Treasure hunt on Bukit Larut

     

For two Sunday in a row, Seok Wan and I embarked on our self-mooted treasure hunt on Larut Hill. Our treasure in this case refers to the old bangalows  and rest houses on the hill. Besides three bungalows which had been renovated and suitable for occupancy the rest are left as it is for many years. Our aim is to locate all the bungalows and rest houses to check on its condition. The only transport up the hill which is by jeep has stopped its service since 2019 due to serious landsides at many locations along the tarred road but that is not our concern as we had planned to hike up to the peak of the hill. 

We started our hike on 19 Feb 2023 at 10:30 am on tarred road so that we could reach the summit early. The first building we reached was the tea garden guest house at 656 m height or 5 km from foothill. The building is in bad shape with falling roof and badly damaged interior. The building is really a white elephant project as a lot of money was spent in renovating the previous old building which was crumbling. A pity that the building has never been used and the management should explain to the public the reason behind it. As far as I know not many people know about its function as almost no publicity was done to promote it to Taiping folks and tourists.

The multi-storeys high waterfall at 6 km

Luckily our sombre mood after seeing the deplorable state of the  tea garden rest house was lightened  by the view of the magnificient waterfall after 500m of walk uphill. This was our first stop to have our snack . We sat by the road side refueling ourselves and enjoying the beauty of the towering waterfall which is easily five storeys high. Ten minutes past and we continued with our hike to the next bungalow,  Permai view rest house  ( Rumah Rehat Sri Permai ) which is just a short distance below the hill Station. It is only a medium size bungalow and its condition is not too pleasant to look at though structurally it is still intact. We did not manage to look at its interior as it was locked.  In my oponion this bungalow just needs a proper clean up , some minor repair and a new coat of paint to make it presentable to visitor. At the moment I wonder how many tourists really walk up the concrete stairs to take a closer look at the bungalow.

Permai View Bungalow

Rumah Rehat Beringin

On our way to the hill station or commonly called summit of Maxwell Hill at 1036 m height or 10 km from foothill,  we passed by the wooden hanging bridge and the observing tower which are all in the state of crumbling and are probihited from entering. The hill station is the nucleus of Maxwell Hill with three bungalows and few workers' quarters, public toilet , a cafe and a prayer room.  The public toilet, cafe , Federal Bungalow ( bangalo Angkasa ), and Bungalow Watson ( rumah rehat Beringin ) had been renovated before and are still in good condition.  In fact Rumah Rehat Beringin was serving as a guesthouse which offers bunker bed for solo traveller. 

Maxwell Hill Bungalow

Cafe and Jeep Station at Maxwell Hill

Rumah Rehat Angkasa was a western style bungalow with a fire place and is opened to group booking at a rate of Rm 600 per night. The other bungalow is Rumah Rehat Bukit Larut ( Maxwell Hill Rest house ) which is a big bungalow but its condition is very bad with foul smell from swifts dropping. Its kitchen is quite dark and has become a conducive dwelling place for swifts. When we approached the doorless kitchen, we were shock by the flock of swifts flying out from it. The condition is so bad that it may need a hefty sum to restore but no matter how this bungalow must be restored first due to the significant of its name , Maxwell Hill Bungalow. 

Federal Bungalow 

Interior of Federal Bungalow

The worker's quarter of Maxwell Hill Bungalow was a stand alone wooden house named Rumah Delima. It is situated behind Maxwell Hill Bungalow slightly on higher ground. There is only a single broken bed in it and some of the wooden planks making its floor had dropped. The place looks a bit eerie and once a you-tuber group had come to this house to film the inside of the house at night trying to record for strange sound. I  really salute them for their gut and bravery. There is another wooden worker's quarter behind Rumah Delima but the path to it was covered with bushes and we did not go closer to take a proper look.  

Rumah Delima , a worker's quarter

An isolated hut behind Maxwell Hill Bungalow

Roughly after 500 m uphill from the hill station, we came to a junction with a big Sri Kayangan signboard.Turning left will lead us to three bungalows which we discovered later as this was our first hike along this  road until the end of the road. We skipped the first bungalow which was the location of the once famous Tulip farm but had long been abandoned. The road had just been resurfaced and was very quiet . It is so peaceful and cool along this stretch of road and we encountered no one along this stretch of road. After roughly 1 km we came to a nice bungalow on a slope. It is  Banglo Tempinis or Treacher's Bungalow which can be reached after climbing some concrete steps. This beautiful bungalow had been renovated before and was opened for booking at a rate of RM 600 to group booking. The landscape around it is breathtaking with many big granite boulders and pine trees decorating its garden. The biggest boulder is fixed with a hanging iron ladder for visitor to climb up to its top to have a better view of the hill. This bungalow is undeniably a premier  lodging place  to enjoy the serenity and beauty of the hill. 

Tempinis Bungalow

A beautiful Tempinis Bungalow

Big Granite Boulder with ladder

The final Bungalow along this road is the Box Bungalow or Rumah Rehat Sri Kayangan at 1242 m height.  The telecom towers and Gunung Hijau are clearly visible from here. Its front portion is small and resembles a box but it is still quite a big bungalow. It has not been renovated in recent time and was surrounded by lallang with some blood thirty leeches. We walked around its compound and peeping into its interior only to find a pool of water on its floor signifying leaking roof. Its hall is almost empty and the back portion is definitely an ugly scene. In fact the bushes around the bungalow had recently been cleared maybe by the ultra trail run organisers as the runners will run through the jungle trail from this bungalow until the Hindu Temple at the foothill. This bungalow should be renovated as this is the highest bungalow still available for booking if it is in good shape. The highest bungalow, The Cottage is no more available to the public as it has been taken over by telecom to be used as its office and worker's quarter. 

Delighted that we had reached The Box Bungalow

The Box Bungalow in pitiful state

Caulfield Hill and Gunung Hijau seen from the box

The mist has enveloped our way downhill

As we were going downhill from the Box Bungalow the hill was suddenly covered by  thick mist signalling rain was  on its way. We were right as the rain just came pouring down a short moment later and we had to put on our raincoats to avoid suffering from cold later.  As it was getting late and we did not want to reach the foothill too late we decided to explore the other bungalows not yet visited some other time. We walked quite fast while going downhill as it was not so tiring going down the slope. The rain only stopped when we reached the waterfall near tea garden. The rain was heavy but without strong wind. We would surely be worried if there were strong wind that could uproot trees and cause landslides. When we reached the foothill it was almost 5:30 pm .The hike up and down the hill took 7 hours 15 minutes covering a distance of 23.4 km with an ascent of 1249m.