Sg Sedim: Plunging into rivers and walking among the treetops

Where could you go and what could you do, in one day?

Now that we no longer have to feed kids at the school canteen we ran for two and a half years, Mei and I have a bit more time to explore. I’ve always maintained that there’s an abundance of things to see and do in Malaysia and so we set about looking for places we could go to on day trips, as a start. Day trips are great as you can see things at relatively low expense. You won’t have to spend too much on food and nothing on accommodation, and if you don’t like where you end up, you can leave pretty quickly.
If, on the other hand, you do like what you find, you could always scout around and come back again for an extended stay. So all in all, a great way to explore.

Mei and I have done a few day trips out from Penang recently, and we constantly search for new places to check out. We’d done the northern lakes trip and the Bujang Valley and Sungai Batu one, both of which I’ve written about here, and then while idly scrolling Google Maps one day I came across a name I’d never seen before: Sedim.

Why have I never heard of this place before?

According to the various maps I looked at, along Sungai Sedim lay a string of resorts, waterfalls and other natural features as well as man-made attractions, including a tree-top walk. Wikimapia even listed white-water rafting and hiking to nearby mountains. Why had I never heard of this place before? Intrigued we decided to go explore Sedim.

It isn’t too far away - just to the east of Kulim HiTech Industrial Park, and a little over an hour’s drive away. The road to Sedim is well signposted and that’s an indication it is popular and/or noteworthy. After the main highways, the last few kilometres are winding and lightly trafficked. You go past the usual kampungs, plantations and orchards, and it’s a pleasant drive. In fact, I do like the kampungs in this area. The houses are generally well kept and the compounds quite well tended. Various little visual cues like these indicate the people here have a sense of pride in their homes and surroundings and this makes the drive an unhurried pleasure.

A few branches off the main road towards the end have signs pointing towards attractions and resorts. One resort, Sedim Vista, sited right next to the road, looked promising enough - what we could see of it looked well maintained. We marked this and the other branches off for further exploration on another day as we were running a trifle late and needed to press on.

We eventually came to an archway with a table manned by two people selling entrance tickets, beyond which the road narrowed noticeably. I can’t remember now how much we paid to drive in but it wasn’t more than 2 or 3 ringgit. The road thereafter is narrow and is well-surfaced, but has a shoulder almost a foot below, so you can’t pull over to let a car pass in the opposite direction. Occasional wider stretches allow for this but may mean someone’s got to back up a hundred metres or so sometimes.

Image from Google Streetview.

Sg Sedim is, unlike what some online commenters have declared, actually quite well appointed. There are two resorts/accommodation choices within this area, and quite a few small food and drink stalls too. There’s a toilet and shower complex though I had no chance to check the condition of that. It was very busy when I glanced at it so I suspect it may not be quite pristine… Then there’s even a multi-purpose hall and two car park areas.

At the far end, the road continues and there appears to be some sort of adventure area on the right - 4WDs and that sort of thing. This may be where the white water rafting groups set off from as well but I did not verify this.

On the right, a road leads off, beneath an arch that announces it to be the entrance to the tree-top walk. We head first in the opposite direction, near where we’ve parked beneath some trees.

A river to leap into…

A concrete and metal bridge spans a gorge maybe about 2 storeys deep. At the bottom the river flows over a wide plateau of rocks in a series of pools and rapids, walled on the right by a high slope of lush green vegetation. The left has a gentle slope down from near the carpark and access is easy. Quite a few people - families or groups of friends - are on the rocks or splashing about in the water here. It’s a nice spectacle and  the laughter, shouts and squeals of adults and kids alike is a very happy accompaniment to the forest sounds around us.

Across the bridge is the Sedim Rainforest Resort. The chalets dot the hillside here, all facing the river, serviced by a concrete path that runs parallel to the river. This resort has a cafe area and has a separate entrance at the far end, more convenient for those arriving by bus. The brick-and-cement chalets are in perpetual shade and thus suffer from a bit of damp on the walls, inside and out. They’re clean enough and the fittings seem alright though at the asking offer price of RM138 (more if you want breakfast included) I would probably be tempted to check the other place out.

The river narrows on the right of the bridge.

The chalets at Sedim Rainforest Resort.

The Resort has a back entrance closer to the carpark. 

The manager says the cafe is open when there are guests and they can do catering for groups so if you have a retreat or workshop here, you can have all your meals taken care of.

And it is a nice enough setting, to be honest. It’s not particularly noisy or busy and I’m sure weekdays are even quieter and suited for silent reflection if that’s what’s needed.

Back on the bridge, we watched in amazement as some young chaps leapt into the water below. A deep pool below was what these young men were aiming for and we watched with our jaws hanging open as one after the other leapt off, landing safely in a loud splash moments later.

A nice spot and seems clean enough. 

Then these young chaps started leaping off the bridge... 

They were aiming for the deep pool but I shudder to think how it would turn out if they missed... 

Did Pandelela Rinong have her start in diving doing this? 

Splashdown!

Among the treetops

We headed off to the tree-top walk, fighting off the temptation offered by the fried foods on display at the stalls. Why is it that holidays spent near water are never complete unless one digs into some fried chicken, pisang goreng or fried nangka/cempedak? Think back to your childhood holidays by the sea. Didn’t you gorge yourself on fried chicken, fried sausages and so on? Whatever the reason for this pairing, we ignored it  (me with some difficulty) and made for the tree-top walk instead.

RM10 per person gets you entry via a little gallery area. The steel structure of the walk is solid and rises to 20m above the forest floor. The floor of the walkway is a metal mesh which gives you a clear view of what’s below. This mesh is anchored to and rests on a very sturdy galvanised steel frame, itself supported by large pillars sunk in concrete. Yet, despite the girth of the beams and supports, there’s always a little bounce as you walk along. You can even see it and to those less accustomed to heights, it may be a little unnerving.

I think the walk is almost a kilometre around. 

Interesting colour in the leaves and trunk of this plant. 

We had to keep looking ahead for the first 100 or so metres but soon got accustomed to the height and began to enjoy the view and could even peer through the mesh beneath our feet to look at the river or forest many metres below. The trees sometimes lean in and over but are otherwise close at hand and I reckon if we had come earlier in the morning, there’d be more wildlife visible. As it is, you hear a multitude of insects and quite a lot of birdcall too, though they mostly remain hidden from sight.
I love this tree-top walk. Despite its stout construction, it blends in quite well with the surroundings. And the surroundings are very nice too. You walk over forest floor and river and there are a few signboards along the way proclaiming the height you are at. For those who are not comfortable with heights, this is a nice touch that gives one a sense of accomplishment.

The tree-top walk is open daily from 8am to 5pm. It is only shut during inclement weather. In my opinion, it is well worth a visit and if you have someone who knows a bit about flora and fauna, drag him along so you can have a greater appreciation of what you see around you. We spotted a tree marked as the Kulim Tree and wonder if the area was named after this species.

On the way back down from the tree-top walk, we stopped at the building next door. Here are facilities for seminars and talks as well as accommodation. We did not check rates but I have attached the website below if you are interested. They do organise a whole heap of activities so if you have a group staying over you can go kayaking, go on a guided nature walk or play paintball. Of these of course I would suggest the first two but I understand that for some people, activities like paintball, which have absolutely nothing to do with the wonder and beauty of the surroundings you are in, are a desired activity. To each his own I guess.

I’ll come back again one day - maybe for a riverside picnic. Hopefully I’ll be able to explore the surrounding area more. Stay tuned…


For Sedim Rainforest Resort, you can contact the manager, Jasman Jaafar on 016-419 4166. The website is no longer active though the blog still is.
The Tree Top Walk website is here.
Wikimapia link to Sedim is here.