"YOU'LL have a tomb, four old train tunnels and a lunch break at a waterfall, within a stretch of about 15km, and we hope to hit the road back to KL by 5pm," announces Suhairy, giving a jolt to two-bus loads of half-awake participants.
"But don't worry, there's no hiking. We're just going to walk along the old train tracks," says Suhairy from Outdoor Team Malaysia, which organises the Bukit Berapit Tunnel Expedition that we stumbled upon on a public hiking group on Facebook.
The RM75 per person package includes transportation to and from Gombak LRT Station, a light breakfast and lunch, and four crew members with a first aid kit and radio communication.
The two buses left the LRT station in Kuala Lumpur late at night and reached R&R Bukit Gantang on the North-South Expressway about four hours later. After an hour's break at the rest and relaxation area, the entourage heads to Kampung Bukit Gantang, about 15km from Taiping, the starting point of the expedition.
THE TOMB
The expedition starts with a 10-minute walk on a narrow, tarred road to the Tomb of Long Jaafar, which also houses a number of tombs belonging to his family members in a well-gated area.
Long Jaafar, who died in 1858, discovered tin ore deposits in Perak and became the first to recognise the potential of tin mining in Larut, which pushed the growth of Taiping town.
From the tomb, we make our way deeper, walking past a huge chicken coop and palm oil plantation. Twenty minutes on the unkempt, tarred road that keeps getting narrower, we reach a small and short underpass.
"No, this is not the first tunnel, this is just an underpass. But look up to what goes above it. It's the new train track that goes parallel to the old one, which we will walk along today," replies Suhairy to our query.
THE TRACK
The tarred road ends after the underpass, and we enter a narrow dirt path. Not exactly a jungle trail — it is quite open and clear with only thick, tall shrubs flanking it. It's flat and as straight as a ruler, too.
Beyond the shrubs, there are patches of vegetable farms and banana and durian plantations on one side of the trail, while the new train track and the highway run almost parallel to each other at the other side.
"We are now walking on the old train track towards Tunnel 1," says Suhairy.
The tunnel is nestled between Keretapi Tanah Melayu Taiping Station and Bukit Berapit halt, while the last three tunnels are located between the halt and Padang Rengas stations.
"Trains stopped taking this section when the new Bukit Berapit Rail Tunnel was opened in 2013," Suhairy says.
The new tunnel, built as part of the Ipoh-Padang Besar electrified double-tracking project, runs across Bukit Berapit for 3.3km, making it the longest in Southeast Asia.
The twin tunnels replaced the four century-old tunnels and two wooden bridges, and cut across the old track, the highway and the trunk road.
"As we go further inland, you will see remnants of the railway track, like steel rails and their fasteners and track ballasts," says Suhairy as we walk towards Tunnel 1.
When my eyes rest on the horseshoe-shaped, red-brick tunnel, my mouth gapes. Standing at the mouth of this tunnel is surreal.
I can't believe that I am actually standing on the railway track that decades ago I used to pass through on express trains between Kuala Lumpur and Butterworth at every school break.
THE TUNNELS
The tunnel is pitch black and damp, with water dripping from its ceiling. and its floor is dry but bumpy. It is, for me, a bit claustrophobic since I couldn't see any light at the end of the tunnel.
"No, we are not going to walk through this tunnel. Just go in for five to 10 minutes for your photos or videos, and turn back," says Suhairy.
"If we go straight out, where will it lead to?" someone asks.
"Penang," Suhairy says matter-of-factly.
This tunnel, along with the other three tunnels, was built in 1898 and opened five years later to complete the then train track from Ipoh to Prai in Penang.
Before the completion of these "dark holes" of Bukit Berapit, as locals referred to them, train passengers were ferried by horse carriages from Taiping to Padang Rengas.
There is a long, flat, three-hour walk between Tunnel 1 and the other three tunnels, which are located almost near each other.
Thankfully, the long, mundane walk has two attractions: the first bridge and a beautiful, unspoiled waterfall where we take our hour-long lunch break.
Not as "perfect" as Tunnel 1, Tunnel 2, which is 337.5 m long, is submerged in mud and knee-high water while the other two have almost half of their height covered with dirt.
Between Tunnel 3 (133.2m) and Tunnel 4 (91.5m), the second bridge, which is higher and wider than the first one, adds excitement to the expedition. This bridge provides a panoramic view of a cement factory and a massive limestone hill in the distance.
The walk after Tunnel 4 goes on a long, muddy trail that is covered with thick bushes that run along the trunk road we saw earlier.
After 6.5 hours of walking over a distance of 14.5km from Kampung Bukit Gantang, our Bukit Berapit Tunnel Expedition ends at a bus stop opposite the cement factory in Padang Rengas, from where our transport will fetch us.
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