“

You are the Lambak queen, young and sweet, only seventeen...” Paraphrasing lyrics from Abba’s Dancing Queen.

When I roped in Maria to co-organise the Gunung Belumut trek, she wanted to learn as much as possible so that she can start organising her own treks for her church youths and friends. So I was really glad when she invited me on this trek to the 500m Gunung Lambak. Nothing pleases a ‘teacher’ more than seeing his student shine with confidence and initiative.

This trek proved to be an eye-opener for me as it was done on a bare essentials format using only public transport. The trekkers met at Woodlands Interchange at 8:30AM. Who were the trekkers? The usual suspects, namely Ai Yun, Kai Ler, Maria, Nora, Fir (Nora’s younger brother), and myself. Janice was supposed to come too but she was down with a bout of influenza. I managed to shake off my flu bug on Saturday after a dinner of hot steamboat. More importantly, it is Maria’s first trek and I must give her all my support! :P

After going through the checkpoints, we took a bus to Larkin. Now this is a favourite connecting point for travel all over Peninsular Malaysia. We bought RM7.50 one-way tickets to Kluang Town and it was a comfortable 2-hour ride. Upon reaching Kluang Town, we proceeded to this quaint restaurant for our lunch first. They served really good food at reasonable prices. Most dishes are only RM3.00 only. It’s called Gemini II Restaurant.

Gunung Lambak is only 15 minutes away via a feeder bus service. However, the trick is to get the right feeder bus. This proved to be a challenge and since we were in Bat Town, we met this ‘Joker’ of an uncle who convinced us that his bus does go near the location. We paid RM0.80 each and we were dropped 1.2km away. :D The correct bus would have dropped us at most 300m from the foot of the mountain. We bantered on the bus and we were so eager to trek up any mountain, even if it was Gunung Salah!

Once we reached the foot of the nearly-mountain, Ai Yun, Kai Ler, and Maria proceeded to buy Kampung Adidas from this rather jovial auntie. We visited this auntie again after we came down, to buy drinks and fruits from her. Trekkers, give her your support when you visit Gunung Lambak okay? We should always strive to support the local economy and the local ecology! (Like by nursing a leech.)

We started our climb at around 2:30PM and we reached the summit just before 4:00PM. Gunung Lambak looks deceptively hard. This is especially true when you look up and see a near vertical climb. Fortunately, there are plenty of footholds, ropes, and exposed tree roots. So by utilising the 4WD method, it did not faze any of us. But a word of caution, the whole 500m climb is quite steep with little gentle slopes! The whole distance trekked would be 1100m if the indicators are correct. Only the initial 200m and final 100m to the summit were gentle.

The view on the summit was splendid. As it was a sunny day, it was neither misty nor cloudy. We had a good view of the surrounding town. Compared to Gunung Panti or Gunung Belumut, the view is much less obscured. It is always great to summit. The feeling is always joyful. Sigh. Looking down at the small features, all your troubles seem to go away. Everything seems minuscule. Trekking is cool. And it would be even more kewl if I were to ever find a great grrrl who enjoys trekking with me! (”p)

“

I’ll love you more with every breath. Truly madly deeply do. I want to stand with you on a mountain. I want to bathe with you in the sea. I want to live like this forever. Until the sky falls down over me.” Savage Garden’s Truly Madly Deeply.

We rested for about 30 minutes before making our way down the same way we came up. Now Gunung Lambak is a geographical saddle. There’re two peaks. I believe that you can go down via the other peak. We should try that way the next time. Okay, so much for digressing. Going down was much swifter as we only took 45 minutes. For myself, the highlight of the trek presented itself when we were near the foot. I managed to capture a juvenile snake on my camera. It was all poised to strike at something in the bushes!

Upon reaching the foot at around 6:00PM, we rushed to the alternate location to catch a feeder bus back to Kluang Town. We were really lucky to catch it. This is a hourly service and if we missed it, we would have had to wait.

But fate makes sport of mice and men. At Kluang Town, we found out that all the buses back to Larkin were fully booked all the way till 8:30PM! As it was a Sunday, people were trying to make their way back. Next time, when we trek on a busy day, we must remember to gauge our timing and buy tickets in advance. See? Even for an avid trekker like myself, I learned something new and relevant. Open your minds. Take the red pill trekker!

As we had nearly 2 hours to kill, we went for dinner first. Back to the same cafe we went for lunch. But we ordered different dishes. They serve really great food. And the famished I ate all my rice! After eating our fill, we roamed the area and Ai Yun bought a small knapsack for RM12.00. I chatted with Maria most of the time as we milled about. We had plenty to catch up on after her long trip to Shanghai. I am truly fortunate to know this veritable little sister who continues to open my eyes to so many things. I may be a ripe 32 years of age but in terms of life’s experiences, I suspect I am more like 23. Whahaha! :D

Yeah. Back to the trek. We finally got on the bus home at 8:15PM. By the time we made it across and caught separate cabs, it was nearly 11:30PM. For someone who did not get a wink of sleep the previous night, I throughly enjoyed myself. The company was great and the trek was superb. The company really makes all the difference. That’s why I am returning to Gunung Ledang on 13th - 15th January 2006. It’s all because of the company!