Gunung Lambak

Gunung Lambak is a hill (read: very small mountain - 510m) near Kluang in Malaysia. It's a good day trip for trekkers out of Singapore - which is what I was this past weekend.

The trek was rated easy - this is rather misleading. It is relatively short but the upper part of the trail is very steep and much of the climb involved scrambling on all fours instead of hiking. Pictures from this guy's album puts it into perspective:

Length: If you are very fit then you should be able to get up and down in about 2-2.5 hours. The group I was with took about 4-4.5 hours with many breaks along the way.

Gear: I would highly recommend gloves (leather padded cycling gloves would do fine) as you will find yourself grabbing rocks, trees and rope along the way. Good hiking boots with a deep tread are ideal as some of the incline was a bit muddy and slick. Some people did the climb in running shoes but with difficulty. A few people had Leki poles. Personally I think the terrain was too steep to make use of walking sticks as you'll want both hands free to climb monkey style.

Fitness Level: Not for couch potatoes. About a quarter of the group I went with decided not to do the entire hike as it was too arduous. Again "easy" is misleading. It's easy if you hike all the time and are in good shape. You can't do this if you never exercise. Let me put this in perspective - I was able to huff and puff my way through it and was in the front pack of the group... saying that, two weeks ago I was outpaced at MacRitchie by a little French woman in open-toed sandals. Moderate fitness is enough to survive this hill.

Training: Train for this by doing the MacRitchie Tree Top walk (if you can do two circuits of the 1.5km Tree Top walk, you'll be fine) and/or climb stairs. You should be able to climb 10 flights of stairs without dying. Practice climbing stairs two at a time as that's the kind of work your quads will be doing.

Also:

• Distractions: Bring a book or some music. The bus ride from JB is about 2 hours. The trip was an incredibly shocking yet boring display of monoculture: palm trees lined the road the whole way.
• Clothes: Bring a change of clothes, a towel and some soap: there are shower facilities at the pool at the bottom of the hill. Cost: RM2.
• Cash: Bring about RM20 in small bills: You have to pay for every toilet you use. There are also some small food stalls selling fruit and drinks at the hill.
• More cash: If you're going with a tour group on the cheap, bring small change for Singapore public transportation on the causeway between the two checkpoints.
• The usual: 2 litres of water, passport, light hiking gear, bug spray, snacks. Sunscreen not really required as you're under foliage the whole way.

FYI: Looking for a place to eat? We ate at Cin Cin restaurant in Kluang after the hike and it was not bad.

Labels: travel

Monday, May 22, 2006