Wednesday 20 November 2013

LATA MANONG FALLS

I'm still confuse either the river name is Sg. Manong or Sg. Bekor since there is no indication that there is an existing of tributary along the river, second of all why the river named as Sg. Manong since Manong town located across the Sg. Perak but according to Ngah, the Semai elders that we met during our first visit told us there is more than ten streams that become a tributary of Sg. Bekor, so skip the river name part, just follow what the Orang Asal call it since they have been long mingled with the waterfall before us. I've mentioned before that there is another high fall within this area according to Ngah, but when we look on the map might be the fall that has been described by Ngah is an upper fall of Sg. Johan that flow to Papan which located parallel with Ulu Bekor, but I'll talk some other Ulu Bekor village folks for more exact information. This is the second time I visited the fall after a friend of mine Anazil told me the quantity of water had been decreased and the major suspect is logging activity that so close to the body of water and threaten the existence of the river. So once again we have endure a light medium journey to Ulu Bekor, across the peaceful village of Semai Community later on entering palm oil plantation owned by some Dato' and climbing a hill using Junaidi EX5, due to wet season we were extra careful especially handing cup modified cross vehicle. 


This spectacular view of Bubu Range taken from Tg. Belanja - Senggang road on the route to Ulu Bekor, if there is a clear whether you could see this majestic panoramic and for me the best experience is descending the hill by overlooking the mountain range. 

When you pass Kg. Mandah, you will cross a small river called Sg. Bekor which flow into Sg. Perak.

The entrance to Kg. Ulu Bekor, the first junction passed the bridge, the signboard is small you might unaware of it, but there is a motorcycle workshop near the entrance.

Pleasant ride into rubber plantation territories, this road will be tarred once in 5 years. 

The community center for Kg. Ulu Bekor, their living condition is at par with those "Orang Baroh" called by the Semai, "Orang Baroh" is a Malay community that living nearby them. But even though Semai and Temiar living in the same Mountain Range, the language and custom are totally different with each other.






At the edge of the village there is a palm oil plantation, good dirt road and if during dry season common four wheel vehicle also can enter this area, for those first timer, please ask for the direction, it is afraid that you will be lost in the spider web plantation road. 

Before reaching "French Mine", there is a hill trail to opposite site of plantation terrace, if you have motorcycle you can climb it, but walking with minor hiking is required for those who not possessed 4WD vehicle. 

The so called Lombong Peranchis or French Mine in English, it said that the mine produced iron ore for French mining company and if in the theoretical side perhaps the first westerners to reach waterfall was French, but don't worry I won't name it as French Falls.

Panoramic view of Kledang Saiong Mountain Range from the the another side precisely from the side of Sg. Perak.

Trail head to the waterfall, a old abandon logging road, just follow the river then you will reach the waterfall safely. 

This is the river I mentioned about. 

Short first tier of Lata Manong Falls.

Second rock sliding tier, you can clearly see the main fall at the background.

The main fall of Lata Manong, this time the quantity of water really decreased, hope Lata Monong will survive in few more decade or hopefully forever. At the left side, the sleepy twin, only flow during high wet season or she has been gone forever?



The photo of the twin during her wake up days.


The moment of truth...... 

Downstream of Sg. Bekor or Sg. Manong, you can see clearly that this river still become a source of livelihood for the Semai community, lets hope that the sustainable and survivability will be preserved for the future generation.  

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