Sungai Chongkak

When it comes to waterfall or streams there's only one place that comes to my mind, Sungai Gabai waterfall in Hulu Langat, Selangor. It's near (30KM), not too crowded and it has a real waterfall, not just some stream with water flowing. Today though we decided to give Sungai Chongkak a try. This place is situated not far from Sungai Gabai, in fact they're only 6 kilometres apart.

I've never been to Sungai Chongkak before but since there's plenty of signboards, the place is not hard to find at all. First make your way to Pekan Batu 9 (along the Cheras - Kajang highway) and proceed to Pekan Batu 14 and finally to Pekan Batu 18. 6 kilometers from there you'll find the signboard to Sungai Chongkak on your right.
Being a weekend and public holiday the next day, Sungai Chongkak was really crowded today. Even before we reach the place there was a 5 kilometres crawl before the Pekan Batu 14 traffic lights. I've been to Hulu Langat a few times before but this is the first time I encountered such a terrible traffic jam.
Unlike Sungai Gabai, Sungai Chongkak is a really long stream with an equally long road next to it. As expected, the narrow road is jammed all the way from the entrance till the end at the Sungai Chongkak Park and Resort. Parking is obviously hard to find but luckily we managed to get one near the entrance. It doesn't matter where you park, at the road side or at a proper parking space - there's always some one to collect the parking fee. Usually from RM1.00 to RM3.00 (depending on where you park). I paid RM2.00 for a nice spot under a tree. I wouldn't advice you to park indiscriminately though because something unpleasant might accidentally happen to your car.
Being the picky person that I am, I'm not contend to bath just about anywhere in the stream. I must find the furthest, most far away part of the stream. So we paid the RM1.00 entrance fee (children below 12 free) and walk 2 kilometres into the Sungai Chongkak Park and Resort.
We were indeed curious to see how some cars and vehicles were allowed entry into the park while most of us had to park outside.
Later we found out only those who rented this chalet can drive inside. RM60.00 for the medium size and RM100.00 for the larger one per night. Looking at the dilapidated state of this building, these chalets are rather expensive don't you think?
Adam and I have no problem walking more than 2 kilometres inside the park even while carrying Mia and our heavy picnic stuff. My wife on the other hand was quite out of breath towards the end so we decided to stop after 20 minutes of walking and chose to park there.
There's nothing like a good long dip in the cool and refreshing stream water after a hot, sweaty walk under the afternoon sun. First I dragged Adam along but he was suddenly afraid to come into the water. He said the water is too full (deep) and he doesn't want to get drown. Oh come on kid, the water is only my knee deep!
Anyway since Adam didn't want to come in, I took Mia for a swim instead. Unlike her brother, Mia absolutely loves the water! She kicked and splashed happily in the water and she didn't even care when the water was really cold. That's my girl! Who knows someday you'll be a successful national swimmer just like auntie Nicole David?
Eventually I managed to persuade Adam to come into the water. First he played at the edge of the water. After a while he started to go further and further into the middle of the stream. In the end he was reluctant to come out when we decided that it's time to go home.
We spent nearly 3 hours there in Sungai Chongkak, almost 1 hour just walking and finding parking spot. Sungai Chongkak is good if you'd like to organize a family day or picnic or let your little ones play in the water. You can choose any place to land along the long stream. There's much more public amenities like chalets, camping area, toilets, changing rooms and stalls and there's also plenty of parking spaces.
But if you prefer a truly satisfying bathing experience at a real waterfall then Sungai Gabai is definitely the one for you. I mean Sungai Chongkak is nice and stuff but the water just trickles slowly there and it is not deep enough for you to swim or do back flips into the water. Plus I think Sungai Chongkak is way to crowded for my liking.
And I hate the fact that you'll have to walk for miles to find a decent picnicking spot.
Actually we didn't bring much food to eat at our picnic. Just some snacks and drinks. But as always we stopped by our regular eating place each time we come to Hulu Langat. This little restaurant is called Restoren Pohon Bambu. Why? Because you can see a stack of bamboo tree growing next to the place. From Pekan Batu 18, just drive 100 meters after the Sungai Gabai junction or from the Sungai Chongkak exit drive about 5 kilometres heading towards the opposite direction.
I've been coming here since UPM days with my buddies every time we went for a bath at Sungai Gabai. The food is good and they're is much cheaper too. You can choose from a variety of noodles, soups, chicken rice, rojak and fried rice. Today I chose to have this delicious mee Jawa which costs just RM2.50. My wife had noodle soup (RM3.00) and Adam had a plate of chicken rice (RM3.50). Altogether we paid only RM11.50 plus drinks. Cheap right?

And that conclude our visit to Sungai Chongkak. Somehow I don't know whether I want to return to that place again or not in the future. Maybe I'll just stick to Sungai Gabai. Hmm. Got any other place you can recommend?