Saturday, February 16, 2013

Picnic at Sungai Sendat, Ulu Yam

Ulu Yam is located around 26Km away from KL, yet it is almost a world a away from the pressure cooker atmosphere of KL. From Batu Caves Selayang town, which is very much part of KL urban landscape, you drive towards to Batu dam. A steep ascent to the reservoir via Jalan Sungai Tua and all of a sudden you are outside KL and into another world. The road snakes along the water catchment reserves and the skyline changes from concrete structures to green hill tops that rises up to 600 meters above sea level. The road takes you up to the pass at the peak and then descend into the valley where the Ulu Yam town is located. It is as if you have found KL's backdoor and steps out into the green fields outside the wall of the city.

Our destination today is Sungai Sendat waterfall, but we are not heading to the waterfall itself. Instead, we went to a quieter place a little further down the stream. The road to Sungai Sendat falls used to be unpaved, but it has since been nicely paved so that even family cars can reach there. This has the effect of making Sungai Sendat itself more accessible and hence more crowded. Sadly, it also means more littering by irresponsible people who seems to think that their rubbish will somehow be absorbed into the earth, or they just don't care. By avoiding the main waterfall we found a nice place to layout our picnic mat and have a cool dip in the stream.

From where we parked, it is just a few steps to the river


Looking up stream. A gentle flow with a soft sandy bottom. I can sit all day in the water and watch the leaves falling from their branches. There's simply nothing more therapeutic than this!

Looking down stream, water roar between large boulders, forming quick flowing currents.
I don't know what tree is this, but it has a majestic root, spreading more than 20 feet apart.

Come sit down among boulders and let the cool rushing water wash away all your tension and aches. The water is at least 5 Celsius cooler than the ambient temperature.

Satay for lunch! Nothing work up an appetite better than sitting in cool running water.



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