TWO women, who got disoriented and subsequently lost while hiking in the world-famous Gunung Gading National Park in Lundu yesterday, had to endure an 18-hour ordeal before they were brought to safety at noon today.

Diana Bill, 57, and Dolthy Chupan, 53, were found by the search-and-rescue (SAR) team 6.4km from the park headquarters – just half a kilometre short on one of the trail’s end at Batu Berkubu, a former communist base camp on the slopes of Gunung Sebuloh.

They had to spend the night with their rescuers there as the Sarawak Forestry Corporation (SFC) forest ranger in the SAR team had advised against attempting the seven-hour walk down the mountain trail to the park headquarters in the dark as he had deemed the trail slippery and treacherous.

They started the trek back at first light today.

The two women, both Lundu residents and hiking enthusiasts, were found exhausted and shivering in the mountain cold by the SAR team, which comprised mostly of personnel from the Fire and Rescue Service Department.

When the women set off on their hike, their original plan was to take the challenging jungle trail up to the summit of the picturesque Gunung Gading, the highest peak in the park at 965m.

The hike, according to police, normally takes about four hours by a serious hiker.

Since they reportedly reached the summit well ahead of their expected schedule, the women decided to take another trail to another place.

According to the SFC website, from Gunung Gading summit to Batu Berkubu, a hiker would have to take an optional trek.

When the women decided to turn back and head for home at around 4pm, light was already falling. 

They became disoriented in the dark and were finding it difficult to stay on the trail.

Their problem was compounded when they could not remember which trail to take to get back to the park headquarters.

One of them then frantically called her son to tell him of their predicament. The son went to the police to seek their help.

The Gunung Gading National Park – some 60km from Kuching – is home to the giant Rafflesia flower and the park reportedly is one of the best places in Asia to view the flower when in bloom.

It is popular with hikers as the jungle trekking trails lead to waterfalls and clear jungle streams that make excellent bathing spots.

The park also has four mountain peaks – Gunung Gading, Gunung Perigi, Gunung Sebuloh and Gunung Lundu – so most of the jungle treks involve a significant amount of hill walking. – January 16, 2023.