River trekking in Taiping

What do a river trekking in Taiping

and bicycling have in common? Principally nothing, or... Right, I was in Taiping with a friend. He told me about this little river trekking. Some days it is good to leave your bicycle behind and get your feet do a little exercise. This was such a day.

Not far from the Taiping Zoo streams a little river. The water comes straight out of the surrounding hills. Although a small river, the water streams fast and is surprisingly cool. We left the main road opposite of the Taiping Zoo and walked for a few minutes to the river bank.

There were plenty of small rocks in the water. The first part was a nice quiet walk with our feet ankle deep in the cool water.

Here's Mr. Goh, my friend from Sitiawan, who wades through the water

A bit further the boulders were bigger and the water, at some points. When we went in the water, I felt slightly disappointed. Yes the water was cool, which was great in the heat of the day.

And yes, the river was streaming quite fast. What was most spectacular was the scenery. On both meadows there was a dense jungle. It seems nothing would be able to penetrate this jungle.

Obviously I was wrong in my assumption. Even here, very close to the Taiping city center, we found wild boar trails. The trails were fresh, not more then an hour, maybe two old.

Mr. Goh in the wild water

Soon the water started streaming faster though we were able to find our way without a problem. The scenery became more and more spectacular. On both sides there was an abundance of trees, it seemed in all sizes and all different shades of green.

At a certain point the water went so fast it became difficult to make more pictures. The picture on the left is made at a point were the water already streamed much faster but it was still fine to walk.

A bit further, there were places we had to wade through our middle through the river. Here the water created smooth huge boulders.

The trek ended at the Burmese Pool, a local tourist attraction for the people in Taiping who want to cool down after a hot day. We finished our river trekking with a very satisfied feeling.

We had followed the river for about 1 hour and 40 minutes, taking our time and enjoyed the scenery and serenity. We even had seen a few fish in the sometimes white water. And of course, we had seen the wild boar trails. It was a great adventure.

The boulders got big, the water streamed faster

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