World War II Bomber Crash Site On Gunung Telepak Buruk near Seremban

In August of 1945 at the end of the second world war, an RAF liberator aircraft crashed in dense jungle near the summit of Gunung Telepak Buruk in Peninsular Malaysia. The plane was reported lost and lay undisturbed in the jungle until 1991 when it was discovered by a local tribesman. Excavation of the site did not start until 2009 and the remains of the eight airmen who lost their lives were finally laid to rest, with full military honours, in the Commonwealth war cemetery in Kuala Lumpur in October 2012. More information can be found here: http://www.dailymail.co.uk

The Fuselage

An old service road leads to some telecoms towers at the summit of the mountain and is only passable with a 4WD vehicle. Driving the 12km or so to the summit is a pleasant experience as the road passes through pretty much untouched mountain rainforest with many tree ferns and palm species. It is unusual to be able to drive all the way to the summit of an unspoilt forested mountain like this and the jungle near the top appears in pristine condition.

The road to the trail head high amongst the clouds

To get to the crash site from the summit requires roughly 2 hours trekking down the mountain through the rainforest. There are some quite steep stretches that get slippery when wet and both ticks and leeches are present on the trail. I was glad of my leech socks as I pulled one of the biggest ticks I have ever seen off them the first time I walked this trail.

The Tail Section

Inside the Fuselage

RAF Roundel on a Piece of Wing

Giant millipede on the trail to the plane

Cethiosa hypsea hypsina (Malay Lacewing) On The Road to the Summit

There are many interesting plants including orchids on the roadside on the way up the mountain.

Spathoglottis plicata

Unusual geometric fern leaves

The Wildlife of Chilling Waterfall at Kuala Kubu Bharu

The trail to Chilling waterfall offers some good opportunities to spot wildlife despite this being a popular and well travelled route. The waterfall itself is quite spectacular and worth a visit to swim in the cool water of the pool at its base.

The trail to the fall is easy to walk along and follows a river that needs to be crossed several times.
















At the head of the trail I photographed this magnificent yellow and black form of  Wagler's Pit Viper or Temple Viper (Tropidolaemus wagleri). It was sitting in the branches of a bush about 2m off the ground and many hikers were passing oblivious to it's presence.

This venomous and dangerous snake produces a toxin in its venom that is thought to kill its victims by causing respiratory paralysis.

Butterflies are fairly numerous near the camp site at the start of the trail. The Brookes Rajahs Birdwing (Trogonoptera brookiana) is an iconic rainforest and Malaysian butterfly that can be seen in reasonable numbers along the trail. I shot this male that obligingly settled on a leaf for me. The females are more rarely seen as they tend to stay in the tree tops, only occasionally coming down to take nectar from flowers. The males however often fly low, gliding seemingly effortlessly along jungle paths.

The beautiful green iridescent colour on the wings is the result of structural colour not pigment. The structure of the wing interacts with the light to produce optical effects through processes such as refraction and diffraction.

Another insect producing green iridescent colour that can be found near the falls is this beautiful Green Metalwing Damselfly (Neurobasis chinensis).  This green colour cannot be seen when the wings are folded at rest.  After many attempts I eventually managed to shoot it in flight showing off its green colour.

Tarantulas at Fraser's Hill

On a recent trip to Fraser's Hill in Peninsular Malaysia, I managed to take these photographs of  the Malaysian Purple Femur Tarantula (Coremiocnemis hoggi). These tarantulas live in burrows in the earth and can be found in the banks of the trails and roadsides at Fraser's Hill. I managed to take the following shots at the head of the trail to Jeriau waterfall.

Tarantula in its burrow.

The Tarantula on the way out.

I managed to coax the spider out of its hole by using a thin stick to tap the web at the front of the hole to mimic the movements of a passing insect. It came out with sudden, lightening fast movements. Shortly after I took these shots, realising there was no prey to grab, the spider darted back into its hole.

Another tarantula on the roadside on the way back from The Old Smokehouse