Tuesday, July 03, 2012

Run/trek up Maxwell Hill Taiping - Day 1

It was a fun and interesting weekend running and trekking up the hill resorts of Bukit Larut (Maxwell Hill) of Taiping last Saturday, 30 June and put up a night in the cool mountains with a group of 15 runner and trekker friends.

Before the start of the ascent, led by Simon Goh, we ran one round at the Lake Gardens of Taiping. For a 7km run, it took about 55 minutes for a free-and-easy, sight-seeing run passing by scenic landscape of the lake gardens and running under the huge, aged-old trees – a signature scene of Taiping, Perak. ..
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Do CLICK HERE for the photos taken by yours truly (KC) on Day 1 of the event.
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In Picasa web photo album, click Slideshow, hit F11 key for bigger displays.
Ready for a run at Taiping Lake Gardens: (left) Simon Goh, KC Leong, Agnes Yew, Jezamine, Florence, David Spence, Phoebe, Kenny.






The ascent from the foothills to the hill resorts involve trail and tarred road that took between 2.5 to 3 hours. The milestone just before arriving at the hill resort (Cendana Bungalow for the group) showed 10km but the distance registered by my GPS-enabled Garmin is only 9km. The difference of 1km is due to the short-cuts via the trails.

It was a memorable trip for me to rekindle the fond memories of yesteryears. It is in my dream that I have been wanting to re-visit this hill resorts all these years as the last visits was such a long time ago when I was in secondary school. I totally could not recall the layout and the terrain of the hill resorts. I tried to look for the bungalow that I last visited but in vain: all I could remember was that it has a field in front of the bungalow overseeing Taiping town.

  Peaceful and serene ... the meaning of Taiping in Mandarin

30 June 2012 (Saturday):


Warm-up run at Taiping Lake Gardens:

Distance = 7km
Duration = 55 minutes (free and easy run with taking of photos)

Trek up to Cendana Bungalow (where the 15 of us put up a night):


Distance = 10km (from foothills)

Duration = 2.5 to 3 hours (run and trek)
Compare to the milestone, we saved 1km due to going up via trails which is shorter distance.

Highest peak at Telekom Station = 1,376 m


Total Distance (from foothills) = 13 km

  
Phoebe, Kenny Kwan and David Spence (Simon's view is blocked) 

 Refletion of the sun on water

 Have good fun ... Agnes Yew, Phoebe, Kenny, Simon, David Spence

  The huge and aged-old trees of Taiping Lake Gardens ... runner model by Agnes Yew ... :-)

  Just before running/trekking up Maxwell Hill ... Lee Ye Ching, Florence, Simon Goh, Agnes Yew, Jezamine, David Spence, Kenny, Abby, Phoebe, Jyn Yeow, KC Leong

  At the trail ... Jezamine, Abby, Jyn Yeow, Lee Ye Ching, Florence

 Florence, Jezamine and Jyn Yeow

 Phoebe and Agnes Yew

  The long and winding tarred road, accessible only to 4-wheel drive vehicles with pre-determined timing for ascent and descent.
Most people would wave at us for taking the challenge to ascend the mountain this way ... model by Florence ... :-)

 Yours truly (KC Leong) at Cendana Bungalow

 Almost complete group photo: (left) Jyn Yeow, Samantha Aw, Simon’s mother, Phoebe, Michelle Tan, Abby, Jezamine, Jacklyne Lee, Florence, Lee Ye Ching, Kenny Kwan, Simon Goh, Agnes Yew (David Spence and KC not in photo)


  
  Near to the hill station (about 1,000 m above sea level)

Enchanting night view from Candana bungalow, where we put up a night in the cool mountains.

DO CLICK HERE FOR PART 2.


Posted by KC Leong

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