My first hike up Gunung Angsi from the Bukit Putus side was completed in a fug of flu and fever. After revisiting this Negeri Sembilan favourite, I can confirm it’s no push over….
The first time I ever climbed Gunung Angsi it was from the Bukit Putus side. I was sick. So sick that I forgot to bring my shoes and had to borrow a pair from a fellow KL Hiker (thanks Hari!). I figured rather than lie in bed feeling rough, it would be better to get outdoors and shake it off. How wrong I was. When I finally arrived at the peak after what I considered a difficult climb I rolled over on the ground and lay there in a cold sweat until it was time to descend.
This visit, made with Eric, I was in the pink of health and curious to learn whether the hike really was as tough as I remembered. I was a little out of shape and practise and the API reading for the area was over 150, but hey, I wasn’t deliriously ill.
In sadistic Malaysian mountain fashion, Bukit Putus throws the hill at you from the get go, with 3 sets of stairs (the first concrete, the following 2 metal) followed by a gradient of no less than 60 degrees which seldom lets up. And when it does, it’s brief.
It’s 20 minutes and almost 1 kilometre later when Eric and I finally hit the hard earned flat wide path that precedes the trail’s first rest area. Visiting on a weekday, between Independence Day and Malaysia Day it was decorated in Malaysian flags, and deserted of people. Had it been in the run up to Chinese New Year, the area would have been festooned with lanterns.
The remainder of the hike is a series of inclines, none as long or as sheer as the one we had just surmounted, and thankfully staggered with pleasant flats in between.
At the 1.5 kilometre mark, a lookout point proffered what would have been a view of the Terip Reservoir if not for the haze. Eric and I could smell the smoke as we panted for breath. It was acrid and heavy, as if someone had lit up a barbeque nearby.
An obstacle course of wooden stumps and planks followed. Placed to help hikers navigate the mud filled pools that formed during rainy season and minimise damage created when new trails are forged, the stumps and planks were a welcome distraction on the bone dry trail.
A gully marked the psychological point at which the final leg of our journey to the Angsi’s peak began. As before, it’s a combination of short but manageable inclines and flats.
The final viewpoint is a mere 10 minutes before the summit and where the final push up a ropped section of root-lined hillslope begins.
At 825 metres, Gunung Angsi’s crown is exposed and barren with a handful of mango trees planted there for decor rather than shade. Commemorative plaques decorate tree trunks and a sturdy wooden shelter stands beside where a corrugated metal “bus stop” that previously amused hikers lies crumpled.
Ordinarily there would be views of rolling hills and small townships on either side of the summit, but obscured by a veil of smoke there were none this visit.
After half an hour, Eric and I began our descent taking the Ulu Bendul trail hidden next to the hill’s collapsed metal beirut which marked the geographically highest point of Gunung Angsi.
Our ranger didn’t recommend this return, warning us that it rained around 2pm, but the sky though grey from smog didn’t look overcast. Making a decision to risk a trans (through hike/loop) anyway, we figured we could make it across both river crossings before any threatening rain clouds blew in, and picked up our pace to be sure.
Within 20 minutes of navigating the narrow path down Gunung Angsi’s sheer face, we were figuring out how to use Bukit Botak’s ropes and metal ladder to scale our way down. It appeared hard, but in truth was easy, and we were at its foot within 5 minutes.
The naturally stepped 40 minute descent to the first of 2 river crossing zipped by after that. After another 20 minutes of the same, the sounds of rushing water grew louder as we came to the second river crossing. Wider and deeper than the first, on the other side of it is Kem Tangga Batu.
From here the narrow undulating route followed Sungai Batang Terachi below us, which we glimpse through the tall dipterocarp trees of Ulu Bendul Recreational Park. A near 2 kilometre stretch of trail, this section felt particularly long, were it not for the abundance of curious flora.
Spotted on the forest floor were a variety of fungi, and serendipitously a cluster of flowering bat lilies. Many of the trees here are labelled too, including our newly named national tree, the Intsia Palembanica or Merbau.
40 minutes on, we exited the hillside at the riverside shelter and began the final leg of our hike. Wedged between the rush of clear river water and a thick black waterpipe, within 20 minutes we were at the park’s picnic area, identifiable by the presence of litter. (Un)civilisation at last….
10.20am Start of hike from Bukit Putus ranger station
10.45am Rest area
11.10am Viewpoint 1
11.30am  Gully
11.55am Viewpoint 2
12.05pm Gunung Angsi peak
12.35pm Leave peak
12.55pm Botak Hill
1.35pm 1st river crossing
2pm 2nd river crossing and Kem Tangga Batu
2.40pm Riverside shelter
3pm Exit near Ulu Bendul ranger station
Altitude 825 meters with a view.
Time and distance 1 hours 45 minutes to the peak via Bukit Putus. and 2 hours and 30 minutes down via the Ulu Bendul trail. Total distance: 11.4km: 4.5km to peak from bottom of Bukit Putus and 6.9km from the peak to the entrance of Ulu Bendul. There’s an additional 2.7km to walk along the road between the two trailheads.
Rating Moderate to Hard. I rate it as equivalent to hiking up Gunung Datuk, although distance-wise the hike up via Bukit Putus is almost twice as far.
Permits RM5/person available from the ranger’s station at the foot of Bukit Putus. Open: Mon-Fri: 7.30am-11am; Sat-Sun: 6am-11.30am.
Facilities Free use of toilets on the Bukit Putus side. On the Ulu Bendul side, toilets are 30 sen per entry, and food stalls open a little later in the day.
Parking Free parking is available at both the Bukit Putus and Ulu Bendul trailheads although there are more lots available on the Bukit Putus side.
For the map and details such as location of river crossings, go to my All Trail map for Gunung Angsi loop here.
GPS coordinates
Bukit Putus trailhead 2.727492,102.058330
Ulu Bendul trailhead 2.730539, 102.078471
All images taken on my iPhone X.
POKOK KELAPA 
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