MY NEW FAVOURITE WATERFALL - PRISTINE, PEACEFUL, PERFECT!

‘Wonderfully surprised’ was putting it mildly how we felt when we found this beautiful calendar-worthy piece of Mother Nature, right in the middle of one of the primary forests of Terengganu, fringed on one side by oil palm estates. The series of waterfalls and their pools that greeted us one after another, each more beautiful than the previous, were enough to make the leech bites during the trek worthwhile. And with this, I’ve found a new favourite waterfall and campsite - more than enough to rival Berkelah Waterfalls! Pristine, crystal-clear water and river rich with water life - different species of fishes, river terrapins, prawns and even tiny river eels! The water was cleaner than our tap water back home!

Last weekend, 19 September 2009, my friends and my family re-visited a campsite/river in one of the primary forests of Terengganu. However, because of a vow of silence among us, I am not allowed to mention the whereabouts of this place in order to avoid it being ‘invaded’ by humans, and its pristine beauty forever lost. This was something we’ve seen often enough through our many years of jungle trekking, the beauty of a place lost forever to those who came in hordes and left just as much rubbish in their wake after they have enjoyed themselves just because it is not in their backyard. So we are going to be selfish about this place.

The crystal-clear river and clean campsite told us that this place was not often visited, and more likely by the locals, maybe because of its obscure location with a single unimpressive signage and an equally unimpressive entrance through oil palm estates (thank goodness!). :-) We were there last year but we did not go beyond the first two waterfalls as these falls were great enough to keep us and the children happy. However, this time we decided we will venture further as we guessed there may be more waterfalls upstream. So while the rest stayed back at the first pool with the children to play, a few of us trekked upstream and it was a decision we definitely didn't live to regret.

The only 'downside' to this adventure - and that's just because I am paranoid about leeches(!) - was the number of leech bites I 'earned' along the way, with one right smack inside my navel which gave me a real fright when I saw my blood coming out! (Alas, I discovered it too late and the leech had had its fill and dropped off so I didn't get my revenge! :-( ) And some of them were so tiny, you could have mistaken them for bits of dirt that got stuck on your feet unless you were looking very hard, like me! :-) And they are itching like nobody’s business right now even as I typed!

Suffice to say this is one of the most beautiful and cleanest rivers in West Malaysia that we've came across so far through our years of trekking and waterfalls hunting. (However, others even more fortunate or more frequent trekkers than us may beg to defer.) Its series of waterfalls were marvellous, with the last two standing out among the rest. Let me just call them the blue pool and the two-toned mother-daughter twin falls. :-) Of course my friends argued why not father-son, mother-son or even father-daughter, but the power’s with me since I’m doing the writing and I’ve only got a daughter! :-)

Mere words are not enough to describe, so I’ll let the pictures be the storyteller. It was just so great to find so many beautiful waterfalls all in one place! Notice the crystal-clear water in all the pools!



Crystal-clear water in the river next to our campsite. This river looked shallow because of its clearness but is actually quite deep in some parts.

The size of this river belies what awaits upstream....

















Having great fun at the first pool!














Balancing act ...
















2nd waterfall. This is where we stopped during our first visit. Plenty of prawns and fishes we could find here!













The main waterfall, so tall and long, I couldn't take a full picture of it. We had to trek alongside the upper section of this waterfall in order to get to the next fall.



















The upper section of the main waterfall, another pool of its own.














Along the way to the next waterfall. Crystal-clear water everywhere we looked.














Another fall, another pool ... After this, there were a few more that we did not take pictures of because they were rather small.



















The blue pool - my personal favourite!! The bluish hue of this big(!) pool was just fantastic! This pool is at least 10 feet deep but so clear you can see right to the bottom of its sandy bed!














Another personal favourite! Mother-daughter twin falls! Notice the two-colour tone: green, where the pool forms at the bottom of the falls and brown in the foreground, caused by the effect of the stones.
















Close-up view of the twin falls.

















22-09-2009