I first heard of Gunung Stong back in 2016, when a friend suggesting climbing it due to the beautiful Jelawang waterfall. Unfortunately, the plan never went through as it was towards the end of the year and that the mountain was closed temporarily due to raining season. I later found out that the mountain can be conquered together with two other mountains in proximity – Baha and Ayam. Together the hike is named “BAS” (Baha – Ayam – Stong).

Chamah is the fifth highest mountain in Peninsular Malaysia, well-known for being one of the toughest hike in Malaysia. Despite its fame for being a challenging mountain, it still attracts hikers from all over the country, many with the purpose of completing all G7s. In fact, some hikers even ranked it the toughest G7.  

Note:G7 refers to the seven highest mountains in Peninsular Malaysia, in the following order: G1 Tahan (read: link), G2 Korbu, G3 Yong Belar (read: link), G4 Gayong, G5 Chamah, G6 Yong Yap and G7 Ulu Sepat. It’s an achievement among Malaysian hikers to complete G7. 

Located in the Titiwangsa Range, Chamah sits at the elevation of 2,171m above sea level, and is accessible from Kuala Betis, Kelantan. There are typically two trails that can be done, one being Trans CUS (Chamah – Ulu Sepat) while the other being only Chamah. Fearing the difficulty of Trans CUS, I gladly joined Chin’s Chamah event when he opened this trip few months ago.

“Chamah” sounds like “Cham ah” in Cantonese which means “wretched”, a perfect play of words since rumour has it that the hike is no joke. So… is the hike really that wretched? Let’s find out, shall we?