Wednesday's Anchovies

Since the last Apek Hill hiking, I am going for Bukit Kutu after 2 months. It is situated near to Kuala Kubu Bharu (KKB) at Hulu Selangor, where you will pass through Selangor Dam during the way to Fraser Hill. It took us approximately 2 hours driving journey from KL. The trekking at KKB has gained its popularity due to the popular Lata Medang waterfall and Bukit Kutu. As it is fasting month, only threes cars were spotted at the car parking area on the Saturday morning.  At 830 am, we started to ascend. First part of trek was an easy flat route, before entering the bamboo forest. Along the route, falling bamboos were scattered around and we have to bend down most times with stems overhead. We grabbed some rest at Checkpoint 5 (C5) before heading up again. Early trail. Bamboos overhead. Scorpion vs giant millipede. We reached Bukit Kutu peak at 12pm, standing tall at 3456 feet above ground. Taking three more ladders, our sights are c...

We would like to share some tips about our Mount KK hiking experience . The trail we chose was Mesilau - Laban Rata - Summit - Laban Rata - Timpohon. DOs: 1. Bring enough water and food For our case, we consume around 2litres of water per person during the way up from Mesilau gate to Laban Rata. Simple pack lunch was provided which consists of a sandwich, an apple and 500ml of drinking water. Bring enough snacks like power bars and chocolate. 2. Pack light Only bring along those necessary things with you, like sweater, raincoat, drinking water, food and etc. Before we start our way up from Mesilau gate, we passed some of our luggage to our guide, who is our porter as well. The charges is around Rm15 per kilo (depends on the trail, charges from Mesilau trail would be slightly higher than Timpohon trail). Powerful porter! 3. Raincoat, sweater and hand gloves Weather is unpredictable. It might rain or turn cold anytime. So please make sure sweater and rainc...

Finally, it’s the long-awaiting moment. Everyone in the hut was busy suiting up for the summit challenge. Everyone was preparing their own gears in fights of the colds, high winds, strong sun and possible rains under the oxygen-deficient condition. Everyone knows it’s going to be hard. According to our guide, it will be a 3 hour non-stop hiking up to the peak. 245am, the journey started. We were fortunate to have spent the night in Gunting Lagadan hut as it’s located closest to the entrance to the summit trail. The first 30 minutes were spent trekking in the jungle before entering the real thing. We were greeted by some huge boulders. The rope strangled around those boulders played a vital role in getting everyone get through safely by holding on it. It was tough and exciting to walk on those boulders, especially at some corners where the movement can be limited.  At 4am, we reached Sayat-Sayat Check Point.  For those who have made it to the Sayat-Sayat Check Point bu...

This is my third visit to Kota Kinabalu, Sabah. The first one was a leisure trip with beautiful beaches, Kinabalu park, Kundasang and Town visits in year 2010. The second trip was the unforgettable The Most Beautiful Thing Ultramarathon (TMBT) back in September 2012.  A group of friends from Sabah and I were running tiredlessly at the foot of majestic Mount Kinabalu and it was a hard push for everyone. May 2014, I came back again, together with my university friends. This time we were going to Low’s Peak of Mount Kota Kinabalu, height at 4095.2m.a.s.l. From the locals, there was a tale behind the naming of Kinabalu. It was inspired by the everlasting love and loyalty possessed by a Chinese women who was longing for her lover’s return from the Mainland. She was then turned into a stone, forever waiting at the top of cold mountain. Cina-Balu means Chinese-Widow by translation and the word “Kina” came after the lingual influence of the Kadazan Dusun of Sabah... On 30th Ap...