Back to back free run at foothill of Taiping's Maxwell Hill.

Starting point of my morning run just behind my house

As I am staying at the foothill of Maxwell Hill, I have the privilege of just running out of my house and immediately able to enjoy the beautiful greenery and fresh air along the fringes of Maxwell Hill. I usually have my free run in the evening and my usual route is the roads along the fringes of Maxwell Hill. I tried to avoid lake garden if possible because it is no more an ideal place for a peaceful and healthy run as it is too polluted caused by the exhaust from heavy traffic especially after school. On 18 Feb 2017, Saturday and 19 Feb 2016 Sunday , I do not have to accompany Seok Wan for our weekend morning walk as she is busy with her official duty. This is in fact a  rare opportunity for me to run in the morning. So I embarked on my back to back free run along my usual training route on Saturday and Sunday.

18 Feb 2017 Saturday:

I started my run after 8.00 am from my house. I ran about 0.5 km in my  housing estate before going towards Burmese pool road just a short distance away. 

Burmese pool with its early visitors

After reaching the bridge, I turned back even though there is a trail going up the hill which is more suited for those more capable runners. From Burmese pool , I jogged along the road leading to Maxwell Hill. I did not go up Maxwell hill but go straight towards Taiping Water Treatment Plant which has a slight elevation but not too tough. On the way I passed by an old Indian temple and a small waterfall. There is a trail leading to a more beautiful waterfall near to the water treatment plant but not many people know the way. After reaching the water treatment plant, I could not go further as it is a restricted area and I had to turn back. This part of the route is the best place for exercise as there is almost no traffic and there is  music created by the flow of water from the mountain stream and waterfall which surely will motivate one to go faster.  But there maybe monkeys along the route which may not be friendly.

Old Indian temple by the stream

Taiping water treatment plant

the iron bridge crossing Ranting river

Small waterfall near to Indian temple

From the Maxwell hill entrance I ran towards Taman Suria but I did not enter the housing estate which I usually do. Instead, I ran towards lake garden as the traffic is not heavy in the morning of a weekend. My aim was to snap some photos of the ruins of Taiping Rest house or Casuarina Hotel. 

Remaining pillars of Taiping Rest House

The badly vandalized side building of the Hotel

The main building of the Hotel.

It was formerly the best hotel in Taiping but due to poor management it was turned into a ruins not by natural disaster but neglect and theft. From the rest house I continued my run into New Club and turned left to go downhill towards lake garden and waterfall road which finally leads towards Burmese Pool. I stopped at the entrance towards Burmese Pool and the total distance covered was 9.7 km in a slow time of 1 hour 22 minutes.  


19 Feb 2017 Sunday :

I started my run slightly earlier than the day before. After some simple stretching exercise I ran into Taiping driving school just behind my house. It is hilly and the loop is about 800 m. This is usually the beginning part of my run. There is a pool with crystal clear water inside the driving school but it is less attractive now due to neglect. In fact I am the one responsible for digging the stream into a pool by removing the rocks many years ago. It took me many years to build it.

nice hilly road 

hardly any car as it is a Sunday

The bamboo forest by the stream

the man-made pool with low water level

small fishes swimming in the pool  

muddy trail towards private durian orchards uphill.

After running a loop in the driving school I continued with my run covering the brim of my housing estate before I ran into Burmese pool area again.. I did not stopped at the bridge like yesterday but continued towards the most beautiful part of Burmese pool. It is just a short distance from the bridge and there were already picnickers at the pool.  After snapping some photos I continued my run out from Burmese pool towards Maxwell Hill. There were many hikers and visitors to Maxwell Hill in the weekends. So Maxwell Hill is gaining popularity nowadays and it is perhaps time Taiping Municipality improved on the facilities at Maxwell hill especially the Rest houses on the hill.

Burmese pool where one can slide along slippery rock into the pool

I ran up Maxwell with tortoise speed but still I received praise from a hiker who thought I was going to run up to the peak which is 13 km long and 1300m high. I did not go far but just turned back after reaching  about 0.5 km uphill or 386 m high as registered by my runkeeper. The hill run is also a part of my usual evening run and maximum distance I had ever tried was only  2 miles up the hill without stop. I dared not do hilly run too often and too far as it is quite detrimental to my knees and too taxing on my heart.

perfect track for hikers to walk or run up. 

big crowds waiting to go up the hill either by jeep or hiking 

After coming out from Maxwell hill,  I turned right towards Taiping Water Treatment Plant. I ran until the restricted area and turned back.  On the way down I met a group of hikers maybe from outstation intending to hike up Ranting waterfall. It is a shame I had yet to go up to ranting waterfall which is a big waterfall but not so easily accessible. I will need a guide if I want to hike up to the waterfall as it is only accessible via  jungle trail and there may not be any sign to show its direction.

This should be the steps leading to Ranting Waterfall.

 I met more people doing their morning walk here as it is a Sunday. This place is perfect for those who wants to sweat it out in privacy. This time I ran into Taman Suria which is my usual training route as I like the slight sloppy and straight road along the fence of  Taiping MRSM's field. After the slope I turned into Taman Suria to visit Austin Pool to snap some pictures. I passed by the pool every time I run into Taman Suria but never set my eyes on it. The deeper pool is quite deep inside the jungle maybe a kilometer from the road outside.

The stream from Austin pool

perfect concrete jogging track 

A resourceful resident who turns his backyard into a beautiful landscape

After snapping a few pictures of the ordinary Austin stream I took a few turns before I came to Taman Suria Damai which is a newly completed housing estate with quiet environment and nice back lane making up of even concrete slabs just perfect for jogging. It is easily more than 1.5 km running the back lanes of Taman Suria Damai but I seldom go inside unless I want to do longer run. From Taman Suria Damai I took the back lane of Taman Suria and then back to waterfall road. I passed by Taiping War Memorial and offered to help a couple snapped their photo. They were a bit surprised but happy because wefies is definitely less attractive than picture taken by a third party. Immediately after War Memorial I turned into Burmese Pool road and stopped my run at the entrance to Taman Sentosa which a quarter km to my house.

Taiping  War Memorial

The stretch of road passing through Taiping War Memorial was the usual gathering place of motorcyclists. In the evening especially during weekends they will be doing dangerous stunts and at the same time producing toxic fume . I made it a point not to jog in the evening during weekend.

My Sunday running route as shown by runkeeper

I did not continue my run with the climb until I reached my starting point at the back of  my house which I usually do. The run was almost 13 km but the time is a record as it is almost two hours. No wonder I felt very thirsty and tired. I think I will make sure I carry water with me If I were to embark on long distance run. Even though my time is really slow but I am totally satisfied with my back to back runs on Saturday and Sunday with a total distance of almost 23 km.