Walk With Nature

After a short break at Gunung Brinchang, we proceeded to our next destination, Gunung Irau. Gunung Irau or Mount Irau is the highest mountain in Cameron Highland with its peak at 2110 meter. According to some of the websites, it is the 15th highest mountain in Malaysia.

We walked less than 5 minutes from the peak of Gunung Brinchang (watch tower) to the entry point of Gunung Irau. The forest is also called Mossy Forest because most of the trees are covered with moss. Take note that this trek is not suitable for the beginner as it has a lot of steep paths and I strongly encourage those who want to hike up to the peak to have some training before embarking your journey here.

However, when you are inside the forest, you can feel the tranquility of the environment. Cold wind and wetness of the ground make you feel really refreshing. By the way, a good pair of shoes that provide good grip is recommended to avoid from slipping. I saw few hikers fell along the way, including myself. There is a kind of cheap rubber shoes in Malaysia, we called it “water shoes” which is also very cheap and easy to maintain. A friend of mine wore it during our hike.

Although we have just accomplished our mission at Gunung Brinchang but compared to Gunung Irau, Gunung Brinchang is far more easier and I believe for the beginners, Gunung Brinchang is more suitable. There was some renovation carried out from the entry point of Gunung Irau up to about 500 meters distance. They were building a bridge for easy access up to a certain distance so that people are able to walk and enjoy the scenery.

From the bottom to the peak, usually it takes about 3 hour but we took less than 3 hours to reach the peak, along the way, we also managed to take some good pictures as we really enjoyed the beauty of the forest. No regret, are the words that I can describe !

The entrance to Gunung Irau.

The journey has just started.

One of the steep paths.

One type of Nepenthes Mirabilis plants.

Any one can name this ?

Friends, long way to go….

Another challenge we faced.

1.55 km to go……

Be careful.

Slow and steady.

One more task to take.

Thanks for the shot !

Our lunch including bread, peanut butter jam and 100 plus.

Let’s get started again.

How many more to go ?

We can do it !

A nice shape formed by the trees.

Why we took this picture ? Because we salute and respect the little girl who managed to reach the peak with her parents. She also had climbed the Gunung Kinabalu, according to her father. So guys, what more excuses we can give if we can’t reach the top ?

Take a rest, take a shot first !

Another type of Nepenthes Mirabilis plant, look at its size.

Sometimes we can fall into the “mud trap” if we are not careful.

Almost there……….

Doesn’t this look like one of the scenes in “The Lord of the Rings” ?

Look at the moss surrounded the trees.

The quality of this picture will be better if we carry a good camera.

There is a hope at the other side.

Little flower we saw at the peak.

Nice view from the top of Gunung Irau.

A border marker shared by 2 states, Perak and Pahang.

Yes…..we made it again !

The entrance to the Mount Brinchang is located along the main road of Brinchang. One can hardly miss the point as there will be a blue road signaboard and it is just after the police station.
We started our journey at about 8 a.m. after our breakfast in Brinchang. Although we have to walk for about 3.5 km to reach to the top but we really enjoyed the great nature and the tranquil of the jungle. The cool temperature helped to make a person feel more relax and forgot about the hectic life in the city. This is the reason why sometimes we need to return our body to the mother nature so that it can be recharged and be pampered. As I learnt in the Buddism, our body does not belongs to us, we have to return it to the nature when we gone.

The good thing about this trek is that we hardly could find any leeches although the ground was wet and moistened. If you are afraid of mosquitoes, well, we did not see one also along this trek, so, I would say that this is really a nice trek for those who are afraid of leeches and mosquitoes. That is the reason why we took our own sweet time to enjoy all the things inside this forest. We took about 1.5 hours to complete the entire trek and I believe for a normal person who does not train or exercice regulari like me, it is an average time for a 3.5 km trek.

If you are lazy or in a hurry but want to have a quick tour to Mount Brinchang, you can drive up to the top also. Just drive from Brichang Town to Equatorial Cameron Highland, right after the hotel, there is a road leading to Sungai Palas Boh Tea Center on the left, turn in there and you are on your way. From here you have to be a brave driver as the road is rather steep and narrow, remember to use the car horn at some of the stretches as you will not be able to see the car coming from the opposite direction. But along the way, you will see a nice Boh Teh Plantation scenery. At certain streches, you can pull your car at the road side and take some pictures.

When you reach at the entrance to Boh Tea center on your right, do not turn in, go straight instead, all the way up until you reach to the peak of Mount Brinchang.

We continued our next journey to Mount Irau right after we have our short break at the top of Mount Brinchang………….. remember to come back here again !

As you turn inside from the main road, you will be able to see it.

We are on our way …………

Modern technology does not only applies to moden city, as long as you can see the sky, you can have the Astro installed.

Long way to go friends……….

First trail and first signboard.

1.74 km to go……….

Let’s take a rest………

Another challenge….

Anyone can tell what insect is this ?

We are almost there…..

A leaf bug found along the way…….you will miss it if you are in a hurry.

Nice flower.

A shape formed by the trees branches.

How can I miss this incredible scene !

Along the trek, there are many roots like these.

Another close up of a flower.

Yes, finally………..

Can’t resist to take a shot when I saw this little beauty.

At last, we are at 2031 meter above sea level.

A watch tower at the peak of Mount Brinchang.

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Panaroma view taken at the top of the watch tower.

Another beautiful view.

Last few days, I received an email with the title of “Urgent Business Proposal”. I thought it was from my customer or friend who has a business idea and would like to share with me.

Upon opening the mail, I saw the followings :-

From: Mr Peter T.S Wong < info_peterwong55@yahoo.com.hk>
Date: Sun, Oct 19, 2008 at 9:56 AM
Subject: URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL
To: undisclosed-recipients

My name is Mr.Peter T.S Wong i am the director of operation in Hang Seng Bank
Hong Kong.I have an obscured business suggestion for you in the tune of One
Hundred & Twenty Five Million, Seven Hundred & Fifty Thousand U.s dollars
(125,750,000.00 USD),after the successful transfer Should you be interested
please contact me through my private email(peter_wong005@yahoo.com.hk)so we
can commence all arrangements and I will give your more information on how we
would handle this project as soon as i recieved your reply. Please treat this
business with utmost confidentiality and send me the following if you are
intrested.

(1)Full names, (2)Private Phone number, (3)Current residential address,
(4)Occupation, (5)Age and Profession.

Kind Regards,
Mr.Peter.T.S.Wong

The first thing came into my mind was that it must be a scam ! Common sense told me that for such a huge bank like Hang Seng from Hong Kong, would it sent out this kind of mail to anyone that it does not know ?

The second doubt was that why this so called “Director of operation” used yahoo email for correspondence purpose ? Isn’t it strange ?

Out of curiosity, I typed the title followed by hang seng bank on the Google Search, the top 3 results that I got were :-

1. Hang Seng Bank $24.5m Urgent ! Scam < < Gariell’s Weblog
2. (Next of Kin) Urgent Business Proposal for You From Hong Kong
3. Scam Email with subject “URGENT BUSINESS PROPOSAL

Obviously, this type of scam email has been circulating to all over the world. I believe someone from somewhere around the world’s corner might have fallen into this trap.

There is a chinese phrase says that ” greed will lead you to become poor”.

Think twice before you act on this.

There is no free lunch in this world, reward will be given to those who worked hard and smart !

There are many websites that provide the scam/fraud information, just to name 2 :-

1. Fraud Watchers
2. Scamdex

If you have time, just visit them and you will know there are thousands of spams and scams happening around the world everyday !