Chiling Fall is one of the more popular (but quite difficult to reach) waterfalls in Malaysia, you can check out some info and pics at Waterfalls of Malaysia: Chiling.
Basically you have to be prepared to get wet, hike for a good 1-2 hours and cross a river 5 times (each way!) which can be quite scary if the current is strong and the water level is high. And it’s still only listed as a moderate fall…haven’t tried a difficult one yet.
The entrance looks like this, nothing special.
Then you cross this suspended bridge.
The River looked pretty strong when we crossed the bridge, which didn’t bode well for our coming adventure.
Across the bridge it’s basically onto a mud path and into the jungle!
Lots of cam-whoring along the way of course.
And then…well…my shoe fell apart, I can’t say it was the best moment of my life – but you have to deal with it! And of course pick up your sole and carry it around, don’t litter!
The scenery was beautiful during the trip, that’s when you could take a quick glance because you had a break from concentrating so you didn’t fall in the river or down a hole or bang your head on a tree.
There was a LOT of climbing up and down, especially during river crossing.
The river crossing was quite intense, it was strong and we had to use a rope, it was fairly deep too (even deeper for shorter people ho-ho).
You have to cross the river 5 times in each direction, there’s only one way in and the same way out…so there you go.
Eventually (and safely) we reached the fall, thanks to Happy Yen! KY had some time to pose.
It’s a pretty impressive and powerful looking fall.
These were pre-gorillapod days, so I had a bit of a hard time doing slow shutter shots, I managed these two though.
I even managed a couple of macro shots!
There were bucketloads of fish in the water too, could feed them into a frenzy with a bit of bread.
And Yen being characteristically happy.
We saw this huge momma on the way back.
And I still had my macro lens on so I fancied doing some abstracts with the ferns.
The weather was pretty overcast the whole day, but we actually got a glimpse of blue sky on the way back.
It was an awesome trip, very tiring. We went for some super sinful food after that, and everyone was so hungry no-one took pictures of it as it was gone so fast.
We all had about 4 cans of 100-plus each too!
Then off home, and out again for an event..
The full set of pics can be found here:
Yen was great, he made us feel really safe, knew all kinds of interesting facts, had plenty of stories, knew where to eat the good food and was friendly to the environment.
He’s very knowledgeable about the countryside in general, especially waterfalls and trekking sites, you can find him at:
https://www.freewebs.com/happyyen/
email: happyyen@gmail.com
phone: +6017 369 7831
Do let him know I sent you if you drop him a line 😉
You can read some other accounts here:
a most memorable trip to chiling falls, selangor
KY travels – Chilling out at Chiling Falls, Selangor
your memory is still good eh!
btw according to some ppl who were there recently, the falls isn’t so great anymore. water is slightly muddy (due to illegal logging activities which the authorities are trying to detect/ locate, die bastards!!!) and the fish disappeared too. so we had a lucky break to have gone there earlier. hope it returns to its pristine conditions.
btw if anyone is going there or anywhere for that matter, TAKE YOUR TRASH ALONG WITH YOU!
Looks nice 🙂 Hope the loggers get sc***ed >:[
damn..you beat me to it shaolintiger!
i’m heading over there this weekend.
doubt my digicam can get better shots than you!
Looks like its a pretty hardcore outdoor trip, having to cross so many rivers.
The macro shots looks nice and the waterfall looks awesome. Can’t believe theres fishes in it.
Been only to one waterfall which was the one near my hometown, Air Terjun Sekayu, and it wasn’t that great.
suanie: Hahah ok la, can remember some things..not important stuff tho. Hope the logging stops 🙁
julian: Yeah very nice, quite a trek tho. Agree on the loggers.
kevin: Have fun! Hope the weather holds up for you.
moons: It’s quite a trek indeed, fun though.
nice pics! always love the unearthly running water effect. 😀
heyyea! nice pic !! the place looks creepy at 1st sight ~it reminds me bek when i was in nasional service… i love the waterfall~ huhuhuhu ^^
Very, very nasty stuff, that eight legged creature. It takes a brave man (or at least one without arachnophobia) to take photo of that spider.
Chiling Falls looks great though, and I noticed you mentioned the gorrila pod. Does it work well? I’ve heard a lot of good things about it, though if I do go to these places, I’ll probably need a waterproof digicam.
I am heading there next weekend. Any tips on making sure my camera doesn’t fall into the water?
Wondrous pics, especially of the water.
huai bin : the gorilla pod is a wonderful creation of man, but i dont think its quite applicable at chiling falls.
mark : make sure you have good footing especially crossing the rivers. there was couple with me the other day and she just hung her dslr by the neck and it was ok. but water levels the other day were quite low. max was waist level.
you could bring a bagpack and keep your camera wrapped in a plastic bag.
ps : if you are wearing shoes, wear socks.
shaolin : hey i was wondering, why didnt you take pics of the dam?
yahui: Thanks, hard to get really smooth water without a tripod.
chyu: Yah it’s quite far in the jungle, fun to go deep inside nature though 🙂
Huai Bin: Haha I’m not really scared of spiders, so no problem there. I’ve been much closer before. Gorillapod works very well, the best part is it’s extremely portable. Lugging a full tripod in these kind of places is tough.
Mark: Not really haha, waterproof bag is the best bet. I went for double wrapped bin bags and got the guide to carry it. We also had a rope across the river most times.
drama mama: Thanks 🙂
kevin: We only had a very short time there and we couldn’t really see the dam from the other side plus the view from where we were was blocked by the fence.
Hope you have spare shoes….jungle trekking while bare foot is a misery @_@
owh!! so you went there!! LOL… i took one of my best shots in chiling too!! a spider shot!! hahaha… =D anyway, see ya tomoro for badminton!! cheerz buddy!!
great macro shots. what cam model and lens did you use for the waterfall shots?
WOW! Nice shots! What camera & lens do you use?? =P nah.. joking..joking… just pulling your leg. haha!!
But seriously, really great shots. Did you enjoy the hike? Did you take a dip in the waterfall area??
Jun: Nah luckily they weren’t too bad without the soles. FA lost her slippers tho 🙁
andrew: Yah pretty awesome nature there, good to do some macro shoots.
howshouse: I use a Nokia N95.
Sasha: Hahah, yah it was great fun, really enjoyed it. The water was very cooling and refreshing at the end.
can go camping there….a nice fall…thanks for sharing
I’ve been wanting to check out Chilling Waterfalls since our last trip to KKB for White Water Rafting. Thanks for your personal account and wondeful pictures. Will definitely get in touch with Yen soon.
I just came back from Chiling Waterfalls slightly more than a week ago. It was a great outing!! I tried to snap great photos of it with my digi cam, but I guess a DSLR like yours will definitely snap better shots.
vialentino: Yah very relaxing place 🙂
Cheryl Goh: Go check it out, definitely worth it and Yen is a fantastic guide.
grace: Ah, glad you had a good time.