Mount Mat Chinchang / Gunung Mat Chinchang

Mount Mat Chinchang

Apart from Gunung Raya, Gunung Mat Cincang (there are many other spellings, but this is the least complicated) is one of Langkawi island’s tallest peaks, at 709 metres above sea level. It’s where the famous cable car is located, at the upper northwest side of the island.

Both mountains are firmly rooted in island legend, a story of the ultimate ancient bromance.

Once, there were these two giants, Mat Cincang and Mat Raya. They were the best of friends. Their kids got married to each other and at the wedding reception, these two dads got into a fight. They went all out and started throwing household items at each other. 

During the fight, a pot of gravy fell, creating Kuah town. A bowl of hot water fell and created Ayer Panas, and a jar fell and smashed into pieces, where Belanga Pecah is today. It’s great that in those days you could just throw things or do random things and create towns. I don’t want to know how Batang Berjuntai got its name.

After breaking nearly everything in the house, the two giants realised they made a mistake, and to atone for this they did a very bromance thing and volunteered to be turned into mountains together (instead of owning up to the damage and cleaning up and apologising to the bride and groom for ruining their wedding). That’s how the two mountains came to exist, and in between them is their mediator Mat Sawar, who had to be turned into a mountain as well to make sure they don’t start another fight.

Mat Cincang is actually the oldest peak in Southeast Asia, formed more than 500 million years ago, and it is full of beautiful rock formations. It is home to many local faunae. If you are lucky, you might be able to spot a hornbill or eagle. Take a pair of binoculars with you.

The six of us were on vacation in Langkawi (me, Aili, Andrea, Faris, Jade, and James) and one of the activities on the agenda was to climb Mat Cincang.

Our Grab driver informed us that the cable car was closed for maintenance works, but we could still do the trek.  Apparently, in February 500 tourists were stranded when the cable car broke down.

We reached there at around 10.30 am and made our way up the stairs to the Telaga Tujuh falls. There are lots of monkeys around and they aren’t shy, so make sure you haven’t got anything loose on you that they can grab. We took some pictures on this sort of half-bridge platform with a glass floor that’s suspended over the Telaga Tujuh falls. The view is amazing, and if we didn’t have a hike to get started on we would have stayed longer.

A word of caution, though. If you plan to swim at Telaga Tujuh, stay within the fenced area. We saw a few tourists ignore the warning signs and slip over the wire fencing to swim on the other side. Don’t do that. That’s how people die, folks. The rocks are super slippery and you could easily slip and get swept away by the current, or smash your head open.

Early on during the hike we reached a concrete bridge, after which we walked through some dense jungle. The elevation starts early on, and gets a little steeper as you go further in.

We took a few pitstops along the way, including Camp Tok Ayah. There are emergency contact numbers posted here in case you need them.

We crossed what I think used to be a waterfall, but all that’s left is lots of branches and a steep drop. Be careful here. You also have to walk across a fallen log, so make sure to wear shoes with a good grip.

Aili got lucky and got two leeches on her leg. Those were maybe the only leeches on the whole mountain.

Somewhere near the Telaga Tujuh peak, there is a sign telling hikers to turn back if they haven’t got a guide. Now they tell us? We’d already made it this far, we might as well climb the rest of the way.

Further up, it got a bit challenging. There are many narrow ledges to walk across, and the rocks are very slippery. Jade slipped on one of these narrow ledges and twisted her ankle, tearing a ligament. She was obviously in so much pain and her ankle was starting to swell up. We offered to turn back, but she wanted to continue. “I already cried,” she said. We’re not professional mountain climbers, so crying is ok. She took some painkillers, slapped some Tiger Balm on her ankle and we continued.

The whole time we tried to keep an eye out for the hornbill, but we didn’t spot any. We also saw some beautiful plants, some of which are carnivorous.

About 15-20 minutes from the peak we there is a false peak, which has an amazing view of the surrounding mountains. We chilled for a bit, then made our way to the actual peak.

The skies were clear, the view was breathtaking. We took some pictures and rested, while chatting to some other climbers. We met a Russian couple we had bumped into earlier, and the woman’s makeup was still on point. They didn’t even look like they broke a sweat at all, and we all looked like wet towels. They looked like they were going to Coachella.

At 3pm we made our way down. We were getting hungry (hangry) and really thirsty, so we wanted to reach the base as fast as we could. James swore his way down, really fast. He was probably the thirstiest. Andrea was wearing old hiking shoes and their soles came off halfway down, and he turned the shoes into moccasins.

The climb down was fairly easy, and we did that in about an hour and half. Most of the way you just use gravity and slide your way down but remember to look out for rocks and narrow ledges.

We reached the Telaga Tujuh falls and ran straight into the water to cool off. It had been an extremely hot and humid climb and the water was so cold and soothing.

You can slide down these rocks and sit in the pools. Be careful though, as it is extremely slippery. The monkeys can also grab your stuff while you are swimming happily, so make sure to keep an eye on them.

It’s not a difficult climb at all, and very enjoyable. We’ll definitely come back. Thank you, Mat Chichang, for turning yourself into a mountain!