Gunung Datuk

Mountain Intro:Gunung Datuk is a mountain which is located at Rembau,Negeri Sembilan

                          at 870m above sea level.It is one of the lowest mountain located around the vicinity                           It offers a distinct 360 degree view from the summit.The summit itself is a giant  

                          The infamous Hang Tuah footprint is located on one of the boulder on the summit.

Date of Expedition: 9th to 11 December 2011

Crew:Khai,Joe Five and Roslan

Well...of we go to embark on another journey to the wilderness to have some peace of mind from the hustle bustle city life.This time the mountain we set upon is Gunung Datuk.We all are very excited for this trip as we have taken quiet a long break away from trekking.Stuff and ration all packed awaiting for the time to come to set upon our journey.

Meet up place is as per normal,right after finishing work we drove to Skudai to meet up with Roslan.Transferred all our bags to his Naza Ria,get some last minute items and we are ready to go...

We move off from Roslan house somewhere around 10pm on a Friday Night...The place wasn't that far as it took us only 3 hrs plus to reach our destination..At around 2am we reach the foot of the mountain.As all of us are tired after a day of work,we decided not to hike straight away...We met with the Ranger and make payment for the entry permit...Soon after,we walk down to the mini waterfall and rest at a Hut for the night...

Sleeping time...

Trying to get some sleep....

We woke up at around 6am in the morning as some of us have difficulty sleeping due to mosquito buzzing around sucking on our blood for free...Wash up here and there prepare our stuff and we are all set and raring to go...We walk down the waterfall and cross over a small bridge to get to the trekking trail....

                                                         

The Crossing...

The start of the trek was rather steep,about 70 degrees climb...with our heavy backpack full with ration we trek up the trail slow and steady,we met a few groups along the way and have a chit chat with them...



Trek is clearly visible...



Starting to get steeper..

A water source..

After this its steep all the way..



Posing for a pic...





After around 1 hours of accending the trek..We are greeted with a restpoint,known by the locals as Pondok Wakaf.Fatigue started to sets in as we rest for 15 min...As our Tanker are carrying heavy loads we decided to rest a few more minutes as we have the whole day to climb..So means we are in no rush...A few groups of trekkers arrive at the resting point and we began chit chatting while munching our cheap energy bar in the form of CHOKI CHOKI!!!

After spending around half an hour chit chatting with other groups,our muscle started too feel the strain due to too much rest...We set upon the summit as our motivation,saying hi and bye to passing groups along the way...The trail was not so steep as the start of the track but we still move slow due to the heavy backpack...Especially our tanker,carrying around 20kg of load....After another 2 hours of walk,we finally saw a huge boulder....That's the sign that the summit is nearing...15 min from the boulder we finally set our foot on the summit....Our tanker pull off a huge smile after 2hours of swearing finally pays.....Well Done Roslan!!!

 There was quiet a number of people on the summit,so climbing to the top of the boulder need to wait..We sat down watching people come and go..Chit chatting along the..And guess what,we even met 'Naharul' at the summit.....lol!!While waiting for all the people to go,we cook our lunch...Menu of the day is Spaghetti with Hotdog...Yummy!!!

Spaghetti with hotdog...The taste is priceless if you having it on top of a mountain...

 After having our lunch,the crowd started to dispersed,awaiting our time to climb the mighty boulder...Climbing the ladders wasn't so tough but it's quite challenging due to the narrow rocks..
But we manage to get through it easily..The view from the top of the boulder was one that you will never forget...360 panoramic view of the surrounding...Atop of the boulder set a legendary footprint,which belong to Hang Tuah..Urban legend has it that Hang Tuah set on top of this mountain while on his way to find Puteri Gunung Ledang...He use Gunung Datuk as a pitstop for his journey...
The wind on top is very strong...Lucky for us Fai doesn't get blown off the mountain by the wind...

 After enjoying our summit view,we make our way down to have some rest..Me n Fai venture inside the cave to see if there is any lost treasure....In the end no treasure was found...but we found out that was where people use as a toilet....zzzzz...

Precious from Lord of the Ring....

We took a power nap for about half and hour before we go source for some woods to make a campfire at night...We really need it...Luckily we did as the night temperature was Super Cold...
Another group of trekkers arrive,they were goin to camp for a night too...After a few chit chatting we became friends...We became Tent neighbours..A very nice,friendly and humble bunch....Hi Ustazah,Acha,Ninja Syuk and Ja....LOL!!!Hope to see you guys again somewhere or somehow...We sat together telling each other stories before enjoying our dessert....Mashmellow!!!
Night was fast coming so we quickly went up the boulder to capture the sunset....

The sunset was breathtaking...The view is absolutely priceless...But dark sky looms behind us...Thunderstorm is coming....So we miss shooting the Eclipse of the moon...The Storm is coming and its coming FAST....!!

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 After the sun have set....darkness looms...this is where all hell break loose,if i were to tell you the whole story it would take 1 month for me to finish this blog...Let me sumarize everything for you...
Soon after the rain started to drizzle,a so called 'hurricane' hit us....And it hit us the whole night,one of the park ranger climb all the way up to tell campers that this storm is expected to get very bad,so if its get really bad we need to pack up and go...A group of youth campers got possesed and started to get hysteria...shouting for almost 2 hours before our very own Ustazah Pilihan manage to control the situation...Nice one Riff...I didn't manage to get any picture as my camera die on me...Roslan a.k.a Tanker got stung by a centipede but luckily the centipede is a drunken one as he miss his sting before getting crush by our Tanker...Soon after a group of trekkers arrive and when straight to the cave,i dunno what the hell are they doin but prayers can be heard from our camp..I think they wanna get 4D number to struck it reach...HAHAHAHA!!!The storm started to get worst and our camp fire all burn up,so we have no choice but to sleep...expecting the morning to be a better one...woke up at 6.30 am but hell yeah the storm with the strong wind is still there....Our next door neighbour tent got blown off...Our tent break into two..and roslan tent was like a piece of scrap paper just waiting for time for it to get blown off...But we manage to go through the night save and sound...But the story is yet to end...While decending down,me n Fai pick up a very fast pace leaving our Russian Tank all on his own at the back,but as the trek is straight forward and there is still our campmate behind..we think he can make it....but we think wrong...After 1 hour of decending we reach the foot of the mountain,we wash up,have our breakfast at the nearby stall,buy some new shirt but yet there is no Roslan to be seen...Our campmate Ninja arrive and say she never saw him along the trek...after all of their group arrive all say they never come across our Russian Tank....Panic attack hit me and Fai,we put on our shoes and start accending again for the second time...shouting along the way...halfway along the trek we hear his faint voice...Thank God...but we need to go off trek to rescue him as he has injured his ankle...He follow a wild boar trek instead of the normal trek...and fell like a rolling log for 3 metre into the ditch...Alot of thing he saw when he got lost but i'm not gonna go into detail...Oklah im tired of typing,hope to have more adventure on our next trip....For the UITM guys...K.I.T.A....will update you guys on the Stong trip...Btw,enjoy the video below....Cya