Smiling All The Way To The Top

There are 2 legends  about how Gunung Senyum got its name. 
The first one was about 2 warriors  fighting at the foot of the mountain with smiles on their faces. One of them died....of course with a smile on his face. 

The second story is about the Sultan of Pahang who passed by the unexplored mountain and asked his 2 guides the name of the place. They smile at each not really knowing the name. So as not to embarrassed them, the Sultan decided to call it Gunung Senyum. 

Trekking up to the caves through the 'kelapa sawit'

I was lucky enough to follow Ted on a reconnaissance  trek up Gunung Senyum. He had agreed to work with Pelopor Adventure to train some DiGi's personnel. They handle the outdoor activity while Ted and his NEXT coaches (Husna & Ari) handle the indoor. But to be able to connect the 2 activities, Ted decided to follow them up to the caves. So last Thursday 8th July 2010, 8 of us went up to explore some of these amazing caves.

The Pahang National Forestry did a  great job in maintaining Gunung Senyum as an area for nature lovers and trekkers. Gunung Senyum and Gunung Jebak Puyoh, situated about 40 km from Temerloh is well known for their limestone, bats as well as the 20 explorable caves.

Being inside each cave gave you a feeling of awe and amazement. Each cave has a unique name with mythological stories which made it an interesting adventure.  The name for each cave itself indicated not only the legend behind the naming but  described the limestone that formed at the entrance. What a journey of fairy-tales it was....

Gua Piala

Gua Kelawar

Bats flying all around us

Limestone carved by God

Gua Mata Air

 Gua Hidang....legend has it that it can house120 'dulang makan' which mean about 480 people can be served here

Beautiful limestone as the roof keeping the sun away...it was amazing how cooling it was

The limestone behind me looks like flowing milk

 

A ray of sunshine shooting into the cave...felt like I was on Raiders of The Lost Arc set

Husna making an eerie shadow in the space between Gua Silat and Gua Danau Impian

Listening to our guide telling the story of the garden where we are standing.... the Penunggu maintaining this particular area, supposedly the burial area of the Bunian

Striking a pose near the fossilized bark

Trekking into the entrance of Gua Angin... its like a set to The Center of The Earth. 

 The wall of the cave looks like Avatar

Our darling Husna volunteered to climb down the excavated grave in Makam Tok Long, picking up trashes left by some irresponsible unscrupulous visitors

In awe

Thank you to Pelopor Adventure and The NEXT coach, for allowing this novice trekker to experience an adventure of a lifetime....

The Pelopor Adventure and The NEXT Coaches...bunch of amazing energy

Smile! You are on Smiling Mountain