Trekking in Royal Belum

6 of us bought the Groupon offer for Royal Belum Resort and went for a short break with some trekking in the "famed" Royal Belum / Temenggor area.
For those of you who are not familiar with the Temenggor area, here is a map that may help.

One will need to have a permit to enter into the Upper Temenggor, which is known as Royal Belum Forest Reserve. You may call Perhilitan Perak 05-7911164 for a Guide to be arranged. I called Zul at 019-5900144 whom introduced Azmi to be my guide for the trip. (I have misplaced Azmi's number) Typically a day trip around the Temenggor area would take one to :
1. Rafflesia sightings
2. Sg Kejar Orang Asli Settlement (bring some food, chocolates, clothes if you can)
3. Jenut Papan Salt Lick
4. Sg Mes Waterfall
5. Sg Ruok Waterfall

The cost would be approximately RM 550 for a boat which can fit upto 8 pax. Boat would be the only way to travel around the places at Royal Belum.

The Lower Temenggor is known as just Temenggor Dam or Temenggor Lake and from Wikipedia, this explains it:

Temenggor Lake is the second largest lake in Peninsula Malaysia after Kenyir Lake in Terengganu, Malaysia. This man-made lake is located south of 1,533 m high Ulu Titi Basah peak, in Hulu Perak district in the state of Perak. It was created after the construction of Temenggor Dam to generate electric power. The lake is located about 45 km from the Hulu Perak district capital, Gerik. There is a man-made island, Banding Island (Pulau Banding) and Lake Temenggor Bridge on the East-West Highway which crosses the lake.

Date of travel : 26-28 November 2011

26 Nov 2011, Saturday

6.00am Depart from KL (3.5 hours drive to Lenggong) Exit at Kuala Kangsar and drive towards Grik. Lenggong is a small town on the road towards Grik.

9.30am Arrive Lenggong for brunch (It's a odd hour to arrive at Lenggong as places which are selling breakfast would have sold out by then and places selling lunch is not open yet) Thankfully we found one place with some noodles and the famous fish ball at Lenggong.

10.30am Leave Lenggong to Pulau Banding jetty (1.5 hours drive)

12noon Arrive at Pulau Banding, Royal Belum Resort (One can drive up to the resort)

We checked in and in the Groupon package a Pulau Banding Island Cruise and Night Trail was included. So we did the island cruise in the afternoon. Basically its just a cruise round Pulau Banding with nothing much to see.
Some sights around the resort...

3.00pm We started the island cruise and then went for a kayaking session

Kayak towards the bridge

8.30pm We went for the Banding Forest Night Trek. Its just basically a simple night trek, nothing much to see nor hear. But for people who has not done any night treks (or even day treks), it may be quite an adventure :) The trek was only for about 30 minutes.... there was a slight shower and probably because of this, the trek ended faster than it should.

To keep ourselves occupied that night, we played Boggle and Uno! My all time favorite games..... (somehow I don't have my scrabble set anymore and I can't remember where I placed it!) - The next game that I would like to have is Taboo :) Yes, I am a board game lover.

27 November 2011, Sunday

We did the day trek - Estimate timings from 9.30 - 6pm 

The starting place for Rafflesia sightings

Sg Kejar Orang Asli Settlement

Sg Mes Waterfall

Sg Ruok Waterfall

28 November 2011, Monday
Our return day and on the way back, we stopped by another waterfall. This is on on the road from Kuala Kangsar to Grik. In fact along this road, there are a few waterfalls that one can go! This is Lata Kekabu and the signage is visible by the road. Just follow it. There is a path to the falls. Easily accessible.

Lata Kekabu

An overall experience that I think I would only do once. Unless maybe its to return for a camp. If you do a day trip for trekking into Royal Belum, there really isn't anything much to see.... not much wildlife can be seen. The resorts are also quite pricey here. A cheaper alternative is to stay in hostels available in Grik and food is easily available. If you stay at the resorts, you won't have many choices for food!