Gunung Jagoi revisited - 09.12.18

It has been quite a dry December so far. Very unusual for Kuching as it is the North-east monsoon season. But I am NOT complaining! Today was another nice and sunny day. Initially planned to go Gunung Singai but then I realized it’s a public holiday in Malaysia (Maal Hijrah) and Mount Singai would be quite a busy with city folk. Instead, we drove to Mount Jagoi and trekked all the way to the summit and view point.

Because there are over a hundred photos, I will place them into 4 different posts which will be posted separately over time. Therefore, see also (clickable links):
1. Gunung Jagoi main post (this one)
2. Flora of Gunung Jagoi
3. Local fruits at Gunung Jagoi
4. Abandoned Summit Village at Gunung Jagoi
They will become clickable when the respective posts have been published.


Mount Jagoi has a lot of farm land, orchards, plantations and rubber gardens. There are natural forests here of course, kerangas at the top and what’s left of the remaining original hill forest. Winged fruits of Dipterocarp trees litter the ground but I do not know if the hardwood and Dipterocarp trees along the summit trail occur naturally or were planted decades ago. Perhaps the largest emergent ones are natural dwellers and were somehow left undisturbed.


Before the trek, we had roti canai (Indian flat bread) for breakfast. It was good with dhal curry as a dipping sauce. The squarish one is “roti telur” as it has egg added to it while the round one is “roti kosong” or plain roti.


This I name the “Thousand Steps” of Jagoi, never really counted them but there are so many!


Very disheartening to see so much trash left behind by people. Where did they leave their brains? Fortunately, some folk have made the effort to collect the refuse and place them at specific spots all along the trail for easy removal later.


We may not have four seasons here but we sure do get some very beautiful colors in the jungle too!


Making our way to the summit, walking along a sandy trail fringed by shady trees (Small and large Dipterocarps, rubber trees and fruit trees).


This reclining tree is still very much alive even though a big section of its trunk has turned into a natural water trough.


A spider patiently waiting for prey. Part of its web resemble large, long legs. Perhaps to ward off intruders with the illusion the spider is bigger than it is?


A small cascade with clear, cool water.


Someone’s used a split piece of bamboo to channel water from the natural creek for easier collection.


Judging by its girth, size and height, this durian tree is probably more than half a century old. Our tree is about 40 years old and it is only about half the size of this one. I spotted a single fruit far up at the top.


More steps. These will lead straight to an abandoned village called Bung Jagoi at the summit of the mountain. “Bung” in the Bidayuh language means peak, top or in this case, summit.


The abandoned village of Bung Jagoi. See my separate post (link above) for more photos and description of this place.


Summit marker. This isn’t a very tall mountain, possibly only about four to five hundred meters high.


The flag of Malaysia on a pole above the summit marker pyramid. It is all torn and tattered by the elements.


“Whew! Made it at last!” The view point is about 100 meters from the summit marker.


View to the North. There are several mountains in the distance.


Kuching city can be seen on a clear day.


The far away mountains to the north. Gunung Serapi far left, Gunung Moi far right. The middle one I am not so sure of the name but we plan to trek up that one sometime.


Limestone hills of Bau (Krokong area).


A lot of deforestation going on on this far off hill. The lower slopes have been cleared for plantations and the top part logged. I believe those are logging tracks and soil slips at the very top.


A hill in the distance has been cleared for planting hill paddy or padi huma (padi bukit). There is a small little rest hut for the farmer at the very top, dangerous place to be during a thunderstorm!


If that cleared hill in the previous photo is no longer tended too, it would end up like this. This too is a distant hill that was cleared but is now slowly being re-colonized by shrubs and tree seedlings. Many of the surrounding forests are actually secondary forests as the Jagoi area has been inhabited by people for decades.


A spider waiting for some unlucky bug.


The ground at the summit and viewpoint area is bone dry! Sun ferns grow abundantly here as do small, dry-resistant trees. If you step off trail into the bush, you’ll find your feet on soft ground (cushion effect) because of the thick layer of humus.


Took this photo on our way down, the round hill is a limestone hill while the mountains at the back are part of the Bungo Range in southern Sarawak.


Clear view of the Bungo Range (Banjaran Bungo) in the distance. Another interesting place to explore which is high on our list of places to visit. I have been to the area before but didn’t manage to get to the top or even close!


Cricket with bands on body.


A small terrestrial orchid, a Peristylus species.


Flower of the small orchid. Peristylus species.


While making our way back, spotted some signs (laminated computer print outs) which we had missed going up, indicating the presence of some WWII era (1942) tunnels and trenches built by the Japanese.


We explored the area for a bit to see what they were.


I suppose this was a hole for a soldier to hide in or to take shelter in while firing at enemies ascending up the slopes of the mountain.


Didn’t find any tunnel, just a long trench.


Wonder how deep this hole used to be before debris started filling it up.

It took us 2.5 hours to reach the summit because of frequent rest stops, taking photos etc. Took only 1 hour on the return trek even with one long rest stop.


And to cap the day’s outing, we had a late lunch. This is Ais Batu Campur or ABC (dessert). It’s a mixture of red beans, some squiggly stuff made with sago rice flour (cendol), corn kernels, cubed jelly, crushed ice and topped off with palm sugar (gula melaka) and evaporated milk.