Johor mountains Archives - Sengkang Babies

Johor Waterfalls Pelepah hiking with family

Pelepah Waterfalls is one of the cool Johor waterfalls. Situated in Kota Tinggi, I had visited Pelepah Waterfalls in Sep 2018, read the fun review here.

Our hiking Fun is in this video (YouTube) 🙂

We make a slight detour to Kiang Kee Bak Ku Teh 强记肉骨茶 (GPS 1.827193, 103.958769).

A=Kiang Kee, B=Pelepah Waterfalls trailhead

This is a popular pitstop for those heading North East to Mersing. And Kiang Kee is now officially our best Bak Ku Teh in Johor (replacing Hwa Mei 华美肉骨茶 )

Must top up our energy before exercise, many families were here early to enjoy the herbal goodness too.

Yummy! Our table dishes came up to 80 ringgit only.

After a 30 km drive, Pelepah Waterfalls trailhead is just in front of Kota Tinggi Waterfalls entrance. The carpark is just 20m ahead, a side entrance on the right (no need fees).

After parking the car, we backtrack and went under the bridge.

Kids were a bit hesitant about getting their shoes wet so early, but there is no ESCAPE haha.

You will only walk 30m before turning left and climb up to the gravel road.

10 minutes from the bridge, you should see this pond on your Left (below photo).

Alas, the trail markers (aka ribbons) have all been removed! Otherwise, hikers could just follow the red/white ribbon to the waterfalls.

We would not recommend first timers to explore this trail yourself, you could accidentally end up at Gunung Panti (Our 2016 blog, many steep climbs)!

No permit or guide is officially needed for Pelepah Waterfalls trekking.
You should go with someone who knows the way, or follow a Meetup group.

We had a friendly guide dog. But do not pet the wild dogs as we noticed its eye was infected.

5 minutes from the Pond, you will cross this stream.

10 minutes from the stream, you will hit a Y-junction. Turn right and walk up a small slope.

We only had two day bags. Do pack whistle, head torch, first aid pouch, water (we had 2 x 1.5l) and snacks.

Turn left over the small gap, and turn left to go down the slope.

You will see this “bridge” after about 10 minutes.

Remember the Y-Junction earlier, we took the wrong left-turn and nearly hike up to Panti! (Do not follow the yellow tags and signboard unless you are going to Gunung Panti )

Yellow is pointing towards Gunung Panti, not Pelepah Waterfalls!

Back to our trail, my first pair of Kampong Adidas. I should have worn a pair of socks, my toes felt uncomfortable when walking downhill (lesser grip). Flat road and uphill no problems.

Once you see this pond, the way ahead is straightforward. And Beautiful!

Just be careful with your steps. Rocks (green algae) can be slippery, you should “tap twice” to make sure the surface is not slippery.

Make sure the water is clear (not murky) before you step down, you could accidentally slip and twist your ankle.

Be vigilant, go slow and everyone should be safe.

The rock wall is the first Major obstacle. Grip the ropes and slowly pull yourselves up. The stronger one can station half way and give a supporting hand.

This would not be a challenge for the kids, but Mommy need some reassurance. The climb looks intimidating but can be overcome.

On the other hand, I keep reminding kids to grip tight. One slip and you can land badly.

After 5 minutes, you will see this mini waterfall. Take a short break here and dip in the cool water.

There are ropes to mark the “deeper pool” areas.

Picture below (left side with ropes), this is the 2nd rock face.

Go slow, step properly, get a firm footing and you should be ok.

This rock faces is tough for Mommy as she never participates in a lot of outdoor activities. But it is super easy for those who have attempted Gunung hiking before.

5 minutes from the 2nd rock wall, a corridor of cool water awaits.

REFRESHING! Water can be up to 1 metre at some sections.

Climb up this ladder at the end of the 80m corridor.

Another waterfall awaits. This is the 2nd waterfall and we had our “lunch” here. Kids had fun trying to trap the fishes too.

The fallen logs demonstrated the power of nature. The trunks might have fallen during a thunderstorm.

If there was a heavy rain beforehand, you might want to avoid Pelepah Waterfalls (or other Johor Waterfalls hike). Water might suddenly gushed down.

There is actually a third layered waterfall, but we decided two waterfalls for the day is enough. The Mrs had struggled after two rock faces hee hee.

We had taken 2 hours to reach the 2nd waterfall. If you are relatively fit, you should be able to reach the 2nd waterfall in under 1 hr 30min (estimate).

You may visit the 3rd waterfall in my previous Pelepah Waterfall blog.

Heading back.

More water fun and chills.

By the end of our trek, kids would prefer water walk over sand trail anytime!

Scenic water bodies.

We scored A for Team effort!
We need to look out for each other.

Someone topo (navigate) infront.
We swap the load around.
Pull each other across obstacles.
I had to play the Chief Motivator Role.

Mommy’s smile says it all. Although she is not athletic, she is willing to try everything with the family. Kudos!

She even brought back a leech souvenir to the car park.

Our trail was roughly 2 hours, super slow and easy pace.

AllTrails App recommendation

I would like to recommend another hiking app, AllTrails (Android and IOS)
-App allows us to Record our path and we can simply follow steps back , if we should be lost
-App offers trails recommendations from fellow hikers, with photos too. This would be good when I am traveling to a new place.

-Free version of App serves my purpose
-You only need mobile signal, 4G not needed
-GPS will drain faster, prepare extra power bank for phone

-Trails galore in Singapore, imagine the fun when I bring this app to Malaysia Gunungs

Johor Waterfalls mural at Kota Tinggi town.

We had wanted to enjoy famous Kota Tinggi Wanton noodle but shop was closed. Yap Fong Noodle House 叶芳面家 (GPS 1.727552, 103.899047)

Additional tips:

-More photos from a previous trip (blog)
-All our Hiking trips are listed here https://sengkangbabies.com/tag/hiking

-Do take note part of the track is on private property, if caught, please say sorry and do not argue

– Do not leave any rubbish behind, bring the rubbish out of the forest to bin

-Hikers can shower at the Kota Tinggi Resort (nominal fees). Small tap

-Permit and guide is not needed, but we strongly recommend you to follow someone up to Pelepah Waterfalls

– If you need reference for Malaysia Guide or permits, do drop me an email andy@sengkangBabies.com

-Although it is a day trip, I always pack emergency equipment like whistle, compass and night torch (just in case we are lost)

-Do take note of these emergency contacts:
a) 999 or 112-This will activate Police or Ambulance
b)994-Bomba (Emergency Rescue)

-If my Johor Waterfalls path suggestion is longer or wrong, please share the correct path with us. Thank you.

ps.. Follow our Instagram tag #SengkangBabiesJohor for more JB adventures

Hiking Gunung Belumut, our first 1000m summit

Love the morning Sun rays when we were Hiking Gunung Belumut! It was also how my heart was fluttering at the thought of another hike. Gunung Belumut is our first 1000m mountain 🙂

Before this, our highest peak is Gunung Panti.

The numbers for Belumut.
4hours up, 3hours down.
15km to and fro, with the peak at 1100m.
To make it more challenging, rain fell 3 times!

We left home at 0445 and reach our breakfast venue at Kluang Rail coffee (GPS 2.033543, 103.317584). It is a real train station famous for coffee and toast (Opens at 0700).

Nasi lemak (and Mee siam) only cost RM0.90 sen each! And there is only chili and white rice but the chili is solid! We suspect train passengers will buy these fantastic food for their meals.

A half an hour drive away, we reach the base of Gunung Belumut (GPS 02.06715 103.52507).

From a distance, we can see Kluang is surrounded by mountains. Mist constantly floats down to cover the road, heightening our anticipation.

Make shift carpark among the palm oil plantation.

Hiking can be a good analogy for Parenting, or rather what I wish my kids to learn through Life.

Hiking can be dangerous, a single trip, slip or twist could mean fractures, sprains or even death. Like any sports, we need to exercise caution, take care of each other, anticipate dangers and be alert.

We need courage to step out of our comfort zone, and that’s when we learn more about ourselves.

I always tell them. Death comes to everyone and there is nothing to fear (or feel morbid). If our time is up, even crossing the road can be dangerous.

Life is really short (how many 20 years do we have), and our human body is so fragile. I only hope we will have minimum regrets at the very end 🙂

The “Before” photo, all eager to hike Gunung Belumut.
Starting bridge and pond, make us wish to dip inside the cooling water.

From the beginning, a lot of fallen trucks lay in our path and we need to go under or over. Taller guys will need to constantly bend down under the trunks, I lost count of how many times my backpack stuck the ‘tree trunk belly’.

The map call Gunung Belumut a “recreational” forest, but we were sweating buckets and we had to climb on all fours at times.
It is always refreshing to reach the next “flat” ground.

Catch up with our breathe and water parade in preparation for the next slope.

Besides the hike, we need to enjoy the surroundings too. Termites trail, and a huge leaf (to wrap Nasi Lemak haha)

Pear-shape tree, ferns and mushrooms. The root on the right looks like a hammock.

Checkpoint 1 (around 3.3km mark). It was uphill up 60 degree gradient for the next 600m!

Kids helping each other over the obstacles, or finding an easier path to climb. Sometimes, I purposely keep quiet and let them figure out the next step or ‘rope’.

Kids are always tougher than we give them credit for 🙂

Sense of achievement? Perhaps, but they do treasure the companionship and jokes along the way.

Checkpoint 2 (around 4.6km), some weird rock formation here. Looks like a walled fortress or a stage 🙂
(Checkpoint 1 to 2 is only 1.3km, but steep terrain means we need 50 minutes to reach CP2)

Face towel was useful to stop the perspiration and block some rain too.

Our guide say this was the 80 degrees wall, we had to climb up by navigating in a zigzag manner, left to right to left again. Make use of the roots.

It lead us to a rock face, and we need to skirt behind and up.

The rain started falling after checkpoint 2, and we were caught in 3 downpours! Besides the slippery and muddy slope, our pants and underwear were all soaked.

Checkpoint 3 is around 5.6km mark, I did not see the sign or landmark.

Hike higher, and you will see moss-covered branches and rocks. I was looking forward to some moss carpet, common in higher altitude.

A fake summit (around 8km mark), the real summit is 20 minutes more to the left 🙂

Finally the summit. But Gunung Belumut summit view is actually not spectacular and it was crowded.

We completed the hike in 4 hours plus. I was so excited that I forgot to sing Boon Kang a Birthday song haha. I had plan this hike as an advance Birthday gift for him 🙂 (We did sing a short rendition on the way down, see video below)

We u-turn to have our mini lunch at the barren “fake” summit.
Our hiking brunch and lunch include :
– x4 1.5l water
– x3 100plus
– x6 banana
– x4 bread, baked beans and tuna (do not bring pork up hills and mountain in case we offend some spirits)
– x6 butter biscuits
– x4 sandwich

It was a heavy load to bear for up to 5 hours! We start our descend at around 2pm.

There are a lot of “drains” to wade across. They become mini waterfalls when the rain fell. As we climb lower, it became darker and we were glad to exit at around 1730.

Although we were slightly behind time, it was crucial that we be extra vigilant and watch our steps. Kept reminding the kids that we might get careless when we are tired, and a slip would only make the situation worse.

Hiking is a good way to bond and see the kids’ characters. We must help each other, motivate and encourage the weaker ones.
I would rotate the “leaders” so that everyone has a chance to lead and identify the markers ahead.

Kids would volunteer to share the load around so that no one is overly stretched. Hiking is a team effort and we need to reach the summit together.

Most importantly, always remember to have Fun!
We hope Mommy and princess can join us soon 🙂

Video (link) : Photos cannot capture the kids’ persistence to conquer Hiking Gunung Belumut

Proceeded to checkin at our hotel for the night at Rail Hotel (GPS 2.023473, 103.311938 ). I was worried that legs will be too numbed to drive back to Singapore :p

King sized bed for RM150, including breakfast voucher of RM24. Recharge before driving home the next day. I knock off at 10pm while the kids were still playing games.

From the map below, Gunung Belumut is between UK Farm and Koref.

Do your staircase training before attempting Gunung Belumut, my calves are still straining after two days.
If you are first time hiking, go for the 500m (or below) Johor mountains first (Panti, Arong, Pulai, Lambak). All are within 2 to 2.5 hours rive from Singapore, and a good start for children. In Singapore, Bukit Timah Hill (163m) and MacRitchie Tree Top walk would be a nice warm up. (Panti is 3 times harder than Bukit Timah, and I felt Belumut is easily 2 to 3 times harder than Panti)

Our hike was made possible with Facebook group “Freewill Hikers“. Guides and permit are needed for hiking Gunung Belumut (For our group of 45, we need to pay RM 40 per head).
We first hike up Gunung Panti (500m) with Free Hikers too, do join their group for future events.

More hiking photos uploaded on our Fanpage album.
Read all our hiking stories here.

ps.. Follow our Instagram tag #SengkangBabiesJohor for more JB adventures