephant trek (and their pooh!) and some part of the trek is very muddy. At one point even the guide became a bit confused when a large portion of the area is disturbed by the elephant group. Imagine fallen tree is everywhere and there is no visible human trek. Only elephant trek is available and its not going to the same destination as ours. But their experience is indispensible and after few minutes scouting the hectic area we on the right path again.
Bukit Taubat is relatively easy for most of us as it is not that high (highest point is around 220m only) and its not that steep going upward (majority of us has some mountain climbing experience) - but for first timer they definitely suffer, so never underestimate. If compared with Buaya Sangkut the trekking i believe only about 65% of the difficulty even though Ulu Kemapan is much longer. A friend of mine even quipped that 'tak sempat bertaubat dah sampai bawah bukit'.
In term of guide, abg naim and his crew is simply fantastic. Not only he & the crew setup the big tent for us, he also cook and even went fishing with large catch. His cook is simply fantastic and delicious even with scarce resources. If you ever think you want to go here, abg naim & his crew will surely enhance your experience. His rate is only RM200/head (inclusive of entry permit, parking fee, basic large tent with ground sheet,trekking guide and cooking - raw material not included)for 3D2N - minimum is 10 people.
Resort --> Taman Herba --> Sungai Sekincin --> Kem 100 Plus --> Kem Bygon --> Genat --> Bukit Taubat --> Ulu Kemapan Camp Site .. total 7 hours including rest.
Everytrail - Ulu Kemapan 2010
We plan to make Ulu Kemapan an annual trip. We also plan to go to another location within the same area known as Batu Dinding which is heaven for angler. Most probabily in Jan 2011. Lets see whether there is any photographer opportunity there. And now i think i want to buy my own fishing rod.. hahahhahaha.. :P
Our Ulu Kemapan itenary (written originally by Dr Jamal.. in malay)
D1 - Jumaat
11:30PM - Jemaah Kuantan sampai ke Kuala Rompin - 2 kereta, 6 orang, belasah makan lewat malam
D2 - Sabtu
12:30AM - Jemaah Kuantan dimaklumkan Jemaah KL ada masalah - so Jemaah Kuantan iktiqaf kat masjid
1:30AM - Amir Sab Taam (Abg Naim) sampai dgn konco2 nya - buat bising kat masjid
4:30AM - Gerak ke 7-Eleven sebab Jemaah KL dah sampai
5:30AM - Lepas pack barang, gerak masuk Taman Negeri
6:00AM - Solat Subuh
6:30AM - Gerak masuk hutan7:30AM - Sampai ke Pit Stop pertama (Sg Sekinchin)
11:30PM - Sampai ke Air Terjun Genat - first pseudo-lunch1:30PM - Sampai ke campsite
4:30PM - First official lunch
5:00PM - Lepak & tidur6:00PM - Mandi manda
8:00PM - Dinner
D3 - Ahad
7:00AM - Slow shutter sekitar campsite
9:00AM - Bertolak ke waterfall11:00AM - Sampai di waterfall (tak semua sampai awal - ada yg melencong - ni jemaah yg dipimpin oleh dR Ali)
12:00PM - Lunch dalam hujan
2:00PM - Balik ke campsite
3:00PM - Kebulur kat campsite, mandi dalam hujan
4:00PM - Pasukan pemancing & memerang bawa kelah balik - Sesi fotografi bermula
9:00PM - Dinner kelah10:00PM - Sesi foto & videografi (saya dah tidur)
D4 - Isnin
7:00AM - Ada yg layan slow shutter dgn fesyen beragam9:00AM - Breakfast
10:30AM - Bergerak balik3:30PM - First team (diketuai oleh Jusoh) tiba di Taman Negeri
5:00PM - Last team sampai (diketuai oleh Abu)6:00PM - Bergerak ke kedai makan
8:00PM - Bergerak pulang ke destinasi masing2
Group photo before heading home. Taken by our porter using Dr Jamal's camera.
Some tips for trekking 1- trek light.. if you are a photographer then bring minimum body/lenses.. because of photography equipment i normally bring around 19-22kg but this kind of weight would make your body suffer and prone to injury.. less than 15kg is ideal.. PNS with interchangeable lens (such as sony nex3/olympus pen/panasonic GF-1) might be a good alternative to your 10kg photography equipment.. if you are not sure then hire a porter for RM100/day to bring your load. 2- trekking pole might help when trekking up/trekking down a moderate hill 3- use a good shoe with stat.. the adidas kampung (only around RM6-RM8) with stat is the best option.. no sport shoes as you will need to cross 18 river and by then your sport shoes will add another 1kg to your feet load.. 4- you might need to buy or sew your own leech sock if u cant stand the leeches.. BTW leech is fren... hahahha 5- Never trek alone as you might went to the wrong path alone! |
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