Mount Gading National Park

Mount Gading National Park in Kuching, Sarawak may not be popular with Malaysians. Even among locals, this National Park is unheard off. This is quite surprising as this National Park is the home of Rafflesia, the biggest flower in the world. Gading is a local word for “ivory”. Nestled nicely at the small town of Lundu, a 2 hours drive from Kuching. The town is famous for sea products as it is situated next to the South China Sea.

At the last Gawai Festival holidays, I took the opportunity to camp in the National Park. I was unlucky as this is not the Rafflesia season but I still enjoy the beauty of the nature nevertheless. The main idea is to conquer the 3.8km Mount Gading summit.

Day 1

You can take a bus from 3^rd mile bus station to the Lundu town. I on the other hand drove my old Citra from my in laws house in Singai, Bau. I started my journey from 9am and I drove very slowly, just to enjoy the morning view. I arrived at Lundu town around 10am and it is already very hot. Took a wrong turn in the small town but a quick check with a local guy at the farmers’ market put me back on the right track. The signage to the park can be very small and not very obvious. Hence, you need to be very sharp to look for the direction to the Park.

After few wrong turns, I finally arrived at the Park around 10.45am. Make it a practice to ask for the direction if you think that you are lost. There is no point going on at the wrong direction. The park is well organized and well kept. Everything from the park to the toilet is clean. The staffs are friendly and helpful.

The entrance fee is RM10 and since I took the campsite, it cost me just RM5 per night. After a quick administrative business, I went to the campsite. I put up my tent, put all my things into the tent and suddenly I realized that I need some more charcoal to cook my meals. So I drove back to the town and bought some more charcoal and bottled waters. I do not want to gamble boiling river water for my drinks unless it is really necessary. The best thing about this park is the proximity with the Lundu town. However, the local groceries close as early as 7pm. You can buy drinks and canned food from Shell petrol station.

I’m back to my tent and change my gear. I pick up the map to the Park and started hiking up forest trail to check point 1 and 2. Check point 1 and 2 is where you can see the Lundu town and the South China Sea.

Part of the track is elevated by wooden plank. You need to be careful walking on the wooden plank as it can be slippery. There a few times that my bump kissed the plank. Luckily, there is no serious injury or bruisers. After covering the trail, I jumped to the river in front of my tent, lying on my back, feeling the raging water massaging my body. It is such a soothing feeling.

After a cool bath, I started a fire using charcoal from local shop. I can’t get solid fuel in Kuching but charcoal is the best substitute. It takes some time to put up a fire and after a while I had “let there be light moment”.  With raging fire, I cooked Maggie Mee and I must confess that it does taste better with ‘charcoal flavor’. 

By 6pm stormed ran havoc at the park causing blackouts. Luckily, my tent stood firm. It is good to have a strong foundation in everything you do. If your basic is firm, you can withstand everything no matter what been thrown at you. By 8.30pm the rain began to subside and the electricity came back. I began reading my book to kill some time and by 10.30 I fell asleep.

Day 2

The next day I woke up early for Subuh prayer and started making breakfast. I invented an impromptu baked beans sardine menu. How does it taste like? Well it taste like baked beans and sardine J. Today I will conquer the 3.8km trail to the Mount Gading summit.

I changed to more comfortable clothes and put in necessary rations of waters into waterproof bag. I took one small bottle of 100plus and mountain dew. I left a tin of coke and power bar, a decision that I later regret. In every challenge, you need to make sure that your reserves are sufficient to sustain your energy. You do not want to be stranded without sufficient reserves in the middle of your objective.

I glad that I had traded my heavy DSLR camera with a smaller and lighter GoPro camera. GoPro is just a size of your palm but can produce stunning photos. The small size can fit into your bag nicely as it does not take much room. Small and light means it can be easily carried around without much extra weight burden. If you put the camera in it’s casing, it become waterproof up to 30 meters deep. It is important to use efficient equipment in your endeavor.

Guided by the map taken from the HQ, I started my journey to the summit at 8am. According to the map, the journey up to the summit will take 3 hours.  Since ascending will take up 3 hours and usually descending will be shorter time, I estimated that I should be back around 1pm.

The trail is easy enough for the first 200 meter and it began to become difficult when it began ascending to the summit. The jungle track was color coded with red and white paint on the trees. Just follow the sign to the top. I know I always said break the rules but you need to be an expert in the said terrain before you can break the rules. In this case, I just follow the rules set up by the expert.

Although the objective is to reach the summit, it does not mean that you can ignore the beauty of the journey. Along the trail you can enjoy picturesque forest view and breathtaking waterfalls. What I like about the park is the information boards on all over the parks. The boards give you info on the history and backgrounds of the entire specific place. Hence, you can appreciate the Park not only for the beauty but the story behind it.

The first quarter of the journey is modestly easy. However, it becomes more and more difficult as you nearing the summit. The difficult terrain really makes your energy level drops very fast. This is your reserves such as drinking water is very vital. Drinking water replenishes your body fluids flushed out from your sweat and gives you energy.

However, the drinking water can only supplement your physical requirements. What is more important is the mental strength to get you moves your body to the top. Your brain needs to keep telling your legs to move up the mountain, and to keep coordinating your body to negotiate the terrain. Your will power and mental strength need to be the cheerleader, telling you to keep moving forward.

I reached the summit at 11am, well within the expected time. It is time to reward your self with photos and much needed sugar from your drinking water. Its time to give your self a pat at the back for made it up to the summit. It affirms the notion that if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything.

After enjoying the moment of glory, I descending back to the base camp, basking the notions that I have conquered another summit, another challenge, and another victory. That day, I have outdone my self. Pushing my self beyond the limit and taste the glory.