Gunung (or Mountain) Serapi is actually one of the peaks of the Matang Mountain, which is in the Kubah national park. You can take the trail to the summit as we did or you can take another trail which leads you through the rainforest to the Matang wildlife santuary.
the start of the trail to matang wildlife santuary
Alo near the bottom is a frog pond, unfortunatelly we didn’t actualy see any frogs in or near it.
the signboard suggests that we may have had more luck spotting frogs at night...ie when the park is closed 😉
This mountain is a little different from the other ones which you can climb in the area. There is a Telecommunications tower built on top of the mountain.
Telcom tower on mt. Serapi
this is used to take the heavy loads to the top of the tower
Quite frankly the tower building reminds me a little of some of the Starwars “architecture” anyway to build, and later resupply the telecommunication station on the summit the telephone company has built a concrete road nearly all the way to the top.
- The concrete road allows easy access.
This changes the experience significantly, on one hand you are walking on a road so you don’t feel like you have quite as much contact with the nature around you. Also on a sunny day some sections of the climb may be a bit hot so take a hat. On the other hand however you are not constantly looking underfoot because the path is flat and even. And while there are not as many larger animals you will be able to spot a lot of smaller lizards and isects.
An interesting very "wide eyed" cricket
Grasshopper, further up the trail
your typical ant...on steroids 😉 (3 cm long)
this cockroach is about 8 cm long
a lot of small skinks like this one scamper of the road as you pass
ok fine, this is just a snail
an iguana of some sort, quite happy to pose for pictures
there seems to be quite a lot of these red dragonflies anywhere near jungle streams
the blue dragonfly was more difficult to spot
a flying stick insect, it was off again before I could get a better shot
another cricket
This is also the mountain to choose for anyone who has concerns about their fitness, you can always go as fast or slow as you want, there are huts you can rest in and the road make it considerably easier to get to the top. In fact if you climb the mountain on the week end you may see the locals climbing the mountain for exercise, some read papers as they walk other jog to the top (not easy).
Most of the journey to the top of the mountain you are surrounded by rainforest with a lot of ferns and other undegrowth.
top of a tree fern
one of the more common sarawak orchids
this bamboo like plant is used by the local people to wrap food
fern shoot
we all know what this is and what it is used for 😉
As you get close to the top the trees get a bit smaller an thinner, if you climb on a cloudy day you will also find some of the clouds passing right around you.
The trees getting smaller, the species are also a bit diferent up here
One of the neighbouring peaks
a cloud passing around us
Overall the mountain is not too crowded though, we only saw 4 other people climbing it on our satuday trip. Also unlike many of the mountains around Kuching this one has an awesome view from the purpuse built viewing tower. On a good day you can see both the Indonesian mountains to the west and Kuching city to the east, as well as the turtle islands out on the south china sea to the North.
The turtle Islands, you may recognize them from the end scenes in the "farewell to the king" movie which was filmed in Sarawak
The view from the summit onto the south china sea
So despite being a little apprehensive about the trip (because of the concrete road all the way to the top) it turned out to be a fun and rewarding trip. It is also only 30 kliometres from the city limits.
Loved these pictures. I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Sarawak, and the pictures brought back some wonderful memories! Thanks. Terima Kasih, Dzienkuje.
Thanks, glad you liked the page, sorry the updating is going very slowly.
I think the picture of happy iguana is more like chameleon..:)
Nope sorry, no chameleons in this part of the world.
it is called an Agamid Lizard
Very nice pictures tq.
Is there any Hindu temple near that area?
Not near to the trail I used. But I have heard of one in the area. It is on land that used to be a coffee plantation where Indian workers used to work. The plantation is no more I think, but the temple was restored last year.
yes there is a hindu temple ,from the british colony time,please call me Morgan 016 857 5678 or email me at morgang1@sarawak.gov.my or macgaiyver@yahoo.com
anyone can give a phone number of this place…tq
Just did this walk based on your advice and it was great! Definately recommend following it up with the waterfall hike to cool off. A few pictures can be found in my blog if anyone needs any further convincing!
adakah di kenakan bayaran untuk masuk ke kubah national park
Yes you do have to pay for entrance to the national park. I don’t remember the prices, it was not a lot when I was there but it was going up quit quickly…
During the confrontation the British Army had a radio station on the top
of the mountain, which was well fortified. Are there any traces left of the
military presence from those days ?
The top of the station has a telecommunications tower on it still. Of course now it is a modern station serving telephone networks etc. It is likely it would have been placed over the same spot. The viewing platform which you can go to at the top of the mountain is actually on a slightly lower peak about 250 meters north of the highest peak.