GUNUNG ANGSI

Gunung Angsi (825 meter above sea level) is located in Hutan Lipur Ulu Bendol, 10km from Seremban town.

You need to pay RM5.00 fee at the office before you can start your climbing. The ranger there, En. Roslan Malek (013-3749933) is very friendly. After paying the fee, he explained the trail, where to begin, what to expect and how long it takes to reach the summit.

From KL, take Seremban - KL highway and exit at Senawang Interchange. Drive towards Kuala Pilah, the road is winding. You will not miss the big signboard, Hutan Lipur Ulu Bendol. The park is on your right. It's a very popular spot amongst the locals for camping. Sad to say, since there are so many umat there, the palce is dirty place, at the camping area, along the treks and at the summit too!

We started hiking at 8.27am and despite the briefing from En. Roslan, we were lost, heading towards the main road instead. We wasted about 15 mins to get back to the right trail.

Once we found the right trail, there was no turning back. We walked leisurely along the streams and making stops (as usual, taking pictures).

There were slopes here and there but not steep at all. We hiked until we reached Jeram Kak Lang. Here we had to cross the streams. Be careful, not to get your shoes wet! It's a long way to go.

From here, we got out to a clear area, suddenly it was so bright. It was like 10 meters in distance and we got into the forest again. We had to cross the stream again and from the signboard, it was stated as Phase 3A. Here, it's the start of the real climb. The slopes were very steep. We had to make a few pit stop to rehydrate.

The best part, the biggest challenge to some was at Phase 4A. We had to climb using ropes and of course had to dirty our clothes. It was fun and we met a family (with children as young as 5 years old) descending from the same spot. From here, it'd take between 30 - 45 minutes to reach the top.

We reached the peak at around 11;45am, approximately 3.5 hours of climbing. Not bad at all! From some blogs that I read, it'd normally take 4 hours. It took us another 2 hours to descend. Of course, don't expect much on the views from the peak. It's all blocked by the trees. One one side, you'd see Seremban town.

On the way back, we stopped for lunch at Agro Park, a Chinese Muslim restaurant and I did my Zohor prayers there, it was around 3.45pm then.

We enjoyed the trip. A 6 hours of hiking is what I need for Mt. Kinabalu!!