Cameron Highlands Jungle Trail No. 1, Pahang, Malaysia

5Marilyn H 5:00 PM May 27, 2016

beautiful camping experience at the top of Brinchang
My partner and I drove up all the way to the peak and camp for a night. If you are thinking of driving, you got to be a little careful. The roads are not very well indicated and some of the turns are sharp and small. We still managed thou. There is a parking lot up there. so we parked our cars and then went to pitch our tent in the jungle. We woke up to sunrise and it was beautiful. However there is no water supply or whets ever, so get your necessities from the toawn before heading up. We cooked too. It was cold at night so bring more layers.

4Edwinaozy 5:00 PM May 29, 2015

A clearer picture from up top
If you've read all the reviews below and still can't make up your mind about this trail, feel free to read mine. Disclaimer: this will be a long but detailed review. I think what is first important to note is the premise of how fit we are, so that you can have a better understanding of what "a little challenging" means with some relativity. My trekking partner and I are mid 20s, and are relatively fit: we jog (approx. 4km each time) / swim 3 times a week and could complete a 5km jog in about 30 - 40 mins. FACTUAL INFORMATION ABOUT OUR EXPERIENCE AT TRAIL 1 (Gunung Brinchang) - We took slightly over 3 hours to complete the trail (1 way) - We hired a guide from Titiwangsa Tour (We paid about 130RM each, it was a private trek, just the both of us) - We started the trail at 11AM (we reached the peak around 1PM) - It was not a round trip, which means if you were to park your car at the start of the trail, you will take nearly double the time i.e. 5, 6hrs to reach your car after you have descended from the trail - We were glad we made this trek - We did not use any insect repellent and did NOT get any mozzie bites, but did get some (light) bruises on our legs - Our gear was shorts, t-shirt, jogging shoes and a bag pack filled with 5 bottles of water (you really only need about 1.5 each for the trek) - Best time to reach the summit: between 10AM - 1PM. Anytime before or after and it might be too cloudy. From here, my review will take a more colourful turn. Having read some reviews and thought the trail was going to be challenging for novice trekkers like us (we have only ever trekked Bukit Timah, before and after the steps were built), we decided to hire a guide quite last minute. Luckily one of the few guides who were available for trekking (not the same as a tour. A tour that covers Gunung Brinchang will ferry you to the top and down with no effort on your part) was available. He told us that people usually book their treks 1 day in advance as the tour agency need to seek approval (and register the trek) with the forestry department. Clearance will be denied if weather forecasts heavy rain at the time of the trek. And It usually rains in the afternoon at Cameron Highlands. "Anyway, the Forestry Department is planning to regulate trekking in Cameron Highlands so all future treks will need to be registered with them and a guide would be made compulsory, so it's safer for tourists" the guide shared. At the start of the trail, the guide stopped us from putting on our insect repellant patch. "There are no mosquitos here. And the insects only bite those who put on the patch because of the citrus smell." Out our patches went. We bumped into 3 goats grazing on the path. The guides gently urged the goats away from our path which was very narrow and only allows for 1 person/goat to cross. Then, the steps began. If you have ever trekked on Bukit Timah, on the most tedious path. The experience would be more or less the same except for the occasional flat paths in BT, the steps in GB only goes 1 way - up. The first half of the climb was not very enjoyable unless you are the sort who enjoys pain when exercising, as my friend would say, "pain is weakness leaving the body". We spotted no insects except for the small swarms of tiny flies that I imagine could possibly be breathed into your lungs if you breathed hard crossing the swarm. Which seems silly in hindsight - or is it? Our shoes were not overly muddy, just a few stains here and there. The trek was relatively dry - it had drizzled the night before but the morning after was pretty sunny. After around an hour, the fun began. "The steps from here will get steeper," the guide said, much to my horror. "Prepare to do some climbing. This is where the dry ground ends and the mossy forest begins." For the rest of the trek from there on, we were climbing with our hands as much as our feet almost 70% of the time. The branches were sleek with moisture, the ground was 2m thick with compost. This is the part where shoes were either lost in deep mud or ended up with clumps on them. Avoid stepping on any surface that looks like chocolate pudding. Thick branches are your best friend even if they feel slimy or sometimes sticky. Step on branches and "hold on strong to the branches" as my guide would say. But do look out for branches with spikes, a moment of carelessness planning for your next step might cause you quite a bit of pain. Luckily we had a guide keep a lookout for us as our heads were constantly looking towards the ground instead of forwards. He never offered us his hands, now come to think about it, but that was okay. I feel much more proud of myself when we got to the peak, I did it. On my own 2 hands and feet. They might be dirty but it was worth it. When exhaustion and hunger kicked in, we were glad we had a guide who arranged for a transport to pick us up and we did not have to walk the steep slopes down because they did not look easy on our joints. So don't be a hero. Hire a guide, he might even entertain you with stories about his worst clients during the trek and let you know which plants are good to chew for stamina.