Monkeys in the jungle - trek up Ulu Gombak

Our plans to Taman Negara had to be shelved much to KL's dissappointment. Now in his 30's, he's starting to find motivating a bunch of middle aged men and women to take on leech infested rivers and slippery mud trails quite a task. List of excuses for non-attendance included pure laziness (re: Roy), work commitments or family obligations. Truth be told, we were partially to blame as we extended the invite pretty late due to KL's work commitments! Anyway, we thought it would be worth checking out what the suburbs of Kuala Lumpur had to offer. KL found this link that gave us a few interesting waterfalls treks in Malaysia.

And so, KL managed to find 2 new outdoor recruits in the form of my two young and eager cousins for a trek up Ulu Gombak. The Pisang Waterfalls was an hour drive away from PJ, heading towards Karak Highway (East Coast Highway).

We parked near the pumphouse and followed the short well-trodden path along the river. Then, we had to wade through the Sungai Gombak to get to the tunnel below the Karak Highway in search of the Pisang Waterfalls.
Trudging along the wet, foresty and muddy terrain, I was so confident I was going to be bitten by leeches. Never did like those gross, black slimey things.... that's why I was never keen on any tropical jungle treks. Thankfully, my cousins and myself were spared and only KL got bitten by 3 pesky leeches.

Since we ran out of durian puffs, my cousins tried their luck spearing for fishes. Did we get any? KL waded upstream and sat there as he waited ("By my calculation the chances of the boys landing a fish is as good as a roti-canai floating downstream right into my lap!")
After a 30-minute trek, we decided to turn back as it was getting rather dark. No waterfalls this time - but I reckon we'll definitely be back. This time with more food for a nice picnic and more dry clothes (my little cousin - bless him - was so exhausted from the trek that he started tripping over himself often and landing with his bum in the river)

We stopped near the camp ground nearby for a swim. The boys had a really good time 'mandi sungai' (swimming in the river) as it was their first time, though they were shivering the whole time in the cold stream water.
We ended the day with a well-deserved teh tarik and roti canai at a nearby mamak in Batu Caves.