MT. BRINCHANG REVISITED ON 30 OCTOBER 2005 AND NATURAL WATER FROM SIMPANG PULAI TO CAMERON HIGHLANDS ROAD BY LIM FANG HAU

The last time I trekked up to the summit of Mt. Brinchang was in May 1996. Mt. Brinchang, with the height of 6,666 feet or 2,032 metres is located in Cameron Highlands. This time the run to Mt. Brinchang started at 6.00 am. I ran with my relative (Mr. Tan Chan Poh) (“TCP”). He led the way throughout the entire run and ran according to my comfortable pace.

The run to Mt. Brinchang from Brinchang town was 12 km. For the first 7 km the road was not flat as we had to face the undulating road surface with many uphill climb. This was still manageable to me. For the next 5 km, the run became tougher as we had to run up some steep slopes. This was considered the toughest run I ever encountered as it consumed most of my legs muscle strength. We managed to reach the summit in 1.5 hours. The weather along the run was cold and I had to wear sweater for the run. I only managed to feel the heat in my body after running for 0.5 hours and I found myself having difficulty to warm up before the run.

The return journey to Brinchang town for 12 km took us 1 hr 15 min+. I had to run slowly especially when descending from Mt. Brinchang to prevent my knees from getting injured. The air in the morning was quite cool and refreshing. After reaching Brinchang town, I could not run at my normal pace. I had to run at a very slow pace as my legs muscles were quite sore. I ran around the Strawberry Park for 6 km. TCP was kind enough to accompany me at running at my slow pace. I finished the run in 3 hr 46 min 45.25 sec.

One thing I was amazed was that TCP (age 48) ran with me for 30 km without drinking water. According to him, my pace was too slow for him. He could only run a half marathon as he has no patience to run a full marathon at a fast pace, i.e. he would probably hit the wall after 30 km. He ran the half marathon at quite a fast pace and his personal best was around 1 hr 45 min and below 2 hr.

Another interesting fact about the return journey from Cameron Highlands via the Simpang Pulai road is the natural water from the mountain. If you are using the Simpang Pulai road to return to Kuala Lumpur from Cameron Highland, you will notice some vehicles stopping at the road side (on your right hand side) somewhere 15 km before reaching Simpang Pulai. Those drivers were stopping at that location to collect natural mineral water from the mountain.

The water flows through the pipes and it has been filtered naturally through various layers of rocks of the mountain. Before the road from Simpang Pulai to Cameron Highland was built, the Titiwangsa mountain range forms part of the natural water catchments area. Part of the mountain range was cleared for the construction of the alternative road to Cameron Highland. As a result some concrete wall had to be constructed to prevent soil erosion. The concrete wall was built with pipes to allow water to flow into the drainage system. The cooling natural water flowing out of the pipe was considered clean and safe for drinking. I took home four bottles of natural water for drinking. The taste was nice and you don’t need to boil it before drinking. I did not have stomach problem after drinking the water. Infect, some Malays or Indians collected the water and bottled it as mineral water for sale. As compared with other the natural water from Cameron Highlands, the natural water from the Titiwangsa mountain range is much cleaner. There are some agricultural activities in Cameron Highlands and the pesticides may flow through the water system. There are no agricultural activities at all on the Titiwangsa mountain range. I did not have a camera to snap shot the picture of the location. I’ll try to get a camera the next time if I travel to Cameron Highlands again.

Some facts about the road to Cameron Highlands via Simpang Pulai are depicted below.
1. There are no street lights along the entire road from Simpang Pulai to Cameron Highlands (distance around 52 km). It is considered quite dangerous for night driving due to the foggy condition of the road. There are some sign boards on cautioning drivers on the foggy conditions at night.

2. The road is vulnerable to land slide. On my return journey, there was minor traffic congestion on the road due to the land slide. Portion of the road was covered with mud. At that time, it was a raining season.

3. If you are coming down from Cameron Highland via the Simpang Pulai road and you decided to stop (on the left side of the road) to collect natural mineral water, please take extra caution of your own safety when crossing the road (unless you decide to stop at the right side of the road). Some vehicles are speeding downwards at around 80 to 90 km/h.

4. The lanes are much wider as compared with the Tapah to Cameron Highlands road. This allows the vehicles to travel within the legal speed limit of 80 to 90 km/h.

5. Time taken to reach Cameron Highlands from Simpang Pulai is around 1 hr 15 min to 1.5 hours. The Tapah to Cameron Highlands road would take you around 1 hr 45 min to 2 hrs (60 km) depending on the traffic condition and you can only travel at around 30 to 50 km/h due to the narrow lanes.