Just six hours after returning to our hotel room at the end of a long night Off The Eaten Track, we were up and making final preparations for an early morning cardio workout courtesy of a steep climb up Bukit Tabur, also known as the Dragonback Ridge.
Bukit Tabur is a quartz ridge just 20 minutes’ drive from central KL. The ridge is divided into east and west sections by the Klang Gates Dam. The eastern ridge – which we would be tackling – is considered the easier (and shorter) of the two climbs. Yet there has been one recent fatality, and one broken arm, on this climb, so it is clearly not to be taken lightly!
Though just a few kilometres long, the eastern ridge trek is described as requiring above average fitness and is a class 3 – 4 climb which puts it somewhere between “Scrambling with increased exposure. A rope can be carried but is usually not required. Falls are not always fatal.” and “Simple climbing, with exposure. A rope is often used. Natural protection can be easily found. Falls may well be fatal.“. So yes, we were a little nervous!
To avoid the worst of the day’s heat, we began our climb in the early morning gloom soon after 7am.
The climb to the top of the ridge took us two hours, though we made plenty of stops along the way to admire the increasingly stunning views across KL to one side and jungle as far as the eye can see to the other.
Our guide, Ben, provided us with climbing gloves, and these proved to be an absolute godsend. For large parts of the climb, we were scrambling up on all fours, using trees and roots and the occasional rope (left behind by previous trekkers) to help pull us over steep rocks. Being a quartz ridge, many of the rocks were very hard and jagged, and the vines were occasionally slimy, so without our gloves we’d probably have been taking too many risks trying not to use our hands.
Though it was a cloudy morning, and we saw only occasional glimpses of the sun, it was, inevitably, very humid. The breeze that we began to feel as we neared the top of the ridge was very welcome, though by this time we were already drenched with sweat!
Kit was wearing hiking trousers while I’d opted for shorts. By the end of the climb, I wasn’t sure which of us had made the better choice: I might have stayed a little cooler, but also had a few more scrapes from climbing over all those jagged rocks.
The views from the top of the ridge were spectacular, despite the cloud. There are four peaks on the eastern ridge, and we slowly navigated the top of the ridge from the first to the third. The final peak, called the Far East Peak, is considered too dangerous to climb, so we had to settle for taking some pictures of it from afar.
As we were taking pictures and admiring the scenery at the top of the ridge, we heard what sounded like a very loud bird call. Ben explained that this was in fact gibbons in the jungle below us. They are very nervous and sightings are rare, but we did see movement in the trees which was almost certainly a gibbon beating a hasty retreat when we got a little too close.
Just 2.5 hours after we began our trek, it was time to start heading back down. The path down beyond the third peak ridge is less steep than the ascent, but there are also fewer rocks, trees and vines to grab hold of, so I would have not wanted to be going up that way. We spent a good part of the descent crabbing our way down, and were again very thankful for the gloves as we were able to put our hands down on the muddy path without worrying about how dirty we were getting.
Thirty minutes later, we were back at the car, with a change of clothes waiting for us.
To celebrate our conquering of the Dragonback ridge, Ben arranged brunch at a local Mamak, the Malaysian name for a restaurant that stays open 24/7. Here we feasted on rotis and dosa (a South Indian pancake), finishing with a chocolate-filled roti that would probably have been very guilt inducing if we had not have burnt off quite so many calories that morning!
Rather than taking us back to our hotel, we asked Ben to instead drop us off at the Batu Caves. Probably KL’s #1 tourist attraction, this is a limestone hill containing a series of caves which are, collectively, one of the most popular Hindu shrines outside India.
To reach the caves, visitors are required to climb 272 steps. Between each landing, there are an odd number of steps. This means that if you lead with your right foot, you will first step onto each of the landings with your right foot. This is significant, because it is considered respectful to cross the threshold of a Hindu holy site or temple leading with your right foot.
The number 272 is also significant. Climbing this staircase is considered to be an act of paying repentance for the 272 sins committed in life. Particular ardent followers will climb the stairs on their knees having rolled – as opposed to walked – from the roadside to the foot of the staircase. And if you have committed more than 272 sins, of course you can climb the staircase more than once!
Batu Caves is the focal point of the annual Hindu festival of Thaipusam, and unfortunately for us, this festival had ended just a few days before our visit, with a clean-up operation that was far from over! The whole site was a mess, with rubbish everywhere, and no sign that anyone was working hard to clean up.
As a result of the mess, we didn’t particularly enjoy our visit to the caves, although it was fun watching the wild macaque monkeys who hang out here during the day when they can steal food from bins, and occasionally out of the hands of unsuspecting tourists!
At one point, one of the macaques swiped a bottle of milk from the trash, carried it up onto an overhead arch, and then threw it down to the ground below. It didn’t land on anybody’s head, but it did cause quite a commotion, for which I am sure the monkey was very pleased with itself!
