It was a secret garden alright. Hidden in the mist of the surrounding jungle trees and kampong scene. There it was, a garden which time seem to have forgotten. One part of it reminded me of Bali while another, a place only possible in my dreams!

The way Pauline puts it, 'The Secret Garden' - it sounded so mysterious, enticing and so very tempting! How could anyone not be curious and want to discover this place? The eleven (11) of us gathered together to discover this 'Secret Garden' today.

The original plan was to start our ride from the Jungle Lodge but it was then changed to the Genting foothills, at the McDonald's restaurant. From here, it was a short and easy ride towards Janda Baik. Not a very exciting road ride this trail is except for the 'giant' black shining scorpion crawling across the road and the squashed snake on the road! The worst thoughts were crashes, which seem to be a very common thing here in this Janda Baik trail. And it was because of this ugly thoughts that made me very cautious of each sharp corners that we take.

Finally after having cycled only 14km, we were there! No wonder Pauline had suggested starting from the Jungle Lodge earlier. Another 20 plus 'k' would have been cycled if we had done so. But I am glad we did not since the ride only started off very late!

As we entered the gate in to this secret garden, we could already see the difference in the surrounding area. There were a lot of different tress and colorful flowers. Neatly grown in different area of this huge garden, they create a very nice colorful arrangements. At one side of the garden was this nice clean river flowing with crystal clear water. It was quite a sight to be seeing such nice clear and clean water in the river, as most of the rivers that we have encountered were mostly muddy and dirty!

We placed our mountain bikes in one corner and started to walk around, scrutinizing this secret garden. There were a few dug out ponds with huge fishes in it. Some fruit trees can also be found. One of the tree was bearing water jambu (a local delicious fruit) and we were enjoying it as we plucked it off the tree. As Vincent commented, no point letting the fruit fall to the ground and go to waste.

Here, another great and startling discovery - none of us ever knew that our very own Vincent was a botanist himself! He easily identified each and every tree and plant in the garden and was casually explaining about their habitat and life form! Now we know whom to call when and if we want to venture deep into the jungle!

The owner of this secret garden unfortunately was not around else I think we would all have a great time talking to him. It is only a person of great patience and time who will actually even go to the extend of creating, let alone, maintaining such beautiful garden.

Finally, we leave this place and with the thoughts of coming back again soon. There is already suggestion of a camp out and a BBQ here! Thanks to Pauline, this great place would otherwise not be known to us.

While the rest of the riders continued on with Vincent to yet another trail, Louise and myself decided to cycle back to the car. The ride back to the McDonalds was dreadful as the sun was already out and high up in the clear sky above. As always, I usually start off filled with full bursting energy but when the sun hits me, I am the direct opposite!

We finally arrived at the McDonalds and its cool air-conditioning! Here we met two riders from Holland. Leo and Daisy actually cycled cross-nation from Cheingmai in Thailand and into Kuala Perlis, Malaysia! They were on their way, cycling downwards to Kuala Lumpur, than Melaka, Johor Bharu and Singapore! I tried lifting their over 50Kg bicycle but was it heavy! After a while of friendly conversation, they were soon on their way and we, back home.