Gunung Angsi situated in the district of Jelebu, Negeri Sembilan is only a short 1 and a half hour drive from Kuala Lumpur. You can use the regular PLUS highway heading south to get there or take the LEKAS highway from Kajang which is much faster. There are two established route to climb this hill, one through the Ulu Bendul recreation area and another from Bukit Putus on the opposite side of the hill. Our initial plan was to park the car at the Ulu Bendul stream area and climb from there but since we arrived rather late (9:30 am is late for a day hike) the park keeper advised us to try the Bukit Putus route instead which is shorter and much easier.
The Ulu Bendul route is much longer, about 3 hours to finish and more winding compared to Bukit Putus. So we heed his advice and drove to there instead. We paid RM5.00 entry fee each and started our climb by climbing this set of stairs.
The initial climb was quite steep and the first 800 meters was quite tiring even for fit mountain-climbers (like me ahem).
If you haven't climbed or exercised in a while you will sure need a break every now and then.
The first checkpoint is this little hut here where you can find some people cooking and eating. I don't know whether they opened a stall there or they're simply here for the day but the facilities looked really well-used and permanent.
From the huts, the climb should be pretty easy and straight-forward. In fact I must say Gunung Angsi through the Bukit Putus route is one of the easiest hill I've climbed so far apart from Broga.
The trail is wide and clearly marked in most places.
They even put benches in 4-5 locations of the hill for people to rest.
There's one part of the hike when you actually have to go down a bit before you go up again. The exact location is here where you can find a fallen tree trunk and this black and yellow caution tape. So if you suddenly find yourself going down, don't be alarmed just go with the trail.
You will find this place called Wild Boar Swamp at the end of the little descent. I can't find any wild boar in sight (maybe they're asleep) and the place isn't exactly a swamp. Maybe these people just have too much imagination.
There's ample signs for direction along the trail like this one which is also pretty accurate.
Gunung Angsi isn't as thick of a jungle like Ulu Semangkok or Bukit Kutu so you still get beautiful view like this one which is named waterfall view. Again I can't find any waterfall in sight.
This one is called Savannah Pass. Do they even know how a real Savannah looks like?
Gunung Angsi is so easy, it took us less than 2 hours to finish the climb. The peak is one of the cleanest and well-kept area I've seen so far. It looks more like somebody else front lawn than a typical mountain top. I suspect there's a dedicated community group or club that takes good care of the hill. Or maybe the Negeri Sembilan forestry department has actually done a good job of keeping the place clean and orderly.
The view from the top is quite spectacular if not amazing. You get to see the rolling hills of Negeri Sembilan on one side and the town of Senawang, Seremban and beyond on the other.
This is the path if you come from Ulu Bendul.
The climb down was just as easy as the ascend. Overall we finished the hike in less than 4 hours. This is the old ladder at the entrance before the new one is build.
At 825 meters, I'd rather call Angsi a hill than a mountain which is usually 1,000 meters and above. It is very easy to climb if you go up and down again using the Bukit Putus route. As always make sure you came well-prepared with water, some food, rain coat and a flash light just in case. You wouldn't want to be stranded for hours in the rain like these people here.
Like any mountain or hill, there's always the danger of getting lost especially for beginners. I'm no expert climber yet but I think I know enough to follow the route markers or take an experienced climber along if the place is not very familiar or popular with climbers or for very high mountains (1,500 and above). I know I said Gunung Angsi is easy but it's always good practice to go in groups or at least early on weekends where's there sure to be other climbers. Plus the Ulu Bendul route should be more difficult so take an experienced hiker if you want to take that path.
For Gunung Angsi, it's a duo hike with just me and my wife. We met about a dozen hikers along the way up and down even on a Sunday. This happens to be my 3rd climb in 3 weeks in a row after Ulu Semangkok and Bukit Kutu. So far my knees have not come out of their socket yet so I'm good for more climbs like this again next month.
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