Published on The Brunei Times (http://www.bt.com.bn/en)
Looking for Lata Puteh Falls
Natural splendour: Lata Tebing Tinggi. Pictures: Liz Price
Sunday, March 22, 2009
THERE is a beautiful waterfall in Perak in central Malaysia which few people know about. And although it can be seen from the road, few people other than locals use this road. There is a signboard which claims it is the third highest waterfall in Southeast Asia.
We were at Air Terjun Lata Puteh (Lata Puteh Waterfall), which is on the Bintang mountain range between Lenggong and Batu Kurau in ulu Perak. A few hundred metres further up the road are the Lata Tebing Tinggi Falls. These falls are popular with the locals as there is easy access to the base of the falls. However Lata Puteh was a different matter.
There was no obvious path leading up to the falls so we tried to follow the hill up and see how far we could get. This worked initially but then the vague track we were following started leading away from the water. Then it looked even less promising so we decided to backtrack and return to the bottom. We did see several clusters of wild gingers, some of which were flowering, and clusters of figs were adorning the trunks of several trees.
Back at road level the only option was to cross the river and try on the other side. After a short steep section we found ourselves at the base of one of the major falls. The main drop was further over and was actually split into different tiers. We were able to cross this side of the river which brought us to the main volume of the falls. We realised we were now effectively on an island in the middle of the river. Up above us, the water cascaded down and there were some huge house-sized boulders sitting in the river. I was amazed at their sheer size and weight.
We left our rocky island and went back to our original path and continued up. There was no actual path so we just chose the easiest and clearest route, keeping quite close to the river. It was a steep but fairly easy ascent, and it was only at the top that we had to climb between two huge boulders in order to reach the open flat area above. Success. We were at the base of the main fall. It was an amazing site and within seconds we got soaked in spray as the wind and force of the water threw the droplets everywhere. It was like being in a cloud and was actually chilly. We were all quiet initially, just absorbing the splendour of the place. The place was so beautiful with the greenery of the trees and shrubs, and large birds flying around, unused to see human visitors in their habitat.
The Brunei Times
We were at Air Terjun Lata Puteh (Lata Puteh Waterfall), which is on the Bintang mountain range between Lenggong and Batu Kurau in ulu Perak. A few hundred metres further up the road are the Lata Tebing Tinggi Falls. These falls are popular with the locals as there is easy access to the base of the falls. However Lata Puteh was a different matter.
There was no obvious path leading up to the falls so we tried to follow the hill up and see how far we could get. This worked initially but then the vague track we were following started leading away from the water. Then it looked even less promising so we decided to backtrack and return to the bottom. We did see several clusters of wild gingers, some of which were flowering, and clusters of figs were adorning the trunks of several trees.
Back at road level the only option was to cross the river and try on the other side. After a short steep section we found ourselves at the base of one of the major falls. The main drop was further over and was actually split into different tiers. We were able to cross this side of the river which brought us to the main volume of the falls. We realised we were now effectively on an island in the middle of the river. Up above us, the water cascaded down and there were some huge house-sized boulders sitting in the river. I was amazed at their sheer size and weight.
We left our rocky island and went back to our original path and continued up. There was no actual path so we just chose the easiest and clearest route, keeping quite close to the river. It was a steep but fairly easy ascent, and it was only at the top that we had to climb between two huge boulders in order to reach the open flat area above. Success. We were at the base of the main fall. It was an amazing site and within seconds we got soaked in spray as the wind and force of the water threw the droplets everywhere. It was like being in a cloud and was actually chilly. We were all quiet initially, just absorbing the splendour of the place. The place was so beautiful with the greenery of the trees and shrubs, and large birds flying around, unused to see human visitors in their habitat.
The Brunei Times
Source URL:
http://www.bt.com.bn/en/en/travel/2009/03/22/looking_for_lata_puteh_falls
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