-= adventures in Europe =-

Posted In: Outta the red dot . By Zεηιτħ

And the cold winds blow...

When the cold winds blow...
I know I know,
You have to go...

And you have to go down...Gunung Datuk!

The star of this weel: A revisit trip up north to Malaysia, Negri Sembilan, to Gunung Datuk, riding on the back of a tough Bike-2-Bite ride. This trek is considered short, but tough, due to the endless flight of 'stairs' one has to 'climb' en route to the summit.

Nonetheless, the view up there is certainly worth it, and the experience one gets is almost similar to what you would experience should you be camping on mountain ranges in Nepal (but not the altitude!)

First up, realised that the Malay language should be one of the first lessons in ROV1101C, as my inadequacy in the language was exposed during the buying of tickets for the return trip.

Next, the ranger was not around before our trek started! Which was good, anyway, since we could go up immediately, and hope that he does not see us and we can scoot away for free, haha!

The weather was fine, company was great, and off we went up the hills of Datuk (again). This time, the original trio from 26th were back in business (Tianqi, Peiyu & Me), with Laiyee and Meena coming along to learn the route. Zhihan was also around, together with the other participants Andreas, Andy, Pei Geok, Shu Ying, Tze Hwee, Mei Yin and Jocelyn.

Trip up was rather uneventful, and the speed was just as expected due to the numerous steps required to scale the mountain. When we finally reached, I heaved a sigh of relief and unbuckled my heavy load and just sat on the nearest rock I could find, resting my legs and catching my breath. The load this time round was slightly heavier than before, probably due to the addition of the tent poles and canned food.

While the tents were being set up, I brought Meena, LY and ZH down to the water point to collect water, and I realised that it was rather tiring for the 2 ladies. Managed to fill up 7 bottles and headed up to see the sunset in time.

After spending great time up at the summit, it was time to descend and satisfy the stomach, all empty due to the vigorous trek just hours before. The menu read:

Starters: Tom Yam Soup
Main Course(s): Pineapple Rice, Rosti, Chicken "Ramly" Burger, Noodles (with almost anything), Omelette (w/ mushrooms & sausages)
Desert: Nata De Coco/Aloe Vera

The chicken burger was a test for me and TQ, to evaluate the possibility of having chicken burgers upon treks. Apart from the lousy meat patties and lack of lettuces and fresh vegs to 'spice' the burger, I must say that it was a great idea to do such burgers up on treks. The most important thing: Time and a good cooler bag with nice to ensure that the meat do not defrost.

As we ate, the winds just got stronger and stronger. One of the tents started moving, and 5 of us entered the tent in an attempt to prevent it from moving further from its original position. Most importantly, the weather grew colder and colder too.

But the stars provided respite in the cold. Huddling together in windbreakers/jackets/sleeping bags, gazing up together....simply awesome!

Good food, good company, good time spent together.

Not to forget the endless associations of someone's hair with curls and maggi mees, as well as a collapsed tent (with 1 broken pole on one side) on 4 people (or would you consider as 5 people?)

And to think that one can watch stars, lying down, without being in the cold! The collapsed tent just served as a makeshift sleeping bag for us.

Who can also forget the next day, when the hut just collapsed with the entry of one more lady onto the raised platform, making it look like that below:

(Let's hope they repair it by the next time we go up. Haha)

Descended the next day, had a great shower, and scooted to KFC for a nice (small) meal. Basically, all their meal portions are smaller than that sold in Singapore, especially the burgers. In that sense, it ain't worth paying for KFC in M'sia. (Pizza Hut previously was a better choice, at least one is fulling.)

Simply great time spent...more trips together guys and gers?