Sometimes I and my family would just drive around to enjoy this majestic views to run away from our hectic life in Penang. We would drive to some of the farm houses to drink some fresh coconut water and eat some fresh durians.
One day, we made a trip to "Candi Borubudur". We always read about how Hindu influence came to Malaysia many years back and their remainings here. We could only see the partial builds but it is an interesting site to understand the ancient culture. We could also see the fort where they could monitor the ships from the high areas here. They said that in the 16th centuries the sea was much closer. The locals build the fort to monitor the enemy arrivals and to protect the city.
When we were resting at the Candi, we noticed a group of hikers. They said that they were about to hike to Mount Jerai. They hired a few tour guide to guide them through the trail. It sounds interesting, but we were not prepared to join them. Then they told us that we could drive to Mount Jerai and take the easier path of walking through the road trail. We told them, we would check it out another day.
I love to hike. I used to hike every week to "Tok Kun" in Bukit Mertajam. We even plan to go to Mount Kinabalu. Jerai seems to be a great option. One day, I and my children packed some snacks and left to Mount Jerai at around 5 am. We arrived at the base around 6am. We joined a group of UITM students and we started climbing. We took the road trail. It was 13 kilometers hike that took us around 3 hours. The trail was far but not so steep. On the way, we saw many cars and vans going up the trail. We even joined a number of bicycle groups. It was an interesting trip.
We saw some "kampung houses" along the trail. We saw abandoned mushroom farm. We stopped at few occasions to rest and catch our breath. Until we reach the Jerai Hill Resort. Since we were too tired to hike back, we stayed one night in the hotel. It was cool at the peak. Especially, during the night the temperature was around 20 degrees Celcius. We also noticed the hotel room was only fitted with fan and it was already chill in the morning. It was quiet and peaceful. The view from the top of the paddy fields and "Pulau Dayang Bunting" was magneficent.
In the morning, we hired some tour guide from the hotel to bring us around the peak. The guide brought us on the jungle trail. There were sites where the wild boar have digged earlier at night. He said, it is dangerous if we site a wild boar by surprise. They might attack us especially if they were protecting their young. We saw an ancient Muslim prayer place which we respected and took out our shoes. We saw a place that is made of rock but looked exactly like a ship. The guide said, it is believed that Mount Jerai was under the sea many centuries back and became the peak because of earth movements. The tour guide also showed us, the sand in some of the places here are beach sand.
He showed us some of the trees where the gum from the trees are used to make oilments. Some leaves in the jungle that are used traditionally to heal wounds. And one of the famous tree that grows a lot there are named as "Pokok Cina Maki". When I asked, any reason why it is named such. He said he doesn't know but he is careful when he said it around Chinese friends as he does not want to offend anyone. This tree is really nice looking.
Sharing some of our photos that we capture at the peak.
Finally, the tour guide brought us to the waterfall. Since, the waterfall is quite deep in the jungle, it is undisturbed. The water is so clean and chill. We could see tiny fishes swimming happily in the water. We wet overselves and tried not to disturb the environment much.
If you'll plan for a trip on the northern side of Malaysia. Please come to this magnificent spot. It is a great place to catch up with the environment and family time. Until we meet again is another adventure.........
