Gunung Apek

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Car park to Gunung Apek (or Apik) trail. The word Apek in Chinese means elderly man. As I understand, long time ago, only elderly men trekked up and down the hill to maintain fitness. Situated near 9th Mile of Cheras, Gunung Apek trail is popular with trekkers today, young and old.

The yellow sign-board is the start of trail.

I know Eric quite some time ago as a badminton player from the adjacent court. Last Friday evening, while resting in between games, he told us that he will be trekking up Gunung Apek on Sunday morning, 11 November.
.Reaching Level 3 - Eric tackles the steep terrain with speed and gusto. Within seconds, he was way ahead of me. He is a regular trekker at this Gunung Apek trail, trekking there almost twice weekly.

Eric is most kind to show me the way. There are four trails to go up to Level 3 which takes about one hour. Most trekkers would treat that as the destination. As for the two of us, with swift pace, we took only 35 minutes to reach there.

Passing by a stream
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We actually reached Level 3, returned to Level 1 and went up again by another trail. Up and down the hills, being the first time trekking there, I have lost count how many uphill and downhill that I have been through. The whole journey took two hours.

Resting at Level 3. Eric was most happy to show me Level 6 which will take another 1.5 hours from Level 3. Since I only brought a bottle of 500 c.c. of water as told by Eric that one way is only 35 minutes, I would not have enough water to do extended trekking. We will trek up to Level 6 again in near future.
What is Eric’s profession? He is a tour operator/guide for local trips. He owns those 12-seater Toyota vans. He takes tourists – local or foreign – to the popular destinations in Kuala Lumpur, Cameron Highlands, Penang, etc. You can contact him at 019- 6516 788.

Miss Chee – With heavy rainfall nowadays, it is good to carry umbrella and double up as trekking stick. Besides, it is good to ward off snakes, if any.

Entrance to the trail, we pass by the backyard of a roll of terrace house which operates as a fruit and drink stall. They even provide the facility and bruahes to clean shoes with water from stream. With heavy rainfall, the trail is muddy and slippery. There is even a changing room nearby.

Complete with tables and chairs for light refreshment.
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Miss Chee is busy cleaning shoes

The return of ...

Red bean ‘tong sui’ (sweet drink) and cold ‘sar ley’ fruit juice to quench thirst. Relaxing and sitting under shade below a few banana trees while enjoying the drinks... hmmm... Yummy!!

Posted by KC