Story:Gunung Berembun at 1014m is the southern-most peak of the Berembun mountain range in Negeri Sembilan. The peaks of the range extend on a north-south axis and form the border between Seremban (formerly Sungai Ujong) and Kuala Pilah districts. In the north end is Gunung Telapak Buruk, which at 1093m is the highest peak in the range.
There are several aspects that make Berembun a very interesting trek. Firstly, the entire Berembun range is a protected primary forest reserve. Yes. Primary forest. A very rare thing in Malaysia as most forests are secondary forests which have either been selectively logged or completely cleared and re-planted. As such, the visitor will be entertained with sights of enormous trees, super-sized insects and a huge variety of birds. Indeed it’s a renowned place for bird watching given its accessibility from civilisation.
Secondly, the mountain top is also the resting place of a World War II Royal Airforce bomber that crashed on a mission in 1945. The remnants of the plane was discovered in 1996 by the Orang Asli and the remains of the crew recovered for proper burial. The crash site is along the mountain ridge connecting Gunung Berembun to Telapak Buruk (about half-way between them) and can be accessed from either end.
To get to the trailhead, take Jalan Jelebu (N86) from Seremban towards Kuala Klawang. 6 km after passing the junction with LEKAS (E21) will be Pantai village with its old wooden shophouses. Immediately after the village will be Kampung Baru Pantai, turn right into the first road. The road will lead past a school on the left and then another on the right. Continue on the road until it comes to a T-junction where the road narrows to a single lane. Take the left road at the junction, there will be a sign pointing to the “SAINS" water treatment plant. The road will lead past The Dusun and then The Shorea resorts before coming to an end at the Pantai water filtration plant. The trailhead for Gunung Berembun is on the left just beside an electric distribution box.
The trek up to the peak takes about 3-4 hours depending on fitness and weather. Let me start by saying that it’s a good, well maintained trail. The path is clear at all times and there are no cutting, bush trampling or skirting between thorny plants required. It is well marked with markers (red ribbon at the start, turning to yellow tape after Gua Kambing). It’s a long trail though (we measured 6.6 km one way) and very steep and slippery in the upper end. Some level of fitness and stamina is required. There are 7 stream crossings and one waterfall to wade across. But this number actually depends on the weather, we came across at least 3 other water run-offs along the way which on a wet day would become small streams too.
Two minutes after the start of the trek, there is a junction leading up the hill side on the right. It’s marked with some red ribbons. Do not miss this junction, you will need to turn right for Gunung Berembun. After this junction, the trail snakes its way on the left bank of the river valley. The river, upon which the SAINS water treatment plant gets its water, is a constant companion along most of our journey. The river drains the high basin on the west of the Berembun range and will be our gateway into the forest and up to the peak. I couldn’t find a name for the river - someone told me it’s Sungai Berembun, another said Sungai Bemban. But I suspect it’s called Sungai Jerlang since the river can be traced all the way to its terminus at the larger Sungai Batang Benar (actually Sungai Linggi. The Linggi river past Seremban is called Batang Benar) whereupon there is a village called Kuala Jerlang. Unless someone corrects me, I will refer to the river as Jerlang.
The path at this point rises and drops regularly but always gradually as we pass small streams that flow into the Jerlang on our right. The jungle is thick with very large trees, many having 2m diameter trunks. There are also plenty of fruit trees along the way. In about 2 kms, after crossing 2 streams, there is a clearing beside the Jerlang river. There is a curious sign board at the clearing in the shape of a bird!
I suspect that the original path crossed the river at this point, but we took a left at the clearing and followed the marked path, still hugging the river’s steep left bank. Soon the path reaches the waterfall on the river. Here we cross the river to the opposite bank where there is a campsite. From the campsite there is a short scramble up the steep river bank on to a trail that has been cut on the side of the high bank. Turn left on the trail (I suspect turning right will lead you back to the river further downstream where the “bird” clearing is). The trail follows the course of the Jerlang into the mountains, though this time on the right bank. The path rises in height only gradually but its pays to be very cautious in this section as the bank is very steep and the path is only a foot wide. Any mis-steps would send you tumbling into the river 30m below.
The path crosses 3 streams before we leave the Jerlang valley and take a route up a tributary of the Jerlang. The path from this point gets steeper although not excessively so. There is an abundance of fruit trees here - jackfruit, durian and many others I don’t recognise. In the next stream (stream no. 6 from the start) crossing, we actually cross that tributary too and take a route on the ridge between the tributary and Jerlang. One more stream crossing and we come to a cave called Gua Kambing. It’s a decent sized place and would make good shelter during a downpour.
Gua Kambing is about 5 km from the start and took us about 2 hours to reach. In that time, we had ascended about 450m. After Gua Kambing the climb becomes much steeper. The first part is a near vertical climb up a slippery mud slope. We climb 150m in height on this slop before we reach the ridge where we make a right turn and follow the ridge to the peak. The ridge walk is less steep but still manages 150m in height in just 0.5km. From Gua Kambing, we took 1:45 hours to reach the peak. Just before the peak is a small clearing with a view towards the southwest. This is the only viewpoint at Genunung Berembun as the peak is surrounded by tall trees.
The peak itself has a nice clearing with a rusting “beirut”. There are two paper plaques marking the height of the peak as “2263 ft” or 679m. This is unusual as the I had three different references with me and they all showed a much higher elevation. The Google terrain map showed that the elevation should be between 980-1000m. My GPS map tracking app showed 992m. And my standalone GPS app showed 1013m. This ties to what I have seen in the Internet on the height of Gunung Berembun - 1014m. I have no idea why the plaque says 2263 ft, maybe it’s a typing error - 1014m translates to 3326 ft.
The trail carries on (still with marker and still in good condition) on the range ridge towards Telapak Buruk. Surprisingly the highest point of this mountain is not where the beirut is located. If one continues on the trail for another 5 minutes, the path will first lead downhill and then immediately uphill again to a higher point. Thiis is the true peak in the vicinity and stands at 1021m (according to my GPS). The path then leads downhill again before again rising some distance further away to the next peak. 3 hours (apparently) away is Gunung Telapak Buruk, from where a tarred access road leads down to Jalan Jelebu. It is possible therefore to do a Trans-Berembun hike that would take 7 hours from tarred road to tarred road. And somewhere along the ridge path between Gunung Berembun and Telapk Buruk is the Worl War II plane crash site.
It took almost the same time, 3:45 hours to descend due to the steep and slippery conditions. It’s a great trail to build one’s stamina and strength - the path is clear, full of beautiful jungle scenery and has many interesting obstacles (streams, fallen logs). But not recommended if it rains - the steep banks on which the path is cut becomes soft with water and can give way. Also the river crossing at the waterfall will be dangerous if the water levels are high. Note also that leech protection is highly recommended as this is still unspoilt jungle.
