Fashionista's Escapades: Spelunking at Merapoh, Pahang

Inspired by Batman (if you're interested to watch the clip, click [here]) and obviously my recent trip to Mulu Caves, last weekend I decided to explore some caves in Merapoh, Pahang. This trip was co-organised by Project Vacation and Pakatan Bejalan.

The trip was supposed to be for Saturday and Sunday but we started our journey on Friday night, leaving KL at 10.30 pm and arriving in Merapoh at 2.30 am.

This is my first adventure caving experience and here's a photoblog of my trip:

The drive to Merapoh from KL (our meeting point was LRT Gombak) took almost 4 hours. This was taken on the way back to KL, very scenic view from the highway. 

Gua Rimau (Tiger's Cave)

We explored three caves over the weekend, two on Saturday (Gua Rimau and Gua Kubang Rusa) and one on Sunday (Gua Padang Kawad). We started with Gua Rimau on Saturday morning and left our homestay, SGI Outdoor Merapoh at 8.30 am and headed to the entrance of the cave which was only a 10-minute drive away.

Since the roads leading to the cave are unpaved, we were transported in pickup trucks and four wheel drives.

Unpaved road leading to Gua Rimau.

A short description of the cave and safety briefing is conducted every time before we enter the caves. For safety reasons, we were all provided with safety helmets and each helmet was equipped with headlights. However, you can bring your own torchlights should you need more light in the caves.

Waiting in line. There were 30 over people who participated in this event. Coveralls are not provided but are recommended for the trip simply because they are made of thick fabric and does not rip easily. Besides, they are a one piece (therefore they do not snag easily at any branches/ leaves when you need to climb up and down).

Climbing up.

Entering Gua Rimau. 

Cave formations.

A description of the cave features, flora and fauna by our guides. 

Cave window.

The interior of Gua Rimau.

Venturing deeper into the interior parts of Gua Rimau. Some parts require a bit of climbing and clever manoeuvring. 

The twin towers of Gua Rimau.

A view of the entrance of the cave from inside.

Gua Kubang Rusa

After lunch, we headed to Gua Kubang Rusa (which is also known as Gua Air Mata Dayang).

For Gua Kubang Rusa, the activities here involved not only cave exploration, but also cave tubing. Thus, we are required to wear safety helmets and life jackets before entering the cave.

The entrance to Gua Kubang Rusa. 

Getting ready for cave tubing.

And off we go!

Since this trip involved quite a big crowd, we were divided into two groups, the first group would do cave tubing first while the other group explored the interior of the cave.

Cave exploration.

Cave tubing. According to the dictionary, cave tubing is an extreme sport in which participants float on inner tubes and traverse underground rivers in networks of caves and go over small falls.

Gua Kubang Rusa's interior.

The interior of Gua Kubang Rusa.

Post cave tubing and exploration. Tired but definitely satisfied =).

Gua Padang Kawad

On Sunday morning we left for Gua Padang Kawad which is located about 30 minutes drive away from our homestay. Gua Padang Kawad was the secret route that the communist used before independence and during the early formative years of Malaysia. To read more on the history of this cave, you can click on the link [here].

Getting to Gua Padang Kawad requires at least 45 minutes of trekking.

Arrived at the entrance of Gua Padang Kawad. The reason why you can't see the entrance is because it's just a tiny opening in front of a small stream. Getting into Gua Padang Kawad involves a bit of crawling.

Safety briefing before entering the cave.

Climbing up against the flow of water in Gua Padang Kawad. Photo courtesy of Adli.

The exit point of Gua Padang Kawad. I myself wasn't able to take photos inside the cave because it's dark and quite wet. However, I must say that the cave formations and colours of the walls were absolutely breathtaking.

Us. Spelunkers. Or at least we were for the weekend. Photo courtesy of Artchan.

Adventure caving is definitely different from what I initially expected. The caves are left in their natural state and the caves are in itself a home of various flora and fauna which made the experience very interesting (and some parts quite icky). 

Would I recommend adventure caving? Well, let me just say that adventure caving is not for everyone, and definitely not for the faint hearted. Going into dark, damp and sometimes tiny spaces may be scary and claustrophobic but then again, we are here for the experience and it is definitely an experience which you will not get anywhere else. I find Gua Padang Kawad to be the most interesting of all simply because you are traversing into the interior of the cave on a narrow path along an underground river (or stream) and the cave interior is filled with all sorts of different formations and colours that is just beautiful. Masha Allah.

To those who are interested to participate in these kind of events, you can visit Project Vacation's instagram [here] and Pakatan Bejalan [here].

Looking forward to another adventure soon, inshaa Allah =).


xoxo Mrs Fashionista

Fashionista's Escapades: Climbing Bukit Tabur East

This is my final hike for the month of January. And since I am running out of places to hike, I might be posting less hiking in the following months (I think). There are plenty of places to hike in Malaysia (or Selangor specifically) but I have yet to finalise my own target list (i.e. which hills or mountains that I'd like to try out).

Anyway, we decided to try and hike Bukit Tabur for two reasons; (1) on most of the hiking blogs, almost every one of them would recommend hiking Bukit Tabur; and (2) due to its challenging nature, some blogs have even recommended not to hike Bukit Tabur.

Note: We need a permit to hike Bukit Tabur (although some of the hikers that I met yesterday said they didn't obtain the permit) and here's a link of how to get the permit [click here]. We obtained our permit on Friday from Pejabat Hutan Daerah Selangor on Friday morning. The permit is only RM5 per person.

Bukit Tabur is located in Taman Melawati. I used Waze to get to the entrance of the trail. There are two routes for Bukit Tabur, which are Bukit Tabur East and Bukit Tabur West. Some people have told me that Bukit Tabur East is shorter but more challenging and Bukit Tabur West is not as challenging but the route is longer. Having never hiked on both routes, we decided to try out Bukit Tabur East. So, here's a photoblog of our hike yesterday:

We left for the hike at 9 am (after having breakfast) and arrived at the entrance to Bukit Tabur at around 9.30 am. Parked carefully around the nearby housing area (so as to not disturb any of the residences) and proceeded to our hiking route.

The first few meters from the road, we had to pass by these huge water pipes.

The climb begins.

Initial hike.

This way please. If I'm not mistaken there were a handful of these in the initial hike up.

A little bit of scampering around the rocks. 

On several parts of the hike, there are ropes provided to help your climb. Do use gloves because if you don't, you might end up with blisters on your hands.

Some parts had an almost 90 degree incline.

Having a strong upper body strength is definitely an added advantage.

First peak.

Went forward (with some ups and downs) to the main peak.

Some parts of the climb were relatively easy.

The main destination is up this peak.

Almost there.

The final climb up the main peak. 90 degrees incline. One tiny route (thus those going up would have to wait for those coming down to clear the route. As one of my friends had commented, only in Malaysia you would find traffic jam when hiking and you have to wait for your turn to go up.

Climbing up the main peak. Caution: This peak is treacherous. One tiny mistake would definitely cost you your life (or limb). So do be careful.

And we have finally reached the top. Hurrah!

Me, Aatif and Nihal. We finally made it to the top.

The dragon back ridge. Checked!

Another traffic jam. Getting down is equally (if not more) treacherous as going up. One rope and your own imagination on where to put your footing on the rocks.

The route down is different than the route up. So this route is definitely way faster than climbing up.

The final 10 - 15 minutes before arriving to where our car was parked.

Bukit Tabur East.

The view from the top of Bukit Tabur. Masha Allah.

And got to enjoy a beautiful view of the KL skyline as well. 

Let me just say that I had my concerns prior to climbing Bukit Tabur, one of the is regarding the accidents that has happened on the hill [click here] and some blogs/ write ups that were not favourable (i.e. they warned us against hiking up Bukit Tabur) thus I was initially afraid that climbing Bukit Tabur would be a difficult task. But having hiked up the top, I must say that it's not as difficult as what people say it is. If you've hiked before, then Bukit Tabur is definitely doable. However, do bear in mind that if you have any second thoughts on climbing, feel free to stop your climb and proceed to descend. A hike is always a personal achievement and if you feel you are not up to it, you can always try again later.

In terms of timing, we reached the first peak in about an hour and proceeded to reach the main peak in another hour (it would have been less but because there are so many people, I think we spent maybe around 20 - 30 minutes just waiting for the route to clear up and to give way to those who are descending). And going down took only perhaps 45 minutes because it's a straight (no fuss) route down the hill.

Now that I've climbed Bukit Tabur, I wouldn't say that it's that difficult (although I am not able to say the same for Bukit Tabur West because I have never climbed up that route before). With perseverance, you will definitely be able to make it. On some parts I did feel kind of cheated because I expected the route to be more difficult (so far I would have to say Mulu Pinnacles is the most challenging hike that I've ever been to) but the climb to the final peak of Bukit Tabur is definitely very, very dangerous and do be extra careful if you make the decision to climb up the main peak.

That being said, if you love hiking, Bukit Tabur is definitely a must hike! The hike was enjoyable and the scenery is definitely worth the climb.


xoxo Mrs Fashionista