Enjoying the waters at Gunung Datuk

OK, continuing from The Linggi river near Pengkalan Kempas . I then visited 2 more places around, actually near the slightly bigger town of Linggi some 4-5km away before going to the tomb of Raja Melewar. Have a look at the article Makam Raja Melewar di siang hari (The tomb of Raja Melewar during the day) in the blogspot SENI LAMA MELAYU (MALAY OLDEN ART) .

Once done, I headed towards the state of Melaka through the regions of Rembau and Pedas. Then I saw a sign pointing the way towards Gunung Datuk, a mountain said to contain its own mystery and decided to take a detour there...

I got off the main road into a village road before entering a rubber estate followed by some pristine jungle. Finally I arrived at the foot of Gunung Datuk...

The giant replica of the keris (Malay wavy blade) signifies this as a place of historical interest...

That is when I learned that the 2,900-foot high Gunung (mount) Datuk, fairly popular to climbers, was the place the legendary ancient figure Datuk Perpateh Nan Sebatang, founder of the maternally-heavy Malay custom called Adat Minangkabau set up some official structure of rule here... And that was supposed to have happened in 1372, two decades before the famous Sultanate of Melaka was said to have been established just before the 15th Century AD!

All this while I thought the stories of Datuk Perpateh Nan Sebatang all happened in the Indonesian island of Sumatera especially in the Minangkabau region. Now only do I know this important figure actually resided and set up a ruling structure here...

Now, apart from being a fairly popular climbing spot for enthusiasts, Gunung Datuk is also famous for a legendary footprint set upon a stone at the top, said to belong to the legendary Malay warrior Hang Tuah who hold sway in the mid 15th Century Melaka Sultanate.

This area also has a few small waterfalls, rapids and ravine. So I decided to stop and enjoy the fresh cold mountain waters. Cheers! :]