Gunung Chabang : Part 2 - Banjaran Titiwangsa Within Sight

14042013 - My alarm rang at 5.30am but I was already awake because I was wet and it was cold. It was still raining. I did not leave my fly sheet until it was 6.30am, where thankfully, the rain has stopped. It was still drizzling though. There were no signs of the sun rising. I read that one can see the view of Banjaran Titiwangsa (Titiwangsa Range of Mountains) from Gunung Chabang. Since it rained, I am very sure there is no mist to cover the view.

The view at 7.05am, and the below is the group of us that woke up to see the sunrise. There were 3 friends that were caught in the rain. They were shivering so badly. They smoked through the night to keep themselves warm.

The view of Titiwangsa Range of Mountains is getting closer to view, as darkness made way for light.

Banjaran Titiwangsa at full view at 7.15am. I was still waiting for my sun rise. But unfortunately, it was cloudy, and I could see the sunrays behind some clouds.

At 7.45am, dark clouds were seen looming next to the white clouds over the mountains.

Satisfied with the photo session, we headed back to our camping site to have breakfast. The guide was preparing kebab! It was delicious! Awesome combination of beef, chili sauce, mayonnaise, tomato, cabbage, cucumber and flattened bread.

After breakfast, it was time to dress up to go to the peak of Gunung Chabang. The peak is at the same height as the camping ground but there is an additional 40 minute walk, which the guide told us 15 minutes. Talk about mental encouragement! Yeah, that helps!

Here we are, all ready to go to the peak. Along the way, I miscalculated my steps and walked into mud. There were 2 occasions where one of my shoes got suck into the mud, and my foot came out without the shoes. Reminded me of my hike to Gunung Irau.

 

 

Ta-da, the peak of Gunung Chabang at 1,711 metres after 40 minutes! Since we were told it was 15 minutes, we did not thought of bringing any water. Suddenly, one guy brought out a bottle of water! Thank goodness! He knew it was not a 15-minute walk!

Nearby was another camping site. It was gorgeous.

We hurried back as it was almost noon. We reached back by 11.50am, and hurriedly packed our stuff.

The last view of the mountains before my camera gave up on me and jammed up. I think the camera was getting too cold. So, the next photos do not belong to me. I took them from my friends'.

 

We had our lunch at the 1st waterpoint. The guide cooked fried chicken. For drinks, he prepared lemon tea with lychee. I reached the 1st waterpoint at about 3pm. As I trekked down, I could feel the throbbing of my big toes. I knew that was the end of my toenails.

After lunch break for about 15 minutes, I continued my walk. It was a terribly painful walk. I said  a silent goodbye to my toenails who are nearing their lifespan. We stopped at the river to wash for a bit.

At 6.15pm, I officially reached the place where we first started our walk. I was back to civilization after 32 hours, with bruised knees (I fell down twice on a fallen tree!), with poked skins (I pricked myself with thorns and I had bleeding holes on my arms), with dying toenails (as I write this, my left big toenail is opening up as the skin underneath the nail swelled up), and most importantly, with one of the most amazing mountainous view imprinted in my mind.