Gunung Halia Karak

 When my friends asked me if I was keen to hike up a small hill to view the sunrise over carpet clouds I jumped on the chance but never expected what was in store for this trip....and was i very surprised!!!!

Early Rise & Shine

The destination - Karak and the challenge - Gunung (actually Bukit) Halia Karak. It was indeed an early rise as we had to leave PJ by 5 am to arrive at the trail head for a hike up the peak to catch the sunrise. The journey from PJ took us about 1.5 hrs and we took a wrong turn (trust google maps to take us to "horlland" but manage to get to the place after asking some local folks.

The start of the trail is it self a surprise!!!! it's actually at the temple inside a graveyard!!! Never ever in my wildest dream.....ever....would I have imagined I would be at a graveyard at 6.30 am pitch dark!!!!😱😱😱😱....

 

Look out for these 2 land marks along the main road and you will see a sign board that points to G Halia Karak and below, the road leading straight to the trail head

      

This is the start of the trail to G. Halia Karak

Starting our journey in the early hours of the morning in pitch darkness....our only source of lights were from our headlamps and below, the trail head (taken after we came down)

             

The start of the trail is quite wide and visible but in about 150m you need to turn off right to continue...we missed this turn off initially and had to double back to get on the right track. The junction is shown as below 

The entire trail is about 2.3 km and takes less than an hour to reach the top. With a few stops and some photo shoot we took just slightly more than an hour to reach the peak. The entire hike is quite easy and very suitable for beginners, until the last 100m where you need to hike up a rather mid steep gradient to the top. 

At the halfway point you will come across a signage to direct you (below right) to G Halia Karak

           

At this point you need to look out for this junction ....else you will end up at a farm where ginger is sold and you can try some Teh Halia or Ginger tea....and below the last 100m through some thick vegetation along a narrow trail

                     

Once you've cleared this last hurdle, be amazed by the view of the surrounding areas and Karak Town

We spent quite a long time up at the peak relaxing and enjoying the breathtaking view,  with the cool morning breeze blowing. Unfortunately for us there were no carpet clouds and sunrise to enjoy.....😭😭😭😭😭 

We also happened to meet one of the local Karak resident, a Mr Wong who together with his friends come up occasionally to clear some shrubs and clean up the place (rubbish left behind by some hikers😡😡😡)

  Mr Wong & his friend cleaning G Halia Karak

We left mid morning and took us about 40 mins to reach our car. There are toilets and a wash area available if ever you need to change or freshen up after the hike

The toilets were quite clean and (right) water available to freshen up

Once cleaned up, we headed to Bentong, which is a 15 mins drive, for our brunch and some ginger shopping and loaded our boot with lots of goodies!!!

Some interesting sights in Bentong - Wall Art

Overall, a good morning out hiking in the cool breeze with amazing views, only down side is..... am not sure about being at the graveyard so early in the morning.....😁😁😁😁. Otherwise it's a good hiking destination for beginners as well as Instagrammers.