The First Peaks

After such a long time only able to dream of doing what I wanted to do (climb mountains) I finally embark on my first journey to a real mountain.....no more playing "Ah Yeh" Hill. I had long set my sights on Mount Irau as my first "real" mountain to be conquered. Located in the beautiful Cameron Highlands, Malaysia's popular mountain getaway, Mount Irau makes the perfect "first love".....a love that won't be forgotten by time (sounds corny huh). It sits within the Blue Valley area, an area covered by tea plantations. I called up the guide, Jeff and ask him what to expect and he told me expect hardship. Talking about hardship, I think the hardest part of this mountain trip was not the mountain climb but the convincing, negotiating and bargaining with my strict mum to let me and my bro embark on this trip..... it was like a month long court case, day in day out arguing and quarelling. However...she finally realized that sooner or later she has to let us go otherwise we would only grow more rebellious by the day.

One fine afternoon, my bro, Brian(mountain buddy) and I left for the highlands from the dirty and dusty Puduraya bus station. We took an old and crappy Kurnia Bestari bus which was nothing like the one they advertized on their ticket counter (at least it was on time).

We arrived in Tana Rata, the largest town in Cameron Highlands which makes a good base to explore the highlands. It was wet and cold then, and we were trying to get to this backpackers lodge called Daniel's Travellers Lodge. We were shuttled to the lodge after finding out that they provided free shuttle service to the lodge. Daniel's Travellers Lodge is a cosy little nice place which has dorms and rooms which are not heated (it gets pretty chilly at night) and the best part of it is its infamous "Jungle Bar". Another plus point is it sits in a very convenient part of town.

That night we had steamboat for dinner.

After dinner we decided to meet up with the guide whom I've been dealing with on phone all this while......it would be nice to know who will be responsible for our safety on the mountain and, if he is indeed a trustworthy person. We called up Mr.Jeff and he directed us to where his tourist agency was located and whalah.....there he sits on a chair in front of a desk in a dimly lit corner by the walkway next to a kedai runcit. All this while he sounded like he had some kind of "big time" tourist agency when I was talking to him on the phone. He told me, " no worries wan, surely cannot miss my place wan".....and yeah he was damn right about it because he took advantage of the glitzy neon lights of a shady disco located 2 shop lots away.

Since the very first time I spoke to Mr.Jeff I've already got a bad feeling about him coz he never stops talking about the big M (nope its not Mahathir) its "money". He goes on and on and on with how much the trip will cost, "guide fees", "park entrance permit fees" (Cameron Highlands is not even a gazetted park), "conservation fees", "weather fees", "pollution fees" etc....and a bunch of other bullshit fees made up to con us first timers.

Being the businessman he is, Mr.Jeff always changes the journey itinerary to suit his time and his profits. So this time we fall victim....no surprises since we are naive first timers. Our planned climb to Irau for the next morning has now been re-scheduled to the day after tomorrow (the day we are suppose to catch a bus at 2pm and head back to KL). That was something I always wanted to avoid becoz that means we had to climb up and down the mountain like "Flashman" due to the tight schedule in order not to miss the bus back to KL. Moreover this will be our first mountain and we don't have any experience and don't know what to expect. These risks could certainly jeopardize this pilot mountaineering ambition of mine. Not to forget my mother's "encouraging" words....."If anything goes wrong with this mountain expedition and if anyone gets hurt, YOU are gonna get more hurt by me and I will make sure you WONT see any kind of elevation higher than "Ah Yeh" Hill (350m) anymore!" Despite all these negative thoughts holding me back, I still proceeded with this new arangement and agreed to the climb for the day after tomorrow.....well I guess it was the desire to nail my first peak that blanked out all other thoughts. Ian and Brian felt the same way too, I guess.

Trail up Berembun

The next day we had plenty of time since we aren't goin to Irau. So we decided to do a "warm up" climb (I like to think of it as in soccer, friendly matches are played before the big game). Our "warm up" opponent this time is Gunung Berembun which stands at 1840m tall.

Taman Bunga Cameron Highlands

Gunung Berembun is located not too far away from the Taman Bunga (Flower Garden) of Cameron Highlands.

Being our very first hike up a mountain independently, it was quite daunting at first. The sounds of the gibbons yelling and screaming here and there totally freaked us out for a while (we had thoughts of hantu langsuir, pontianak (Malaysian ghouls) etc.....grandmother ghost stories started playing up in our minds). With the extra adrenalin flowing in our blood, we sped up and down the mountain in no time.

Take two- With censorship.

Take two- Without censorship.

That night itself, we had some more drama from Mr.Jeff. This time he is not even gonna take us up Irau and suggested Gunung Brinchang instead becoz he just made another arangement with a group of European tourist to bring them to Brinchang (how dare he?!...want to fong fei kei on me for a bunch of Mat Sallehs who booked hours ago when I've already booked months in advanced). I was so furious that I demanded back the deposit I paid him a few days earlier. My move suprised him and only then did he try to figure something out. Finally he came up with a truly Malaysian solution, which is to sub-contract this job to another guide, Mr.Madi.

Mr.Madi certainly is a more responsible guide than Mr.Jeff and he does the job out of his love for nature walks.

The next morning we rose early and met up with Mr.Madi at 7am sharp. Mr.Jeff who was supposed to drive us up to the Irau trailhead with his 4WD was yet to be seen. So we decided to give him a call. He picked the phone up and answered "Apa u mau lah, saya tengah tidur, mimpi best best, u jangan kacau saya awal-awal pagi....tet-tet-tet (phone hangs up)". All 4 of us took about 5 minutes of our precious time to curse Mr.Jeff to the max and only after that we tried to figure something out. Finally, Mr.Madi managed to borrow his wife's old proton saga car which she was supposed to use to run errands. So we raced uphill in that old car to the trailhead....we were already behind schedule by an hour (we have to make it back before 2pm so that we won't miss our bus back to KL).

Scene from Lord of the Rings, Mossy Forest.

The start of Irau's trail was through a very unique vegetation known as the "Mossy Forest". The trees were growing in weird forms and were all covered in lichen and moss. It certainly was like a scene out of the movie "Lord of the Rings". It was a challenge trekking through the mossy forest as the ground was very muddy and almost quicksand-like at some points. To add to the challenge, there are fallen branches here and there which posed as obstacles.

Notice the rugged and muddy trail through the mossy forest.

After we traversed the Mossy Forest, we reached the mountain proper. It was uphill all the way from here. The climb up was tough as the steps were quite large and at some points where there was no vegetation, one could look down into the open and see how far up one is...or how far down a fall will be. We first reached the false peak called anak Irau and we came across some campers overnighting there...depending on how you want to see it. Mr.Madi then told us, "This is it, congrats guys!".....We were bewildered...through my instincts, anak Irau didn't seem like it was the highest point of the mountain. I asked Madi again for confirmation if this is actually "The Peak". He responded in a lowly and unconfident voice "Well, actually the real peak is about 30 minutes-1 hour away, but since you guys are rushing to make it back in time, I advice against going for it coz I fear that time might not be on your side", upon hearing that I made up my mind and told Mr.Madi "We will make it happen!". With no time to waste, Ian, myself and Brian sped along the ridge connecting anak Irau and the Irau peak. It was a pitty that we had little time to spend on that ridge because it certainly has one of the most beautiful scenery of the Titiwangsa range. Ian and I arrived at the summit of Irau in 15 minutes while Brian and Mr.Madi followed up in 30 minutes. We took a few pics, celebrated for a while and started making our way back.

A magnificent view of the beautiful Titiwangsa range from the ridge linking anak Irau and Irau peak

It was already 11am and we had 3 more hours to get back to Tana Rata in time. We turned on turbo engine mode and bulldozed down the mountain and through the Mossy Forest in an hour. Even Madi was suprised that we were first timers, making it back and forth the mountain in 4 hours total. Apparently, there were a group of mountaineers who conquered Kilimanjaro in Africa but took 10 hours to finish Irau. I was thinking to myself "Those old bloated fools surely paid guides to carry them up Kilimanjaro - period".

Rejoicing at the summit of Irau

We even had some spare time to have a nice bath in Daniel's Travelers Lodge and eat some lunch at Mr.Madi's friend's mamak place. At 2pm sharp, we got on the Kurnia Bestari bus bound for KL. We were just so tired that we dozed off the entire journey still dreaming of the whole episode to Irau.....and that was how this mountain adventure of mine started.

View from the top of Irau

How It All Started- Humble Beginings

I've always had tremendous respect for mountains. Since I was young, I've always thought of the mountains as being a secluded place full of mystery, a place shut out from the rest of the world and a place where time stands still. I remember that when I was a kid, every time my dad drives pass the mountain region along the Karak expressway, I will always get excited and peek out of the car window to gaze with awe at those soaring peaks. My mum had always spoke of the mountains being a forbidden place; a place where men should not be. She has never failed to assert her point of the mountains being a dangerous and treacherous place. Even the old people told stories of spirits residing on the mountains to scare young children like me at that time from developing any sort of interest in the mountains. I clearly understood their concerns for the safety and well being of young kids but all of these "de-motivation" simply made my interest in the mountains grow even more!



I have always felt a sense of timelessness when I am on the mountains. I feel that I lose all sense of worldliness high above the clouds. No development, no rush, no crowd, no pollution, no worries to think about... When I am on the mountains, I feel peace in my heart . All my worldly worries of school, job, money, family, social life, love life and all other daily headaches disappear. There is only peace in my mind.

                          The idyllic Kerteh beach where I grew up on.


I spent most of my early childhood in the coastal region of Terengganu. My house sat by the beach overlooking the South China Sea and it was far away from any kind of mountains. I did enjoy my childhood by the beach. I often ran along the beach and play by the seashore. So then, one might wonder.....how on earth did I develop an interest for the soaring heights of the mountains? Well...it all lies in my deep respect for the mountains. I look upon them as places where one needs to earn the right to stand on. For me, anyone who stands on a mountain peak was someone who had achieved a feat, someone who is more than human. All the mountain climbing pioneers of the past century were my childhood heroes, which I look upon emulating someday. From Sir Edmund Hillary & Tenzing Norgay to Edward Whimper & Reinhold Messner, they were all my idols. Even up till today, my childhood dream of summiting Mount Everest still lives on.

Tenzing Norgay on the summit of Everest.

I have no mountain climbing experience to boast about when I was a kid. Any kind of request to hike up a mountain will be dismissed by my strict parents on safety grounds. The closest climbing/hiking adventure I did actually embark on when I was a kid were the weekend hikes up "Ah Yeh" hill (literally Grandfather hill) along with my younger brother. "Ah Yeh" hill (not more than 600m) is located in the Cheras vicinity of Kuala Lumpur. I lived at my grandfather's place when I was 8 years old and that hill in his backyard became my adventure playground. It was not surprising that my brother and I named that hill in honor of my grandfather who always encourages us in anything we do. I often climbed up rocky slopes and named certain parts of the hill with names used in real life mountains (Base Camp, South Col, Advance Base Camp, North Face etc...). As time progressed, I became more and more bold and I climbed higher and higher on "Ah Yeh" hill along with my younger bro who is also my adventure partner, Ian. However we never reached its summit, even until today. We promised not to conquer that hill as a mark of respect for it being our very first "mountain".

It wasn't until the year 2004, when I was 18, did I embark on my first real mountain climb and conquered my first mountain.....and this high altitude adventure of mine is set to continue as long as the love for the mountains still flows in my blood.