Monday, July 21, 2008

The Cave & The Jungle

Snippet: 56k killer pictures & plenty of naked bodies ahead.

An adventure plan by me & Kien Yee popped up in a MSN conversation at 2am in the morning last Thursday. Somehow, we suddenly had the thought of going for a cave exploration. Kien Yee decided on the Dark Cave at Batu Caves. Hooked up a few peeps for the plan during class that day.

On Friday, we proceeded with the plan with 6 of us heading up to Batu Caves in 2 cars right after class. Namely, mua, Kien Yee, Vincent, Boon Siew, Dennis & Wye Sern. The trip with photo descriptions ahead:

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It rained once we reached Batu Caves, which was located at Selayang. Was the first visit to the cave for some of us. This place of interest which was a site of devotion for the Hindus, draws thousands of people each year during the annual Thaipusam festival. The huge gold statue of Lord Murugan at the foot of the caves is apparently the highest in the world.

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Took a couple of group photos after the rain subsided. Since it was a weekday, there wasn't any major crowding of people.

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The only way up was to climb the insanely tall flight of steps up to the cave. The rain made the steps slippery. So, it took us quite awhile to get up there.

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Struggling up the steps carrying umbrellas make us look rather 'apek'. Haha!

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272 steps later...

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A jubilant Kien Yee upon reaching the peak.

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The landscape of the cave walls.

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The interior of the cave, which was printed in the many postcards and guidebooks relating about the cave.

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In the center of the cave. There was opening above which gave the cave some light. Apart from that, plus a few statues, altars and monkeys, there wasn't much to see. So much for the excitement after reaching the top. Heh

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Wonder who's this 'deity'? Haha

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The stunning view from the cave. Another lookout point perhaps?

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Us at the main entrance to the Dark Cave, which was our main purpose for visiting Batu Caves. Sadly, we found out that the entry fee at RM80 per person was way over our budget. Instead, we were somehow briefed by one of the chief wardens about the cave and the wonders of it. Luckily we had a backup plan.

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Our backup plan brings us to here, Templer Park. Neither of us came here before, with the exception of Kien Yee, who had this planned out initially. The water for the pool seen in the picture came from a waterfall above, which was our trekking destination.

It's close to a year since I last stepped into a jungle. Yet, it always feels good to be back in the nature with all the greenery around you. The lush green trees, the chirping of birds, the rustling of leaves.

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The whole trail was relatively easy and it gave us ample time to scan around the surrounding for things rarely seen rather than focusing on the ground all the time. But still, we need to watch out for theses:

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Leeches! Plenty of them lying around. Here's one on a Sprite bottle.

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Footprints of a wild boar. Didn't see any of these creatures around though

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Tiny mushrooms growing on roots of a tree.

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Odd looking fern which Kien Yee said had bioluminescent properties which made it glow at night.

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Kien Yee lead the way since he was here couple of times before.

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And here's Wye Sern struggling to navigate one of the harder portions of the trail. Lacking exposure, I guess this whole jungle trekking thing was relatively new to him. Boon Siew had the back guarded for him.

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The trail even had these zig zagged bridges for crossing the many streams.

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Being up at front sometimes ain't that great, as Kien Yee experienced. He landed into a soft sand patch after the bridge area. Still, a great pose!

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Another two more groupie shots at the zig zag bridges.

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Kien Yee attempting to 'eat' a wild durian. We did however ate some durians at his house after the day was over.

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Reaching the waterfall after 45 minutes of jungle trekking.

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Not really a huge fall, but the clear cold water was really inviting. Instantly, we went splashing around like mad people.

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This is what you call 'natural whole body jacuzzi'. LOL

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Two totally opposite persona's. Wye Sern; the cautious one whom didn't wanted to take his shirt off. Aiya, tidak sporting la. And Kien Yee; the adventurous & crazy one.

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Kien Yee with the backflip.

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I tried but failed...miserably. LOL

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Boon Siew enjoying his moment. A moment of panic for him when he lost his spectacles amidst the rapids. Somehow, managed to find it, luckily!

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The only group photo of the 6 of us.

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We went higher up the falls where there was a clearing, enabling us to grab a bite or two.

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Four of us tried getting higher up the waterfall by scaling the rocks.

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He reached first.

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And with Boon Siew, the both of them reached the top of the waterfall, which was a good 3 stories up. Siao punya orang!

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Meanwhile, Dennis was preparing his very own cover shoot.

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Kien Yee with 'the thinker' pose.

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Boon Siew's superman pose!

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Mendulang act by the 3 of us! There were plenty of mad and insane pictures but I don't think it would be appropriate to show them here, since some of my readers consists of young kids and aunties. Haha.

Anyways, the skies turned darker so we had to leave all the water fun behind. We left our clothes back at the car so it was a wet walk back.

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The wet walk

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My sexyback!

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One of the two creatures we managed to capture. A green dragonfly.

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And a freaking huge earth crawlie or gonggok, whichever you call it.

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Someone had a souvenir or rather an experience to take home with. And the person was non other than Wye Sern, who had a leech bite on his ankle. It bleed profusely later on, but since it was his first leech bite, a little bit of blood adds to the fun! Haha!

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Finally, a picture to end all pictures.

The backup plan was a great one. Many thanks to Kien Yee and his family too for treating us durians and the good food during dinner after our tiring but fun expedition!

2 Added Colors:

Anonymous said...

Great shots of Templers Park waterfall. You guys convinced me to add it to my nature escapes list .. now if I go only find the entrance? Check out more jungle action here.

Ken™ said...

yeah...it's a great place! entrance to the park is just after the Templer Park Country Club. Kinda off the beaten path.

nice site you have there. lots of nature escapes which my buddies and I could make use of. Great!

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