HEAVEN ON EARTH... HERE IN MALAYSIA

Do you know that we Malaysians are extremely fortunate to be living in a country that has one of the most beautiful natural environment and most exotic flora and fauna in the world. Being with D'Jungle People has given me lots of opportunities to visit our fantastic jungles to conduct our corporate training programmes - from the treacherous rivers of Endau-Rompin, the majestic mountains of Merapoh, the serene lakes of Belum and the remarkable limestone caves of Gopeng in the Peninsular to the absolutely virgin-untouched-exotic-lost world of Maliau Basin in Sabah! If anyone of you has a chance to visit these places...GO!!! You'll never regret it. It's mind-bogglingly awesome!

Well, I'm not an avid photographer. So I don't actually have lots of photos of these places to show (too bad!), but after visiting yet another 'Heaven on Earth' in Malaysia, I'm compelled to tell you more about this new discovery! Our travels this time brought us to the beautiful 'Rainbow Falls' of Sungai Lembing in Pahang. We managed to sneak in this detour while on our way for our annual train-the-trainers sojourn at Awana Kijal last weekend. Something I'll always cherish, even if I'll never go back to this place again.

On the surface, Sg Lembing is a sleepy town that fits the standard Malaysian one-street-ghost-town description - old, derelic, deserted, unispiring and dull. However, you'd be totally dumbstruck like me if I were to tell you that historically, Sungai Lembing used to be a rich and famous town because of its tin mining past. It used to be the main producer of tin in Pahang. Apparently, at its peak in its heyday it had more than 15,000 workers working the mines! Some websites even nicknamed Sungai Lembing as the 'East El-Dorado' of Tanah Melayu back in the day. However, it is now sadlly a shade of its past, degenerated into a quiet lonely town of a bygone era. Though you can still catch a glimpse of its past glories, it is never the same.

This huge daunting tree that stands right in the middle of the town greets you the moment you arrive in Sungai Lembing...

Deserted and abandoned...

A sole figure reminiscing of days goneby...

It's scenes like this that really gives Sg Lembing its character...

But what brought us there wasn't its mining past, or the spectre of its abandoned mine, or even its mining museum in town, or its lone bakery that is still making this famously tasteless dry biscuits for over 40 years. What brought us there was this very elusive and magical 'Rainbow Falls' that has enchanted the hearts of many that at one point truck-loads of 4WDs were bringing in hundreds and thousands of visitors just for a glimpse of paradise lost - heaven on earth!

I've heard so much about it from people who has been there that I just had to see the waterfall myself. Many have claimed that the 'Rainbow Falls' is the most beautiful waterfall in Malaysia. They say that it was dubbed 'Rainbow Falls' because rainbows literally line the sky around the waterfall especially during a hot sunny day! Now, this...I've gotta see!

The last time anyone from DJP went into the 'Rainbow Falls' was like 8 years ago! So, it was a 'homecoming' of sorts for some of them, but for the rest of us, we were just waiting to see what the fuss was all about. I mean, we've been to so many waterfalls - from the Upeh Guling waterfalls at Endau-Rompin to Lambir waterfalls in Miri - we've seen it all - or at least I thought I've seen it all!

The way into the waterfall was pretty exciting. Finding the waterfall was in itself an arduous adventure! However, for some unknown reason and uncharacteristically DJP-like, we were actually 'lost' for a few hours! And we don't get lost very often in the jungle, mind you. We were driving and walking around aimlessly for hours trying to figure out if we were on the right track. It was almost as if something greater was trying to 'teach' us a lesson. Tired, confused and hungry (we decided to fast alongside our Muslim brothers on that fateful day...imagine that!), we decided to continue to look for the waterfall. Spirits were high coz we knew we'd find it. But we were so unsure that we came so close to turning back at the final stretch where John's car couldn't go any further.

Lost in paradise...

However, our perseverance (or rather Paul's relentless determination!) paid off as we were just 2 minutes away when we stopped. Imagine the frustration if we'd knew we were so close...yet so far! After successfully finding the trail that led to the waterfall, we embarked on that final leg where we trek for about 45 minutes to the waterfall. I remember thinking to myself then,"Gosh, this better be worth it...coz we'll have to trek back and it's longer than I had expected!" I must confess that I started to have doubts. Not doubting if we were going to find the waterfall, but if all this was worth it because it was just another waterfall! Oh how wrong was I!

As we came closer to the waterfall, I looked up the sky and there it was! From a distance, it was already majestic...imagine what it would be like to be underneath the waterfall!!! Someone remarked that it was like from the movie "Gorillas in the Mist" ... well, not that magnificent...but close enough!

Rainbow Waterfalls from a distance...

And in an instance...all the negative thoughts I had about this trek vanished. Just by being there, in the midst of all these beauty is reward enough for me. It really is unbelievable and I'm glad I did that trek despite the hardwork, hurdles and negative thoughts earlier. This reminded me again that in order to achieve something great or worth shouting about, we have to work for it and not give up easily. That there is really a 'rainbow' at the end of a gloomy sky if we are determined to press on and persevere. That what motivates us to continue 'trekking' through life is that when we get to reach the 'pinnacle', our final goal, our final destination, to that breathtakingly-magnificent waterfall at the end of a backbreaking trek...the feeling is beyond words! Coz in the end...it was all worth it! Quoting Mel, "I...can now die happy!" - literally.

A fitting end to the day. By reaching the waterfall despite all the obstacles thrown our way, our quest of self-motivation is answered - that what motivates us really depend on what we do ourselves. We must first have a dream, then the desire to achieve, then the determination to see it through, and finally to take that step towards the dream by doing it... No one can stop you except yourself.

So, here's our group's motivational home-video ... hope this inspires you!

You can see more of the other groups' home-video, check out DJP's blog ... http://www.djunglepeople.com/v2/blog/