Gunung Liang for the first timers is NOT RECOMMENDED. If you haven’t done hiking for sometimes, better choose more easy hikes like Gunung Datuk, or Bukit Kutu. This can be both dangerous and discouraging.
Background
During Chinese new year, Malaysian get to enjoy two days of public holiday. This is when many people get behind the wheel and start driving around the country. What we did was going for a hike that cannot be done on a short weekend. So we decided to try Gunung Liang. None of us has ever been there. Unlike other hikes, there were absolutely no other hikers/cars at the start point.
The Trail
The trail is sometimes hard to find and full of Freighthoppings. Hike begins at side of a close gate. We were not able to find the start point without a help of a man who was camping at the nearby river. He showed us some small steps at the side of a tree at the right side of the gate. We wen’t off the track at first but slowly got a hang of it. There are some red stripe plastic pieces tied around the trees along the trail. It is easy to locate them if you are on the right path. There is one river crossing that we spent sometimes locating the right way. The rule of thumb is: if the path ends up to a river, tail of it is right across.
If you are going to hike there in peace, you need to be prepared for leeches. These unforgiving bastards are everywhere :). Specially the first two Kilometer of the trail. It’s recommended to wear long pans and check for these intruders every now and then. There are other means to avoid them using salt, leech socks etc but be prepared.
What’s Good about it?
Well I would say it is adventurous. The place is kind of virgin. You get the true sense of what it is to be in a real rain forest. Variate of insects and kind of wild atmosphere.
The river is also good. Water is so fresh and there are perfect spots to dip-in if you like and I recommend it. However, look out for the leeches. They live in water as well and you better don’t step into the sandy parts of the river.
Last and most important of all is the summit. Oh it’s lovely. When we got there, there was a magical mist around the soaring trees that replicate a scene from the Lord Of the Ring. To the point we started to think how would it be to hike with some Org folks :D.
Is it good for camping?
There are couple of camping sites along the way but the best is at the summit. If you wanna camp at the side of the slim river, be prepared for irritating bees. If we factor out the bees and leeches and other creatures around there,himmmm, it is still not good for camping 🙂 . However, the summit makes a good camping location if it is not already occupied (capacity is 2 to 3 tents). The weather is really good up there and it gets cold in certain points. There are fire places as well from previous camps.
Hike Statistics
Tags: GunungLiang, Hiking, HikingMalaysia, life style