Durian Perangin Waterfall, Kedah

The beautiful island of Langkawi is blessed with blue seas, white sand beaches and emerald forests. And although it is not really noted for its waterfalls, it does have a trio which can make for a welcome break from seaside activities. These waterfalls may not be particularly impressive during the dry season, but come in the rainy months, and it is a very different story.

The most famous of the waterfalls is Telaga Tujuh, a.k.a. the Seven Wells, followed by the Temurun waterfall, both located in the Machinchang area. The third, lesser known waterfall is at Durian Perangin.

Durian Perangin falls.

Durian Perangin appears to be named after that famous thorny fruit, the Durian. Perhaps there are durian trees in the area, hence the name?  Located on the northern slopes at the base of the Gunung Raya, which is the tallest mountain in Langkawi, the access to the site is easy if you have your own transport. From the main town of Kuah, head north towards Tanjung Rhu on Route 112 (Jalan Ayer Hangat). After about 18km along this road, you will notice a signboard pointing to the left to Durian Perangin. Take the left and after about a further 2km you will reach the carpark of the falls.

Park your car here, and walk towards the entrance to the falls. There are a couple of stalls here, selling food or souvenirs and snacks.

Once passed these stalls, you will see a well-maintained park. Timber boardwalks, shelters and walkways line both sides of a fast flowing stream. 

Timber boardwalks and shelters line the bank of the stream.

A suspension bridge crosses the stream, which you can cross to get to the public toilets on the other side.

Suspension bridge.

Walking up the pathway along the stream is pleasant, as you hear the sounds of the fast flowing water rushing pass. The water here is shallow, and suitable for kids to take a dip.

The path ends at another bridge, which then loops back to the front on the other bank of the stream. Next to the bridge is another shelter. Both the bridge and shelter face a nice swimming hole which is fed by the first waterfall.

View of the first swimming hole from the 2nd Bridge. Note more steps leading upwards to the right.

On the right of this first swimming hole, you will notice steps leading up the hill. Up to this point, the walking has been easy. To climb up these steps would require a bit of fitness.

View of the first waterfall from the side.

As you climb up these steps, you will notice the waterfall gushing alongside the route. Appearances can be deceiving, the waterfall is much taller than it seems from below.

The waterfall hidden in the undergrowth.

The climb up the hill may require a few stops if you are particularly unfit, but otherwise it is not too difficult and the is clearly marked. It should not take too long to reach the top.

At the top, the river cascades over the rock to form the waterfall below.

Once the steps end, you will find yourself overlooking another pool, fed by another waterfall coming down from the top. This waterfall has a taller drop than the one below, and the pool is larger.

You can clamber down the rockface to get to the pool below. When we there on a normal weekday, there were only three other people around, and the whole setting was indeed calm, soothing and relaxing.

The 2nd waterfall and pool.

A nice place to relax and take in the environment. Our only regret is that we didn't bring our swimmers to jump in and take a dip in the cool mountain water.

Belumut Forest, Johor

Gunung Belumut (1010m) is said to be the third highest mountain in the state after Gunung Ledang (1276m) and Gunung Besar (1035m). The name, which literally translates to "mossy mountain" in English, is said to come from the prevalence of mossy and slippery rocks in the area. 

Gunung Belumut sits inside a recreational forest reserve of the same name and is a well known trekking and camping destination to locals around the area. For the average climber, the trek up the mountain takes about 4 hours, and another 3 hours back down, a total of about 15km trekking overall. For those who are not into hardcore trekking, a visit to the river (tributary of Sungai Dengar) at the base of the mountain may be a more pleasant activity.

The clear water of Sungai Dengar in the Recreational Forest.

The entrance to the park is located about 30km away from Kluang town. It is a 30-minute journey by car to reach the park entrance from Kluang town. To get there, take Route 50 heading towards Mersing.  After about 13 kilometres along the road, take a right turn into Route 749. After about another 3km, an intersection to the left appears. Take the left turn and head along Route 1431 until you come to the small settlement of Felda Ulu Dengar. Follow the road signs indicating "Air Terjun G.Berlumut" as you traverse the town, then through a palm oil plantation until you come to the entrance gate of the Gunung Berlumut Recreational Forest.

The Park Entrance with ample parking and empty stalls.

Entrance Archway into the Park.

Operation Hours.

Map of the Park.

Suspension Bridge over the river.

Locals enjoying a dip in the river.

Pleasant blue pools.

Man-made shelters provide protection from the rain, if needed.

The trailhead for the climb to the summit.

Deeper section of the river where local kids jump down into from the high banks.

Very nice.

Fallen tree makes a makeshift bridge.

Small cascades but no real waterfall here.

Rocks which must have been carried down by the river in the past.

A nice place to relax.

Fast flowing stream at the upstream section.

Dappled sunlight through the trees.

Another view of the bridge.

The Gunung Belumut recreational forest is a nice place to visit if you happen to be in Kluang. A nice quiet retreat which is not well known to outsiders.

Puteri Falls, Johor

Gunung Ledang, also known as Mount Ophir to the British, at 1,276 metres, is the highest mountain in Southern Peninsular Malaysia. 

It is believed that the mountain had deposits of gold, so much so that Chinese Traders plying the Straits of Malacca in the 14th century called it Kim Sua, which can be translated to Golden Mountain in Hokkien.

British cartographers called it Ophir, after the biblical land from which King Solomon obtained gold, gems and ivory for the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

The Malay name of Gunung Ledang, is believed to mean "Faraway Mountain", and so named by the Javanese of the Majapahit Empire.

Popular malay folklore has it that Gunung Ledang is the domain of a Fairy Princess. Puteri Gunung Ledang (Princess of Gunung Ledang) was said to be very beautiful; and the proud Sultan Mansur of the Malaccan Sultanate became determined to wed the Fairy Princess.

He sent his legendary warrior, the now elderly Hang Tuah, with other warriors such as Tun Mamat and Sang Setia to Gunung Ledang to request for her hand in marriage.

The Fairy Princess gave seven conditions before she would agree to marriage. The conditions were:

1) A bridge of gold, for her to walk from the mountain to Malacca
2) A bridge of silver, for her to return to the mountain from Malacca
3) Seven large clay jars filled with virgin's tears
4) Seven large clay jars filled with betel nut juice
5) Seven trays filled with the hearts of fleas
6) Seven trays filled with the hearts of mosquitoes
7) A bowl filled with the blood of the Sultan's youngest son

Some versions of the story say that the Sultan was somehow able to comply with the first six requests, and he was about to kill his youngest son to get the bowl of blood; when the Fairy Princess appeared before him, and said she could never marry a man who was so cruel as to sacrifice his own son.

The moral of the story was that the Sultan was too proud a person to realise that the conditions were the Fairy Princess' way to turn down the Sultan's wedding proposal.

Gunung Ledang, home of the Fairy Princess.

To get to Gunung Ledang, you will have to exit from the North-South Expressway and exit at the Tangkak toll plaza. From the toll plaza, it is a 20km drive on Route 22, through the small town of Tangkak and the even smaller of Sagil to get to the Gunung Ledang Resort, which is the start of the trail to the Puteri Falls.

Map of Gunung Ledang.

As you can see from the map above, there are several starting points for the trailhead up to the peak. To get to the park headquarters, there is a road from Sagil which branches off from Route 22. Do not take this road, go further along the road until you see the sign for the Gunung Ledang Resort.

Take this turning to the left, and drive along the road until you come to a guard house. You will have to pay the man at the guard house in order to enter. The price that we were charged (Dec'17) was RM2.10 for the car, and RM1.05 for each person. So it won't exactly break the bank!

There is ample open air carparking available, so park your car. There are a few stalls by the side of the carpark, and you will see the following gate and a second guard house:

Gate and guard house to the Gunung Ledang Resort.

This is the entrance to the Gunung Ledang Resort. Walk on in, public is allowed to enter the grounds, and this is in fact the way to the trailhead.

Walk along the tarmac road.

As you walk along the road, you will hear the sounds of a stream to your left and you will see the resort on your right.

The Resort chalets are on your right.

Eventually, you will reach a small cafe/restaurant and some souvenir stalls. This is the start of the trailhead.

A small restaurant.

After the restaurant, you get your first sight of the Sungai Ayer Panas, which translates as Hot Water River. The river has been dammed to create small pools for swimming. Benches and playground have also tamed this lower section of the river.

Pools for swimming. 

A yellow sign indicates "Kolam Puteri". This translates to "Princess Pool", and is of course named after our Fairy Princess. Follow the cemented trail, as this will lead to the waterfall.

Directions to the Princess Pool.

The cemented trail leads of into the jungle.

You will have to climb upwards, so be warned.

The river will be on your left, as you follow the trail upwards.

Midpoint of the trail, you will come across this giant boulder.

Another sign says another 300 feet to go.

Then another 100 feet.

Another uphill slog in the last 100 feet.

You get your first glimpse of the waterfall.

The Puteri Falls. A flight of steps leads to the top of the falls.

View of the waterfall from the staircase.

At the top of the waterfall is the Princess Pool.

Smaller waterfalls feed into the Princess Pool.

Looking over the edge of the Puteri Falls, which drops 60 metres to the river below.

The Puteri Falls and the Princess Pool is a popular swimming hole amongst the locals. If you are in the area, why not drop in and have a swim.

Millennium Monument, Putrajaya

The Millenium Monument, or Monumen Alaf Baru is a folly built on the lakeside of Precinct 2, Putrajaya. Putrajaya became the administrative capital of Malaysia in 1999, under the tenure of Malaysia's fourth Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

The entire city was the brainchild of Mahathir, and to commemorate its founding, Mahathir built two major monuments, the first is the Putrajaya Landmark (Mercutanda Putrajaya) built at Precinct 1; and this one - the Millenium Monument in Precinct 2.

The Millenium Monument was inspired by the Washington Monument in Washington D.C., United States of America. However where the Washington Monument is an obelisk, the Millenium Monument is a circular column that ends in a point and stands 68 metres tall.

The Millenium Monument

The Millenium Monument is built on a raised platform overlooking the man-made Putrajaya Lake. A ramp spirals up from the ground level to the platform above, and access to the top is by this ramp. A glass parapet runs up alongside the ramp all the way to the top, which is etched with important dates in the nations history, starting with the Founding of the Melaka Sultanate in the year 1400.

The ramp upwards starts at year 1400 with the founding of Melaka.

The etchings on the glass parapet walls are divided into 3 sections; the pre-Independence years before 1957; post independence between 1957 to 1970 and modern Malaysia (1971-2000). The monument itself represents the future.

The ramp continues through significant events in Malaysia's history throughout the years.

1994, the construction of the Petronas Twin Towers.

You can wander slowly up the ramp, and read the various inscriptions to get a taste of Malaysia's history. At the foot of the actual monument, the inscription ends at the Year 2000, with the final panel dedicated to Mahathir's vision for Malaysia to achieve Developed Nation status by the year 2020.

At the top, the platform gives great views of Putrajaya.

The historical dates stop at Year 2000.

At the pinnacle stands the monument.

The monument itself is a round column which tapers up from the top of the platform, and points upwards to the sky. Engraved with decorative motifs, it is also inscribed with the Rukun Negara, the five guiding principles that the country aspires to achieve.

Engraved with the Rukun Negara.

The five guiding principles of the Rukun Negara are:

1) Belief in God
2) Loyalty to King and Country
3) The Supremacy of the Constitution
4) The Rule of Law
5) Courtesy and Morality

In Malay, the inscriptions are as follows:

1) Kepercayaan kepada Tuhan
2) Kesetian pada Raja dan Negara
3) Keluhuran Perlembagaan
4) Kedaulatan Undang Undang
5) Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan

A column pointing to the sky.

Once you have taken in the Monument, take a look at the views from the top of the platform. Besides a view of the Lake, you will also see the Iron Mosque (or its proper name the Masjid Tuanku Mizan), a modern mosque sitting on the lake edge, with the Seri Saujana bridge in the background.

View to the Putrajaya Lake Promenade and the Iron Mosque beyond.

Looking at the other end of the lake, the stunning Seri Wawasan bridge, an asymmetrical cable-stayed box girder bridge with an inverted Y-shaped pylon with 30 pairs of cable stays dominates the foreground; with the pink Putra Mosque and the Prime Minister's Office in the background.

On the other side, a view of the Seri Wawasan bridge and the pink Putra Mosque beyond.

The Iron Mosque at sunset.

Sunset over Putrajaya lake.

Map of the area.

The best time to visit the Monument is at dusk, when the temperature is cooler, and the setting sun gives the entire area a golden hue. Entrance is free.

Millenium Monument

Address: Lebuh Ehsan, Presint 2, 62100 Putrajaya, Wilayah Persekutuan Putrajaya.