Return to Gunung Jagoi - part 1 (June 2012)

Mount Jagoi is a mountain located near Kampung Duyoh, close to the Serikin border market about 20 minutes by car from the town of Bau, Sarawak.

It’s not very tall, only about 300m asl. I’ve not been here for quite a while so it was good to walk up the mountain and check out what’s changed since my last visit.

Click here for my 2009 “Gunung Jagoi Revisited” post

Compared to about 2 years ago, there are now a number of improvements and new additions such as sturdy rest shelters, wooden railings, signboards and plant/tree identification posts, all for the added comfort of visitors. I particularly like the tree species identification posts with both botanic and vernacular names (common name is in Bidayuh).

Good job by the Jagoi Development Committee, Ministry of Tourism and Heritage and all others involved in the improvement project.

Visitors are now required to sign in at the “Visitor information centre” which is actually someone’s home. There is a donation/collection box here and a token fee can be dropped into it.

Gunung Jagoi is an easy mountain to hike up. The trail is fairly wide and it takes only about 1 hour (or less if you’re really fast!) to reach the summit. To get to the summit, you’ll have to pass through an abandoned village near the top. We met a lady here who told us her sibling and herself were the only people still staying in that village.

Here are some photos I took during my recent walk up the small mountain. More photos will be added in part 2.

Welcome to Bung Jagoi. Bung in Bidayuh means summit, peak or the top of a hill.

Not sure what happened to this sign! Work of vandals??

Unchanging landscape. Compare this shot with the ones taken in my earlier Jagoi posts.

Sandy trail

Limestone hills of Bau in the distance. Bungo Range in the far distance.

Acorns

I really like these new additions. Plant names! The common name is given in Bidayuh (for eg. Sikuk is the Bidayuh name for Manggis or Mangosteen). There are many trees both big and small with ID posts like this one. Makes the walk all the more fun and educational especially for nature lovers.

“Botak” trees

Tree with hive of funnel bees

Entrance to the funnel-bee hive. Note the structure resembles a funnel.

Rest shelter and signboards, all new additions

Sign posted halfway up the mountain.

The trail is mostly gentle, only a few short stretches are steep.

I think this old tree is a cempedak tree. Or some kind of Artocarpus.

Love this shady part of the trail, very calming to walk through here, lots of trees!