Gunung Chemerong

Chemerong is one of the most beautiful nature's park many have not known yet. The park has a a variety of typographical features such as mountain peaks close to one another, waterfall, clear water river , a diversity of flora and fauna and beautiful campsites. But this place is hardly visited and so when it was suggested to me that we should trek this park, I hardly can figure out where in Treangganu is this place because I had known Trengganu for its beaches and coral islands.

To get to Chemerong, one must drive to a town called Durian Mas or Bandar Billah which is situated midway along the Kuantan Jabor Highway . From the highway junction one has to take an ancillary road iinland towards Banjaran Titiwangsa which is the backbone of Peninsular Malaysia.Traveling  for about 40 km of country road along palm oil plantation, the road ended up at Chemerong Forest Reserve, a park maintained by the Forestry Department.This place is well maintained with facilities like campsite, jungle track, running water and electricity ,toilets and gazebo. From this station there is a track two hours track leading to the beautiful Chemerong Waterfall which is the highest waterfall in Malaysia at 300 meter

Our journey started early in the morning towards Kem Balak trekking through jungle trek and climbing steep terrain in a never been logged tropical forest .It was steep climbing at the first leg of the journey, followed by steep descend, until we were just about to reach Kem Balak four hours later to take a good rest by the side of the stream which was the upper reaches of Sungai Chemerong. We continued to walk through undulating ground following closely to the bank Sungai Chemorong until we reached the first camping site.

The first camping site was beside a river and we pitched our camp at the riverside.It was raining most of the night and we stayed under the flysheet. We cooked our supper and had a good night sleep despite the rain. The next morning we pushed forward after breakfast for the summit of Gunung Berembun.From where we were in the morning we were somewhere midway to the  5000 ft summit, and most of the rest of our journey was ascending. But the trek was interesting with stunted bonsai type plants and small trees and cool air.After five hours of climb we reached the summit. After taking some rest we trekked down towards Langsir Waterfall.The journey to the campsite was a tough descent with steep gradient and difficult track.It was only when we almost reach the campsite, the track got better as we traced Sungai Langsir downstream towards the waterfall.

The campsite at Langsir waterfall was among the best I ever stopped in my outdoor experience. It was by the side of clear water Sungau Langsir and on the upper reach of Langsir Waterfall.The waterfall dropped to a depth we could not fathom because the sheer slope of the fall made it impossible to see its bottom.But at the beginning of the fall, just above our campsite, the skyline was a vista of mountainous forest with Gunung Keling as the backdrop.We could sit for hours enjoying the vista before us. The site , even though small and could accommodate only about 5 tents, was clean and had little sign of being trampled about.

The next morning we trekked Sungai Langsir on our downward journey to Kem Balak again .From Kem Balak we proceeded to Chemerong Waterfall which was one of the most beautiful Waterfall I had ever seen. At Chemerong Waterfall, water fallout of sheer slope cascading thunderously to a depth of 1000 feet.Where it fall there was enormous pools which cascading down to many more fools big enough for swimming and diving. It was getting late , we did not spend too much time and trekked for about two hour to Chemerong Camp

We reached Chemerong Camp when it was almost dark and as it was too late we spent another night camping at the campsite.