Tough hike with stunning views at the top!

Early start Thursday morning as we made our way from the east side of the island to the west side. About a forty minute drive to get to the parking area for the 7 Wells Waterfall. Most people who come here come for the waterfall and the swimming holes associated with it, but we are there to continue further... up the trail to Machinchang Peak!

We had read that this is  a tough hike, and especially in the heat of the day. So we wanted to get as early a start as possible. 

But it was still 8:45am by the time we actually hit the trail. 

Most tourists take the cable car to see the views.

Zoomed in on the cable car platforms at the top.

But we needed some exercise, despite the forecast 33C (91F) high temperature. It was already about 27C (81F) when we set off up the mountain. 

It's only 3 kms (1.8 miles) from the parking lot to the summit. Sounds easy, right? But it gains 660 meters (2,200') in that short distance!

You climb 638 concrete steps to get to this point... the 7 Wells Waterfall.

This is as high as most people go.

But then you see the sign for the trail to the peak.

On the trail to Machinchang Peak.

There are a couple of sturdy concrete bridges to cross.

And then you see this rope lying by the trail.

The rope was kind of overkill at this point, and you don't really need it here. (You do need it later though!) But I suppose it could be slippery during rainy season. And, it makes it easy to follow the trail. 

Ruth on the trail.

Climbing higher.

Yep, the rope is handy here.

Starting to get quite steep.

We had been hiking for an hour now, and we were making good time. But that's when we were just about finished the easy part! It was about to get very steep!

Big rock!

It took us almost an hour to do the last 600 meters, gaining about 250 meters in altitude! It was a tough climb! Fortunately for the most part, we were in the shade. And as we gained in altitude, the temperature didn't increase, and there was actually a bit of a breeze. Don't get me wrong though... it was still hot and we were drenched with sweat. Fortunately we had two and a half liters of water with us.

Starting to get a view!

Looking over towards the cable car station.

Zoomed in on the cable car. 

It is the steepest cable car in the world.

We are still not at the top yet!

Wow!

We stopped to enjoy the view several times.

Made it!

Made it to the top at 11:09am, two hours and eight minutes after we saw the sign that said it was a two hour trek. Not bad for a couple of 62 year olds! (Ruth turned 62 in November, I will be 62 in a couple of weeks.)

We took some photos of the views at the top.

So, great that we made it to the top... but now we have to make it back down! And going down some of these steep sections can be more difficult than going up. We found we used the ropes a lot more. 

Up until this point, we had not seen another person. We were the only ones the whole way up, and had the top to ourselves. Not long after starting down we met a single guy from Germany on his way up, then a couple of young guys, one local and the other from Switzerland.

There were a couple of others as we approached the bottom who were starting off in the heat of the day. We wished them luck! A couple of them didn't seem to have the proper footwear, or enough water... but maybe they weren't aware of what they were in for. Oh well.

Butterfly on the way down.

By the time we got back down to the 7 Wells Waterfall area, there were quite a few people enjoying the pools.

View at the top of the waterfall.

Then we made our way to the base of the waterfall.

For perspective, you can see a guy standing at the bottom.

More people enjoying the water.

It's kind of odd seeing the local Muslim population in the water with the visiting tourists in bikinis. 

1:20pm when that last photo was taken, so the entire 6 kms (3.7 mile) hike took us just over four hours. 

From there, Ruth had found a restaurant in the tourist zone that does gluten free pizza... so for a welcoming change from chicken and rice, we splurged on a pizza...

It was really good! Not as good as Ruth's homemade pizza, but almost!

We also got a couple of Caesar salads to go.

And, they do gluten free bread as well... we might go back there for breakfast!

Not sure when you'll hear from us again. Today (Friday) is a travel day, but our flight isn't until late Friday evening. We fly Langkawi to Kuala Lumper, then connect early Saturday morning to Siem Reap, Cambodia. I should have time to write an update during our layover at Kuala Lumper airport.

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