Excruciating FRIM run!

 

FRIM

Runners in Malaysia, particularly the ones from around KL/Selangor would be familiar with FRIM (Forest Research of Malaysia)...a 'runners haven!' I was told.

So off we went with my loving still-deciding-about-running-if-its fashionable-enough wife and my 60 year-plus-yet-terribly-active parents to Selayang on a lovely Sunday morn, where FRIM is situated.

Well kept clean streets

The gate at the entrance was impressive, as was the RM8 collected as the entrance fee for our car to go through, no wonder a lot of cars were parked outside along the road resembling a Fridays pasar malam. All throughout were beautifully planted trees and there is even a school inside (no wonder some cars went through without paying, now it made sense, the dudes were staying in there). Its no forest in here, more like a well preserved garden, with lots of well kept flowering plants and fountains. or perhaps the trees are some where else..

Wife came too!

Brisk walking around the tree lined tar paved roads, we finally found a trail (for Hikers, the sign read) and off the four of us went, this being our first time, not really knowing what to expect. Off we went leaving the comfort of the tar road to the untested waters of the red clay and into the forest proper. Trees, a neat little stream with the cascading water effect, insect noises, birds chirping, and we were in the forest proper, albeit on a 2-3 metre wide track.

There were a whole bunch of people there, runners and joggers (heaven forbid we mix the two up!), really old respectable folk with their cranes and crutches

Mini waterfall!

, loud Japanese walkers, few cyclists in skin tights that they love so much together with the obligatory multicoloured shades, kids and ..monkeys!

Yup, a whole herd (im sure we do not refer to monkeys as a herd) but a whole bunch of them were crossing the trail at one time,like a herd, those little brown monkeys that we hope would not be dangerous and suddenly turn on you even though they might be looking harmless, with some of them even having tiny baby monkeys clinging on to the mother monkey's belly. Man, what a crowd! Deeper and higher up the trail, there were even monkeys swinging from tree top to tree top, like your regular National Geographic live. 

Going up!

Halfway up we came to the entrance to a canopy walkway, clearly stating that a ticket is to be purchased first, which is available from the counter. What counter? I guess there must have been  one at the beginning of the trail. There were a few buildings around near the start of the trail, offices and a cafe we could see from a distance.

Sloping down

It was  a distraction to the climb i guess as the Hikers trail took up along a path that climbed up, not too steeply (there were dudes with powerful looking legs on their mountain bikes peddling away) and just as were we about to think that the trail would never end, it finally did, as all things eventually do, and we came to a clearing, with the tar road once again, all along neatly kept fields of trees with their names labelled to their barks. And not long before brisk walking back to our car.

End of the hike.

It was a good experience, although I did run a little here, it was more of a exploratory visit this time, and perhaps later on we might visit here again.. Who knows , the hilly trail would be a good place to build on the much needed stamina right? Right. If anything it was a welcome a break from the monotonous run around my taman. No monkeys there. :D

As usual, the next day , sore calves and thighs dominated our complaints, probably due to the often insufficient stretching.

All in all, it was a fun trip, not a weekly thing, but a fun pleasant back to nature experience!