Gunung Stong, Baha, and Ayam

Geographic Location: Jelawang Jungle, Kelantan, Malaysia
Date climbed: 30.09.2005 - 04.10.2005
Team leader: David (team 2)
Co-leader: Kee Hong (team 1)
Team 1 members: Linda, Lay See, Hwee Cheng, Kelly
Kathryn, Geok Ling, Alan, and Carol
Team 2 members: Irene, Ai, Jean, Chuan Wi

Stong Waterfall

Gunung Stong (1390m), Gunung Baha (1395m) and Gunung Ayam (1480m) are situated in the Jelawang Jungle, near the village of Dabong in the state of Kelantan, Malaysia. The Stong waterfall, at a height of 305m, is claimed to be the tallest in South East Asia (which I doubt so - 300m is not very tall for a waterfall, and I've seen taller one at Kinabalu.)

There are many limestone caves near the vicinity of Dabong village, among the popular ones are Gua Gelap ("Dark Cave"), Gua Kris ("Kris Cave", Kris is a Malay sword), Gua Pagar ("Fence Cave") and Gua Ikan ("Fish Cave"). Sadly, Gua Ikan had been badly vandalized by graffiti, leaving only the other three worth exploring. Arrange with your guide if you wish to go for cave exploration.

To get to the base from the train station, you'll first need to walk across the village to the "Teh Tarik" river. There you take a boat ride across, follow by van from the river to the base. At the base of the Stong waterfall was a resort which is now out of business. There are two trails from the base that lead up to Baha Camp - the Jungle Trail and the Waterfall Trail. The later is more scenic and provides you with a more intimate look at the waterfall, but it is slightly more challenging and there is the risk of flash flood on a rainy day.

Baha Camp is situated near the edge of the 305m vertical drop of Stong waterfall. At the camp is a kitchen cum dinning hut for you to do your cooking and eating, and there are plenty of camp grounds in the surrounding areas. There are also a limited number of huts available for rental if you prefer not to camp, and each hut has a double bed in it. Further upstream from Baha Camp are several cascades and pools where you can swim and dip in. There are also several natural water slides where you can have fun sliding down.

Stong is well know for it's spectacular sunrise. To experience it, wake up early in the morning at about 0630 and get over to "Lover's Rock", which is the giant boulder at the very edge of the fall. The breeze before dawn can be quite chilling, so do remember to bring along your jacket or wind breaker.

Our group consisted of 2 teams - team 1 would attempt only G. Stong alone in 2 days, while team 2 would attempt all three mountains in a 3 days trek.

Team 1

Day 0	Take Ekspres Timuran from Singapore to Dabong.
Day 1	Caving and trek from Base to Baha Camp.
Day 2	Trek to G. Stong summit, return to Singapore by night train.
Day 3	Reach Singapore in the morning.

Team 2

Day 0	Take Ekspres Timuran from Singapore to Dabong.
Day 1	Caving and trek from Base to Baha Camp.
Day 2	Trek to G. Baha and G. Ayam summit, camp at Ayam Camp.
Day 3	Descend and trek to G. Stong summit, return to Singapore by night train.
Day 4	Reach Singapore in the morning.

Day 0: Team 1 & 2

Singapore - Dabong

2020	Train started moving towards JB and everybody was excited. We took the sleeper berths on Ekspres Timuran and spent the night on the train.

Day 1: Team 1 & 2

Dabong - Base - Baha Camp

0825	Reached Dabong. The train was scheduled to arrive at 0725 but was late. Met with the guides, and had breakfast (Nasi Lemak and Mee Goreng) in the coffee shop next to the train station.
0935	Left coffeeshop and hopped onto a Lorry to go caving. Left our backpacks at the coffee shop. We visited Gua Gelap, Gua Pagar, and Gua Kris. Went to see Gua Ikan but was disappointed by the numerous graffiti. There was a stream running next to Gua Ikan.
1230	Returned to coffee shop for lunch.
1315	Walked across the village to the "Teh Tarik" river and took the boat across. Waited about 30 mins at the other side of the river for our transport, as the driver was busy sending the school kids home.
1415	Arrived at the base. Registered and made payment.
1445	Left the base for Baha Camp. It started raining when we left, and for safety sake we decided to take the jungle trail instead of the waterfall trail. The decision was proven correct as the rain was so heavy, the trail was soon transformed into a mini waterfall. It would had been disastrous if we had taken the waterfall trail.
1545	Reached our campsite, Baha camp (480m). It was amazing the team was able to make it in such short time dispite the heavy rain. The rain soon subsided after we reached the campsite. Washed up and changed into our dry clothings. 2 of us stayed in the tent while the rest squeezed in the 2 huts that we managed to get. Chatted in the dinning hut before sleeping.

	Group photo at Dabong train station	Jean and Irene posing in the bushes before the caves	Jean crawling through a crack in Gua Gelap
	Ai at the entrance of 2nd cave	Sunlight shining through a crack	Hand drawn locality map at Baha Camp
	The view at Lover's rock at the edge of Stong waterfall	Water flowing towards the fall	Our dinner

 

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