TELUK MUROH FALLS

This is one of my dream waterfall that I will be able to fulfill after Penang Falls, I began to get in touch with this waterfall during my first ever bicycle expedition from Parit using Bruas - Pantai Remis route until Lumut early 90's, where we camped in Teluk Batik after long hard day cycling using a modified bicycle. I still remember that back then the facilities in Teluk Batik still in the early stage of development and in order to get a freshwater supply we need to hike to the waterfall nearby the proposed Teluk Batik to Teluk Rubiah Road which initiated by our Late Sultan Idris Shah, but nothing is done until now but the dirt route used to survey the proposed road is still intact until now and it being used by jungle enthusiast to trek inside the Teluk Muroh Forest Reserve especially to go to isolated beach in between Teluk Batik and Teluk Rubiah known as Teluk Pengerang. I obtained the a fresh information on this waterfall from Meor Razak of Sahabat Alam Malaysia which also involved in OBS previously and few nice guy from Persatuan Aktivis Sahabat Alam that the waterfall still survive till today. Since the area being sold by Perak State Government to make way for the development of steel distribution hub built by Vale Corporation from Brazil and the compartment that has been sold is forbidden for public entry, the Teluk Muroh Forest Reserve become the fighting ground for local environmentalist in order to preserve the few remaining coastal rainforest in Perak, in principle I am totally not agree with the project which from my opinion it has crossed the boundary of environmental impact for the survival of Teluk Batik as the main tourist destination in the mainland Lumut and if the economic factor is the main justification for this project then I would say that this another fallout for the so called economist especially those who are advising the state government. Just for the information of all waterfall enthusiast out there, Teluk Muroh Falls is a few remaining surviving waterfall that close to the sea and this phenomenon only could be witnessed in Manjung District, where most of the waterfall located in Segari Melintang Forest Reserve. Maybe due to the constant voice out campaign such as Selamatkan Teluk Rubiah Vale Corporation had put an initiative to organize a Scientific Expedition to the Teluk Muroh Forest Reserve which under their boundary in order to justify scientifically the importance of the forest reserve with Malaysian Nature Society. I managed to get the only chance to visit this waterfall under the ticket of "Researcher", and I am grateful that Siti Aishah Nor, Manjung very own nature enthusiast agreed to become my "Research Assistant" that day, thanks so much. This is the story of my first ever scientific expedition and the day that qualify me the be a waterfall researcher... 

PENANG FALLS

Another trans boundary waterfall trip and this time to the land of 'nasi kandaq". Since the beginning of my craziness over waterfall this is one of my priority to be visited and suddenly two miracle man Eric Yeap and Herbert Wong both from Pertubuhan Pencinta Air Terjun Selangor had made my dream come true. Both guys are avid and hardcore waterfall hunters and environmentalist which also the wise brain behind the waterfall cleanup program initiate in several states after several cases of Leptospirosis reported in several touristic waterfall spot across Malaysia. This waterfall is worth a visit and I'm not regretting at all for woke up at 5 a.m. and driving 3 hours to Penang for day trip, since the beginning of this blog I emphasized the sharing of the location of the waterfalls that has been visited but I would make an acceptation for this one, this one is better to be left forbidden by the public since it becomes one of fresh water supply for the Island of Penang. Eric Yeap had preliminary obtained a permission from State Government Environment Exco Office to enter this location and for those who interested to visit this waterfall it will be opened once a year during World Water Day and you need to check the information with Perbadanan Bekalan Air Pulau Pinang or obtain a written permission for guided tour visit. This one is majestic, multi tiers waterfall and the main fall is 90 degrees vertical drop.

SUNGAI SINJU FALLS

First of all I would like to clarify that this is the "real" Lata Sinju not the one that located nearby the trunk road from Simpang Pulai to Cameron Highlands near OA village of Kampung Lalang. Second of all not many knows that Sungai Sinju is the same river that flows into so called "Lubuk Timah" falls, a large mademade waterfall near Simpang Pulai, so that is two facts that I want to share in this post. Semai village of Sinju lies at the bank of Sungai Sinju which consist not more than 20 houses, one of the closest OA village to Simpang Pulai and some of traditional ways of living had been gradually lost it bites and modernization seems begin to occupy some parts of their life. My initial effort to rediscover this waterfall is began with the help of my fellow photographer buddy Syed Hishamudin during our first ever photo trip where we also visit Sg. Lu Falls (mistakenly described as Sg. Juang Falls due to some misinterpretation by the durian farm owner who also possessed the land surrounding the fall) a tributary of Sungai Sinju which also accessible using Simpang Pulai - Cameron Highlands road. This among the friendliest Semai village that I've ever encountered, we have been guided for free by the Semai's village head son to the upper fall as the trail is a bit confusing where you need to cross OA farms. This trip also made possible by the help of my regular waterfall photography buddy Yarn the admin for Belajar HDR one of the HDR photographic group in facebook.

BUKIT TAKONG FALLS

Not far away from Batu Katak Falls in Kampung Laneh, Padang Rengas there is another unnamed stream that also a tributary of Sg. Laneh, the discovery of the fall is made during land excavation by one of the guy from this area. This is one of the unique waterfall profile that I've ever encountered so far in Perak and the good news is it's not far away from the village and located at the edge of the Southern Bintang Hijau Forest Reserve. It has been 2 months after the first sighting news has been popped out from Razaini my connection here and added with the rainy season this absolutely will make your hiking activities a nightmare due to slippery rock, the challenge is quite tough because you need to descend 70 - 80 degrees hill just by having your fate not to slide into the ravine holding to a few small tree that grows on the hill slope, rope would be a best solution for the next photo trip. But when we want to leave the main fall, Razaini try to recce the roaring sound of water downstream and we follow the dirt road until the end when we meet again the stream, the good news is that there is at least 3 more cascades downstream, we end up stop at the point where the stream is covered by the overgrowth.

BATU KATAK FALLS

Once again I was introduced to another hidden gem of Kg. Laneh, another secluded waterfall just bordering the jungle territories. At the first place we planned to visit Bukit Takong Falls which is another falls that located nearby but due to heavy rain we began the trip at 11 a.m. added with some scary stories of hunting dog being attacked by the tiger, so the trip is cancelled but Zaini my Kg. Laneh connection obtained a fresh info on another waterfall which flows into unnamed small streams a tributary of Sg. Laneh. The first ever experience climbing wet boulders about 30 meters height with 40 degrees steep, so we need to watch out for our step and to be alerted not being trapped in another flash flood incident. The name of the fall itself taken from the name of this part of Kg. Laneh where it only known only by the locals, here the report:

ULU PEROH FALLS

Unknown to many, beside famous waterfall in Ulu Chepor lies several waterfall cascading from Titiwangsa Range lies in Chemor, the exact location is Ulu Chemor, home to Malays and Orang Asal community living side by side. All the rivers within this area is a tributary of Sg. Pari accept for Sg. Kerdah which flow into Sg. Perlus and the area itself is a valley that two mountain range, Kledang Saiong and Titiwangsa stood side by side. I obtained the information and name of the river from Orang Asal that I met during my first visit and contrary to what has been told by few Malay guys that I met saying that the river itself is Sg. Chemor, Sg. Chemor itself flows from Orang Asal village of Sg. Baduk and Sg. Peroh is a tributary of Sg. Chemor. This revisit trip was accompanied by Yarn and during the first visit I was accompanied by my LAP connection, Shahbuddin. 5 tiers all together and you can climb up to the top without hassle as the rock surface is not too steep.

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. 

SUNGAI ANJING FALLS

Sungai Anjing had become a permanent water resource for Semai's village of Sg. Budak and for Che Moon family, I would like to dedicate this post to Che Moon, the story of him and the small water intake that naturally serve the purpose of giving back to the community that appreciate it. Sungai Anjing is a tributary of Sg. Gapis, can consider as "suak' due it size but upstream near the intake area lies the pristine waterfall, not huge but tall in size and to go to each tier you need to climb the waterfall itself. Abang Rosli, Cikgu Mat and Che Moon really helpful especially bring my tripod to the top tier. Lies within Titiwangsa Range and some moderate trekking required to reach this spot. 

SUNGAI GAPIS FALLS

Some general knowledge shared a bit... There is a secluded village located in some peaceful narrow valley called Kampung Sahom, this where 4 major races live together along side peacefully, Malays, Chinese, Indians and Orang Asal (Indigenous people) shared few common things here especially the lush rainforest of Bujang Melaka and Titiwangsa Mountain Range, I think this a few area in Peninsular Malaysia per square KM that we could found abundant of streams and river which some of it lies pristine waterfall that only knew by the locals. But now some of the area in the brink of being threaten to be wiped out permanently from this earth. This is due to logging and quarry activities where it caused a famous inland mud tsunamis in 1996 Pos Dipang tragedy and just this year area nearby Bertam Valley in Cameron Highland received the same fate. On the recent development, the state forestry office had approved new compartment for logging which part of it is a reservoir for Kampung Sahom located in Sg. Serokai Falls (or Lata Jemuk known by the locals), due to steep slope, the villagers afraid that the next Pos Dipang and Bertam Valley could happen here since the village lies in a very narrow valley and this location located in Northern Malaysia maybe it would received the same fate like Kampung Belum in Gerik, where it become flooded for massive dam construction. I began to mesmerized by this area with some highlight by Meor Razak from Sahabat Alam Malaysia on the campaign to halt the logging activities within the compartment of Sg. Serokai Falls because 80% of the villagers relying on the source of water from this intake and to prevent this area become the next victim like Pos Dipang. Apart from inspiring effort, the most important part is take the villagers formed a joint action committee for this campaign and now serious effort had been done by several NGO to push several agencies and state government in reversing the decision that had been made earlier, from my observation the action still in diplomacy stages and several community effort had been planned which one of it is Lata Jemuk Community Hiking scheduled on December 2013. Same goes for the plight of Penans in Burum, it also goes for all the Sahom population that share the common perspective which is forest is not just the profit of several group but a benefit to the whole community. I would like to thank Cikgu Mat, Abang Rosli, Che Moon who accompanied me during the 1st ever Kampung Sahum's waterfall trip and the "Orang Kampung Sahom" that welcome me warmly, here is the trip report of the waterfall (we visited Sg. Anjing Falls earlier and this waterfall is not expected which Sg. Anjing is a tributary for this river) that lies in Titiwangsa Range and we cancelled the trip to Lata Kura and Lata Kundur due to cloudy whether.

TROLAK TIMUR FALLS

On the next day after a visit to Bukit Belacan Falls in Gunung Besout we visit another waterfall which I visited with my friend Adi few months ago. Also a secluded waterfall that only known to the locals, I asked the villagers on the river name but they said don't know the exact name but they name is Sg. Trolak Timur, maybe one of the tributary of Sg. Trolak visibly seen when you pass small town of Trolak using Federal Road. This also the first time ever female joining my waterfall trip and two new kakis Yarn and Saiful. This waterfall is one of the easiest access, park on the road side and just walking 5 minutes there, but during our visit there is a heavy rain the night before so the water a bit murky but the spectacular of the waterfall is still prominent among all.

LATA PAPAN FALLS

Lata Papan is small cascades located just behind Kg. Lata Papan in Kuak, lenggong, not mistaken with so called "Papan Cascades" located in small town of Papan near Pusing. I've been visited this place few times and this place would be regard as safe place to bring your kids for real picnic to waterfall but please avoid wet season as the rock surface become slippery. Rarely visited by the outsiders, this secluded cascades just located behind the traditional Malay village and you doesn't need to trek far away deep in the forest to reach it. This area become known as one of the concentrated place to have countless waterfall either from Bintang Hijau or Titiwangsa and exit to Sg. Perak.

SUNGAI LANEH FALLS

This waterfall is unknown to outsiders, actually along Sg. Chempias there is her twin sister flow along side by separated about 1KM of land. This is the first time, I went with my "Kuala" connection which I could not attend the trip day before, so with help of Zaini, the local guy from Kg. Laneh itself, I managed to reach the secluded waterfall of Sg. Laneh. 3 Level of waterfalls. For the locals there is a name for each level, 1st level known as "Lata Pendek", 2nd level known as "Lata Panjang" and the upper level is known as "Lata Tak Berikan", today we managed to wrapped out 2 level only and need another more day to visit the upper level. During this trip also I managed to meet with two jungle experts (Mat Kelawar and Pak Tan) in Kg. Laneh whom possessed knowledge about the forest behind their village. So here is the report, sorry the photo a bit faulty due due to heavy light received by the lens, but you still can witness the beautiful of secluded Lata Panjang and Lata Pendek.

LATA KASIS FALLS

Another series of waterfall cascading from Kledang Saiong, this one is a bit easy you can reach it up to the based by common four wheel vehicle using tarred road that use by joggers to Kledang Hill, The size is not spectacular as Lata Kijang and can consider as baby fall for waterfall enthusiast, but if you want to give your kids about an experience visiting waterfall that still natural inside the rainforest this would be a perfect choice and maybe you can continue to the top of Kledang hill and witness the spectacular view of Ipoh and Mt. Peninjau from the hill, this waterfall just halfway to the top.

SUNGAI TAPAH FALLS

Another jewel of Ipoh located in the mountain range of Kledang Saiong, rediscovered on assistance of two determined jungle enthusiast who keen to endure any obstacles using their experience. I began to heard the story of this hidden waterfall from Rizal, a friend of mine whom lived in Manjoi, Perak on their childhood memories cycling through tin mines area of Jelapang to rocky streams nearby the hill, secondly I was enlighten by Shahbuddin, my LAP connection that during their maintenance work on one of water catchment area in Jelapang, there is a rocky streams that popular among the locals for their fresh dip and finally I met Halim whom also from this area confirming that there is a small cascades nearby the catchment area. I, Halim and Junaidi determined to unveil this hidden waterfall few days ago and we started early morning to avoid monsoon rain in the hilly area which we afraid could jeopardize our safety especially the forest around the catchment area would not be approved for the logging activities, hence when the canopy is thick it would preserve a high volume of water and we afraid that sudden flash flood would endanger us. During this trip I would say it quite tricky because we need to wait for the rain to subside in order to get clear photo but there is a time when we are not even able to cover the camera from raindrops and there is a lot of stamping clone used to eliminate the unwanted white marks and sorry if the photo looks funny because I'm still in the entry level of photoshop and during this trip, I'm fully utilized the lesson gained on HDR during the Teluk Mengkudu Falls' HDR Legion photo expedition. This waterfall is just a few minutes drive from Ipoh and the profile is near vertical with the most fascinating part it's a Y type of waterfall where the river is fed by two waterfalls in Y position, one is roaring and another one is a bit calm.

KOLAM AIR KATAK FALLS

In this trip report, it would be different with other waterfalls that has been highlighted here. This time we managed to track down baby fall that popular among the Pantai Remis picnic-goers few years back. On the first recce trip I was accompanied by Asmidi and few helpful Pantai Remis kids that had visited this waterfall 2 years back but no photos has been shot since it almost reached 7 pm and the area is covered with lush canopy. I never expect that there is a waterfall just close by to Segari - Pantai Remis Road and the different from those we discovered so far in Segari Melintang Forest Reserve, all waterfall facing towards the sea which is on the west side, but this time we found waterfall that flows to the east. I think by this findings it's proven that long time ago before the Manjung District still covered by the lush green area, the series of small streams that flows from the hill range surrounding Sungai Dinding indeed the major contributor to the tributary such as Sungai Derhaka, Sungai Segari, Sungai Harding, Sungai Nyior Sebatang and many more, but nowadays this series of small streams had been converted to plantation drainage system which covered by all kinds of residue, similar to Kolam Air Katak Falls where the water flows to the roadside drainage systems that flows into polluted Sungai Batu. Maybe for those fan of high volume of water would not be entertained by this report since in the waterfall photography, high volume of water could lead to the dynamic and dramatic results, this waterfall could be regarded as "urinal discharge" as my friend called it, not much water found here but according the kids two years ago there is plenty of water and for the locals this area become a popular spot for fresh dip activities. I dedicated this report (my second trip here) to all the Pantai Remis folks for all your nostalgic and memorable moment on this waterfall.

ULU KUANG FALLS

I've heard about this waterfall for quite some times from few of my MTB friends and few trackers who managed to cross to Ulu Kuang from Bukit Lagong. But due lack of trail information especially when info in the internet consisting only few confusing photo and incomplete travel blog written by few, it took us nearly 2 hours to ask people on the waterfall whereabouts. Luckily we met few nice people around Kuang that leads us to the lower level of Ulu Kuang Falls that just lies behind Orang Asal settlement of Ulu Kuang. I managed to conclude two motives during this trip, exploration and photography class officially conducted by two of my buddies which i can consider a professional photographer, check out their facebook pages, Azmi Zulkafli's Ilsya Hijab and Muzairi Mustapa's Mediateamworks Studio.

SUNGAI ATI FALLS

This is the first time ever we encountered waterfall that lies just below TNB transmission grid line, what a coincidence. Sungai Ati is a small river a tributary of Sungai Papan that flows into Sungai Kangsar (berapa banyak sungai da...) located just nearby Gunung Pondok, the landmark of so called development in Padang Rengas, but now they got newly built railway station, perhaps it will be faded away from history soon. This is one of southernmost waterfall that could be found in Bintang Hijau Range, we never check the Air Kuning part yet, maybe there is few there since the old abandon logging bridge found is directly to Air Kuning, a village nearby Changkat Jering. We managed to track this waterfall from the help of wise guy named "Man Beruk" whom we met while collecting coconut in former site of Kampung Sendayan which now being bought by YTL for mining purposes and this is the first time ever we trek along the transmission line which full with thickets and overgrowth, some clearing work also being done seriously here but at the end we have been rewarded with a small cascades, untouched and according to 'Man Beruk" the pool within the cascades become a place for Mr. Cat to have their evening tea time..... but god forbids.

BUKIT CHA FALLS

This waterfall is visibly seen from Padang Rengas Town or PLUS Highway towards Taiping, we decided to recce the waterfall after finding the suitable vehicle in conquering the series of hills at the nothernmost part in Bubu Range surrounding the waterfall. Bukit Cha Falls contributes the flow of Sungai Catot a tributary of Sungai Kangsar, but this is the only waterfall so far we could not get to the base, this due to the fallen tree remnant that covered the edge of the waterfall for the palm oil replanting process. To trek under the dense thickets is not advisable, you don't know what's crawling on top of you. But Bukit Cha Falls still beautiful from far away, the closest we can get is around 100 meter from the waterfall and maybe there is an effort by the plantation owner to clear all the deadwood and thickets so the waterfall itself will be well alive. Funny thing the workers at the plantation told us that we like a forestry officer and they not allowed us to take any photograph at the plantation site office, why?

SUNGAI KUNCHA FALLS

This is our first time venturing into Titiwangsa Range and we decided to unveil the secret that lies in the area of Sungai Siput and surrounding. We manage to gather information from locals and few avid hunters in order to track this vertical waterfall near Terkok PLKN camp. When you drive from Sungai Siput towards Lintang using Pulau Kemiri route, you will cross a small bridge located 1 KM from Lintang, the river is Sungai Kuncha the tributary of Sungai Pelus that flows into Sungai Perak near Karai. For most of the locals the downstream area is known as Lata Durian or Lata Puteri, nice and pleasant picnic area situated along the road towards Terkok PLKN camp. We managed to reach the waterfall by trekking 2 hours inside the dense forest that I would confess full of biodiversity in term of flora and fauna, like what Asmidi told me when we entering the jungle he said "Semuanya Ada", from Elephant dung that scattered along the logging trail, Reflessia bud, sound of primates and not forgotten some trace of cat species left its mark on the trees, guide are highly recommended as there is no visible trail from the abandon logging trail to the waterfall where you required to trek along the river and this area is rarely entered accept for locals Orang Asal and avid tengas anglers.

BUKIT BELACAN FALLS

I decided to update my recent trip to Gunung Besout and synchronized the old report which done few months ago, during my first trip I was accompanied by Adi and assisted by Fuad and his friend who show us the exact way to Bukit Belacan Falls. On my recent trip I was only accompanied by Yarn now living in Gunung Besout. Now I knew that the land that has been cleared belongs to Majlis Adat Istiadat dan Agama Negeri Perak, now the started the planting phase and the whole river from the waterfall covered with mud and residue contrary to our first visit where the river still alive and flowing. Like my first trip, this trip also requires long walk under scorching sun, 30 minutes walk without any living trees beside you plus a devastating view of deforested area.